Mekong

Even though online it says the place closes at 12 am. It’s really the bar and not the kitchen. They stop serving food at 10. Don’t come in at 9:55 and expect the kitchen to be open.

Despite my enduring love for Mekong, it doesn’t surprise me that it gets mixed reviews. I am a regular, and I know the service and food can be inconsistent. You can find more authentic Vietnamese cuisine within a half-​mile radius. If you ask for a beer recommendation, the servers will laugh at you. You will have more exciting restaurant experiences in your life. But Mekong is my #1 go-​to. Here’s why:
* The vast majority of the time, the food is delicious, fragrant, and fresh
* Long and versatile menu
* Generous portions
* Reasonable prices
* Lots of healthy food options
* Rad beer menu
* Comfortable seating and pleasant ambiance; not fussy
* Usually seated and served quickly
* My kid, who is a picky eater, loves it
Mekong is above all comfortable and easy. When you’re feeling tired and low and all you want is a nice big steaming bowl of phở sate, some crispy spring rolls, pillowy pork dumplings, and a cool Duvel, this is where you go. It’s the simple things.

Fabulous food made with fresh veggies. Awesome sauces. And oh my, the beer selection is awesome.

Went there trying to place a take out order. They saw me, but didn’t say anything or ask anything. Rude! So I standing there like a fool for 5 min. Still, workers are watching football and cheering. An other 5 min pass by, finally this guy notices me standing in front of door, but told me kitchen are closed… Wtf? Why did I standing there for 10 effing min?

Food was good, great beer selection, and normally place I would love, but tonight the service was terrible. Waiter brought wrong beer and never brought appetizer and had major attitude when notified.

The rumors are NOT TRUE:
I’ve heard alot of hype about this place so I had it in on go to list for awhile. I went for my friends Bday dinner which was the perfect place simce it could accommodate a large crowd .
Food wise I dont really get what the hype is about. We got the appetizer sample which had a variety of (FRIED items) which made it very greasy. The dipping sauces that came with was a chili sauce & peanut sauce both were very watery & had no flavor. All you need to know is the food is overpriced and you dont get much, Peter Changs is your best bet on food. The rest of our party agreed that the food wasnt anything special even with the large menu. As far as the beer selection it is very vast like the menu. They have a variety of local beers and really anything that would fit your pallet. I like how the beer menu was organized and easy to find what you would like.
Overall I wouldn’t recommend this place if you wanna eat its overrated but the beer selection was good and the staff were very nice. If you cant find parking go to the back. When your done eating all you gotta do is go upfront to pay. I am glad I tried to this place to say I did but I dont think I would be back unless its for a quick drink.

I don’t really get the hype this place has. It is quite good, but I guess as a person who doesn’t really drink alcohol, it doesn’t do much for me. The food is pretty good, but I guess I’m more a fan of Chinese, Japanese, Korean and Thai food. I believe this place is Vietnamese, so their menu is a lot more vegetable heavy. I’m not really a big fan of Phở either, what this place is explicitly known for.
I had the spring rolls and their answer to orange chicken with jasmine rice. Both were quite good, but not exceptional.
If you like beer, this is your spot. They claim to have over 100 beers on tap, with even more in bottles. If you like Phở, this is your spot. I’m told it’s quite good. As for me, I’ll just stick to eating greasy lo mein and beef with brocoli from Fu Jian. B

I’ve heard good things about this place and decided to check it out. This place was amazing! I wish they had something like this in Michigan! Beer and Vietnamese food, great combination! The phở was great, but I’m still deciding which is better, here or the phở restaurant down the street (?) Can’t complain though, if you’re in need of a fix-​me-​up, I would definitely come here for the great food and beer. I’d love to visit this place when I’m in the area. See you until then!

We came here while on vacation from TX in hopes of a 4 to 5 star restaurant but we’re seated at what seemed like a low grade Chinese restaurant with fabric on the chairs torn up and mediocre décor. We did not get any service for over 10 minutes, another group was seated after us and had their order taken before us!
The Phở was ok. Maybe because we are used to awesome Vietnamese food in Houston. The dumplings were cold and chewy. The spring rolls were also ok. Nothing to write home about.
We then decided to visit the bar and voila. We know what people are raving about. The beer selection was great but the bartender did not have a good attitude. He focused on 2 regular customers while ignoring us. He also seemed to comp a lot of expensive bottled beer to a regular customer who then tipped him $ 40.
We thought this was peculiar.
In any case, the beer selection was top notch — 8 or so Belgians, a bunch of sours, and a nice selection of IPAs and local beers. Good for beer, but don’t expect the service to match that.

The rumors are true: This place is amazing!
I honestly have never had a bad meal here. Service is good (and fast!), food choices and servings are plentiful, and location is clean, with plenty of parking. Oh, and locally owned by a really nice guy who gives back to the community as well! Can’t really ask for more, can you?

This place is a must stop in Richmond. Not only is the phở out of this world, but the mead is fantastic.
I ordered the fat rice noodles in chicken broth. My noodles were cooked perfectly, and my veggies were crisp as they should be. The seafood in my phở was real crab meat, not the imitation crap. My shrimp had tail heads on it, but that was fine.
If you drink mead this is a great place for you. I had the Good Morning Mekong mead. It was not overly sweet. Usually I like mead sweet, but this awesome. There were notes of a spicy nature that only be found in Vietnamese cuisine. This was brewed here.
The staff is kind and loves soccer.
The bathroom is very very clean. The soap smelled good and the stalls had extra privacy on the doors. I love good food. I love clean bathrooms even more.

A face every time I’m in Richmond. Great variety and always a place to get something different from everywhere else.

I have a confession, I’m totally not a beer person!
I ended up going here on a whim for a lunch date on a Saturday afternoon. There is definitely plenty of seating to go around, but I’d say about 90% of the restaurant feels like a cave. Both my date and I had to squint coming outside afterward because the sun was out but there was barely any light or good lighting inside. That aside, the menu is very extensive, almost to a fault. I understand wanting to offer variety but this was just too much to browse through before the waiter is checking to what you want. I settled on Phở.
The portion was alright but I’ve had larger. I definitely noticed that there was more broth than substance, so there needs to meat and veggies as well as a bigger bowl. The spicy pork (I’m not sure exactly what was ordered) my date had was delicious however.
Overall I think if you love beer and dig the bar atmosphere you’ll love Mekong. People going in for the food might get a little overwhelmed by the selection and underwhelmed by the atmosphere.

Mekong, how do I rate thee? 5 stars for having a ridiculously long beer menu for a Vietnamese place. 2 stars for the dishwater phở broth and the slow service.
Hubby and I hit this place after a trip to Short Pump because hubby does NOT like phở, but I really do. Mekong has a menu of traditional white person semi Asian dishes like orange chicken in addition to Vietnamese menu items.
The beer menu was amazing, lots of choices, divided into type of offering, it was truly impressive and this fact alone would give me enough to come back.
I went with the rare beef and meatball phở, the add ins were fresh but the broth really had that dishwater taste I dread. Not great phở, at all, maybe it was just an off day.
Hubby had, surprise surprise, orange chicken. It was very lightly battered and tasted fresh, can’t really go wrong with that.
Service was friendly, and adequate, but quite slow at times. Mekong could really be amazing if they improved the taste of their phở and improved the service.

Driving back from Richmond last weekend I was fortunate enough to stumble upon Mekong, a restaurant that combines two of my favorite things — awesome Vietnamese food and greet beer. I had my hopes set on my second visit to Phoenix Garden but, as it turns out, they aren’t open on Sundays.
Disappointed but ravenous, i ordered the Bun Tofu Nuong Cha Gio Chay, a rice noodle salad with chopped romaine, vermicelli, cucumber, bean sprouts, pickled carrot, scallion, grilled tofu, chunks of crispy veggie spring olls, and crushed peanut Nuoc Cham dressing. Everything was delicious and, were I not foaming at the mouth with hunger, could have made a second meal. To wash it down, Good Morning Meadkong, a local mead treated with coffee beans, cacao nibs, vanilla beans, and dry habaneros.
As much as I love mead, I rarely ever see it at bars or restaurants. The fact that Good Morning Meadkong was both local and on tap really made my day.
Awesome food, prompt service, and quality brews at a reasonable price.

This was my first experience with Vietnamese food. It was yummy. The best thing about this place is the amazing beer menu! I can’t wait to go back and try not only different entrees, but different beers as well.

So I had a sudden craving for phở the other day when my friend and I were out and about. Before you know it, I was Unilocaling for a Vietnamese restaurant and was led to Mekong.
I appreciated how they have their own parking with additional parking in the back. When you first walk in, the place is pretty spacious and plenty of seating. It isn’t the most warmest welcoming I’ve ever received from the host but it wasn’t too bad either.
We were seated in a spot for two… mind you, we’re pretty average sized people but I would say the seats are pretty size restricted… there was absolutely no room for anything else on the table.
We eventually were waited on but I never really knew who our true waiter was.
I ordered the phở ga (chicken phở) and it was alright. Nothing too special… although the noodles tasted a bit more harder than my liking. Broth was delicious though. The price was not bad at all and there are various size options you can pick from.
When they brought our the fortune cookies, my cookie was stale like no other!
Also, when we paid up front, it was very come and go. No warmness to the cashier.
All in all, it was alright. Seemed like more of a beer bar place rather than food spot. Looked like they had a ton on drinks!

As beer lovers, we’ve wanted to visit for so long. We finally did while passing through town.
We ordered a beer each and apps to split. The beer list was very good and we enjoyed the ones we chose. But the apps were disappointing. The steamed dumplings were falling apart. And the sampler was soaked in grease. Maybe the meals are better but based on the apps, I can’t say I’d order food again.
The place is a bit dirty and dingy (which I’d ignore if the food was better) but the service was fantastic.
I rated based on the food. If I were to go back, I’d instead go to their brewpub in back.

Hmm… this was an interesting experience. I want to give them the benefit of the doubt and say that it was just a little late on a Sunday and they were all ready to go home. First and foremost, the chicken phở was not bad and it was a good portion, but I can say I’ve had better.
The customer service is what really got this a 2-​star rating. As I looked around to ask for a straw (and there were about 5 employees to choose from in a small service area), there was not one soul paying attention to the customers. Literally EVERYONE was either on their phones or eating, which was quite frustrating being that I was thirsty. I can’t quite say that I would recommend this Vietnamese place, as there are 2 others in a 1 minute radius that I have had superb service and food. Maybe try takeout!

Tony A. is definitely correct in saying Mekong is for beer lovers. They probably have one of the most unique beer selections in Richmond which is saying A LOT. I also respect that Mekong has ALWAYS had this amazing beer menu. They didn’t adapt with the trend like other restaurants.
It’s important to note that in addition to the beer they also have REALLY fun mixed drink selections. Don’t miss your chance to order THE VOLCANO. It comes in a bowl with a volcano in the middle and they light it on fire! If you finish it alone, you might fall out so make sure to share! If it’s your birthday, ask for the birthday beet. It’s a HUGE glass boot filled with beer. Doesn’t get much better than that!
I definitely enjoy the food at Mekong as well. I’ve never had anything that I didn’t like but agree with some of the other reviewers describing it as «ok». On this visit I got what I would describe as chicken and vegetables in a light brown sauce. The menu has authentic names so I couldn’t begin to guess the name of my dish. I would also like to note that I’ve always found this restaurant extremely affordable! In my opinion, Mekong is the fun zone of Vietnamese cuisine in Richmond. (I even started my bachelorette party here).