Vahe Margaryan had his first bowl of pho at Number Nine on Fourth Street, and he told the Long Beach Post that it gave him goosebumps. He liked it so much that he quit his construction job to bus tables there. He worked his way up through the kitchen and became general manager, and then the restaurant closed during the pandemic.
Since then he has brought that pho back three times, and each version has run out of a different room. The latest started this August inside Tarantella on 4th. About eight weeks later, on the other side of town at 2nd & PCH, Brodard opened its first Long Beach restaurant in a space that used to be Tocaya.
Both of this fall's biggest Vietnamese openings in Long Beach moved into space another business set up first. One is a small takeout pop-up and the other comes from one of Little Saigon's best-known restaurants, but both found their way in by borrowing a room. Once you see that, it's easier to figure out where to find them and when they're open.
Three Addresses, Three Ways In
| Spot | Address | Whose space it is | Hours | Order first |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brodard | 6480 E. Pacific Coast Hwy., No. 100, at 2nd & PCH | Former Tocaya space | 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily | Nem nướng cuốn pork spring roll |
| #9PhoToGo | 2120 E. Fourth St., inside Tarantella on 4th | Shares Tarantella's kitchen | Monday to Wednesday, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., takeout only, as of August | Rare ribeye and brisket pho |
| Pickle Banh Mi | 1171 E. Anaheim St. | Its own storefront, open three years | Check before visiting | Bánh mì |
A Fountain Valley Institution Takes Over a Closed Corner
Brodard isn't a new restaurant. It's a regional institution that opened a second front. Diane Dang and her daughters opened it in 1996, and Longbeachize calls it one of Little Saigon's most enduring culinary landmarks. It moved its main restaurant to its current home in Fountain Valley in 2017. It also spun off a more upscale sister restaurant, Brodard Chateau. Los Angeles Times critic Bill Addison included it in the paper's guide to the best restaurants in California.
The owners are calling the Long Beach location "Brodard by the Shore." It opened Oct. 1 in the 2nd & PCH shopping center, in the space Tocaya left behind. Taking over a finished restaurant space in an established shopping center is the fastest way for a known name to open in a new city. That's why a restaurant built over decades in Little Saigon's strip malls now has an address next to Alamitos Bay.
Longbeachize writer Brian Addison called the opening a welcome addition to what he described as the city's lacking Vietnamese food scene. He named two local spots that were already part of it, Sesame Dinette and Pickle Banh Mi, as a tiny but growing list. For anyone in East Long Beach, Brodard's famous spring roll no longer means a drive down the 405.
What to Order at 2nd & PCH
Brodard is best known for nem nướng cuốn. It's a rice-paper roll packed with fresh herbs, vegetables, a sheet of crisp egg-roll skin and a grilled pork patty, and Longbeachize reports the kitchen makes thousands of them a day. Grunion Gazette columnist Jo Murray ate at the new location on Saturday, Oct. 10, and wrote about it in the Press-Telegram's Business Beat column. She described quick service and knowledgeable servers.
For a first visit, start with the dishes these two sources highlight:
- The nem nướng cuốn, the pork spring roll Brodard is known for.
- The rib eye spring roll, built the same way with a crisp fried wrapper inside. Each roll comes with its own sauce.
- Crispy duck with garlic noodles, one of the three standouts from the columnist's lunch.
- Coconut shrimp rolls with avocado, the third standout.
- A plate of cơm tấm, the broken rice dish that Longbeachize describes as a classic Southern Vietnamese plate with grilled meat, egg, pickles and fish sauce.
The bar serves a red dragon fruit cocktail made with sake. The restaurant is open 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. every day, so it works for a weekday lunch or a Sunday dinner.
Fourth Street's Pho Has Lived in Three Kitchens
#9Pho has opened and closed several times, and you can follow that history down the same stretch of Fourth Street. After Number Nine closed, Margaryan's first revival was #9ToGo, set up inside Eddie's Market. It ran there for a year and a half until the city shut it down because the kitchen wasn't permitted for hot food. Next came a #9Pho storefront down the street from the original restaurant. It lasted three years with prices kept fairly low, including a $16.99 rare ribeye steak pho, until rising costs and parking problems led him to close it in July 2025.
He told the Long Beach Post that the requests from the community brought him back:
"I decided to do it because people love the food and they want this food to be in the community."
The third version, #9PhoToGo, soft-opened Monday, Aug. 3 as a takeout-only operation inside Tarantella on 4th at 2120 E. Fourth St. Margaryan and chef Marcelino Melchor work out of a kitchen they share with Tarantella. As of the Post's August story, the menu covered pho, bánh mì and bún bowls, and the hours were Monday through Wednesday, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.
According to the Post, rising costs and parking problems are what closed the last storefront. This version is smaller: one shared kitchen, three days a week, takeout only. Pop-up hours can change, so check #9PhoToGo's current schedule before you walk over.
Anaheim Street Shows What Comes After
Pickle Banh Mi shows where a borrowed-space story can end up. Its shop at 1171 E. Anaheim St. has been open long enough that Longbeachize called it a neighborhood staple in September, after its third year in business. It's family-run and serves bánh mì, rice plates and spring rolls. Brodard has decades behind it in Orange County, and #9Pho is still testing which setup will last. Pickle is the one of the three that has already built a steady following in its own space.
Fitting All Three Into a Week
Each spot keeps different hours, so the order matters:
- Monday through Wednesday: #9PhoToGo is open for takeout pho, bánh mì and bún from Tarantella's kitchen on Fourth Street. It's closed the rest of the week, based on the hours reported in August.
- Any day: Brodard is open 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. at 2nd & PCH.
- Between the two: Pickle Banh Mi on Anaheim Street is a quick bánh mì stop on the way across town.
As of Thursday, Oct. 22, Brodard has been open three weeks, and #9PhoToGo is in its third month. Of the two, the pho pop-up is more likely to change its hours or location.
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