New Vietnamese Restaurant Takes Over Vacant Longtime Barbecue Spot

Austin Vietnamese restaurant Pho Please is expanding with a similar but brand new spot called Sip Pho, taking over the old Ruby’s BBQ space on 512 West 29th Street in Central Austin, as reported by Austin 360. The new restaurant will, of course, serve pho.

Sip Pho will be designed by architecture firm Magic. According to a rendering on the firm’s site, the space will feature communal seating, hanging plants, wood paneling, and an angled ceiling.

Pho Please owner Tien Do, who used to work for fast-casual Vietnamese chain PhoNatic, and chef Ahn Nguyen, opened the pho-centric restaurant on East Riverside Drive in January 2016. Along with pho, the restaurant offers egg and paper rolls, bao, banh mi, vermicelli bowls, and rice plates.

Barbecue restaurant Ruby’s BBQ owner Pat Mares closed the restaurant in February 2018 after 30 years of service, because it was “difficult to do business as a small operator” in the changing Austin restaurant landscape, as she told the Chronicle.

• Pho Please owners opening restaurant in former Ruby’s BBQ location [Austin 360]
• All Coverage of Pho Please [EATX]