Pho Anh Hai restaurant is on Google Maps, hundreds of people praise it as delicious.

Funny image created by user using AI for "Pho Anh Hai" restaurant. Photo: Google Maps .

Following the interest in the Vietnamese indie game, a pho restaurant named "Pho anh Hai" was added to the Google Maps application. This was not a real location, created to follow the event. However, continuing the joke from the game title, hundreds of people came in to rate and comment on the restaurant as if it were real.

However, from a fun trend, the incident turned into a scandal when dozens of pho restaurants named Anh Hai and Anh Hai were added to the map, causing incorrect information and misunderstanding for users.

Check in virtual pho restaurant

Specifically, the location "Pho anh Hai" was created on Google Maps around the morning of November 3, 2025, quickly becoming a social media phenomenon. As of the same night, this fictional restaurant had received more than 500 reviews, achieving an impressive average score of 4.7 stars.

More notably, in addition to the teasing comments, this virtual location also has more than 160 review photos attached with a variety of funny topics.

From photos of pho restaurants created with AI (artificial intelligence), humorous check-in photos at random locations, to "heartfelt" comments about the taste of pho or the service attitude of "Anh Hai".

The game Brother Hai's Pho Restaurant has a design that is boldly Vietnamese. Photo: Marisa0704.

In fact, the sudden appearance and popularity of "Pho Anh Hai" on Google Maps is a direct result of the viral effect of a game that is "causing a fever" on social networks called Brother Hai's Pho Restaurant .

Brother Hai's Pho Restaurant is a horror game with simulation elements, developed by a Vietnamese programmer with the nickname "Marisa0704". The game is set in a small pho restaurant in the Vietnamese countryside, where players take on the role of a character who serves customers and explores many strange mysteries.

The game quickly attracted the curiosity of hundreds of thousands of users, quickly becoming a hot topic across forums and social networking platforms.

Many Anh Hai pho restaurants have been added to the map. Photo: GG Maps.

However, by the morning of November 4, the above location no longer appeared in the Dan Phuong area, Hanoi . However, in the same area, many other fictional pho restaurants named "Anh Hai" were added. Previously, no restaurant in Vietnam appeared on the platform with this identity.

Adding new locations based on the game can be a fun thing to do. However, it can cause chaos and confusion in navigation apps like Google Maps. There was a time when the map was vandalized just to add locations for the game Pokemon Go! .

Unique Internet Phenomenon

The game's great appeal lies in its ability to meticulously and realistically recreate the everyday life in Vietnam. Every detail in the game is designed to evoke the familiarity of real-life street food stalls.

It has an old patterned tile floor, a typical green painted wall, green plastic chairs, a jar of chopsticks, fresh chili, and a yellow sign with red letters. In particular, on the wall there are also familiar "visual specialties" such as concrete cutting and drilling leaflets and slogans against social evils - creating a space with a strong Vietnamese character.

It is this closeness and high entertainment value that has prompted fans to turn the "Pho restaurant" into a virtual check-in location on Google Maps.

The barbecue restaurant is "famous" because it owns a dog that looks like the character "Cau Vang" in the game. Photo: Grill restaurant in the alley.

The game's impact didn't stop at the virtual pho restaurant on Google Maps. The online community quickly discovered a barbecue restaurant in Hanoi that owned a dog that looked similar to the character "Cau Vang" (Mr. Gold) in the game.

This Bull dog has accidentally become a sought-after "character" in real life. Despite the rainy and cold weather in the capital, many customers have come to the restaurant just to meet and take pictures with the dog.

Faced with great public interest and many rumors spreading on social networks, author Marisa0704 firmly affirmed that this game is an independent development project, originating from personal passion and ideas, not a Graduation Project as some information had previously speculated.

Source: https://znews.vn/quan-pho-anh-hai-len-google-maps-tram-nguoi-vao-khen-ngon-post1599686.html