Saigon Cafe

Sadly, Saigon Café has closed. The owner couple have at long last earned their retirement. We will miss their friendly smiles, conversation, and food.
The spot has reopened under new management and is serving Chinese and Salvadoran food… not sure about that business model.

Great bang for your buck! Wish they were still open. Good for lunch!

I came here from time to time when I was really craving Vietnamese food and some fried bananas. The restaurant is located in a super awkward location and their food is sub par, but it was the only Vietnamese restaurant when I was at UVa.
My very last time going here was with a pretty large group of friends and one found a live cockroach roaming around in her bun thit nuong [grilled pork over rice vermicelli noodles].
I really hope that their standards have improved ever since that experience. But even if they have, I would be very reluctant to go back.
Food: 0
Value: 1
Service: 3
Overall: 1

This is the perfect mom and pop Vietnamese restaurant. They are not a phở house, nor do they have phở in their name to claim so. When going here you have to realize there is more to Vietnamese cuisine than just phở. Their vermicelli rice noodle dishes are amazing and their spring rolls are fantastic. It is just what I want on a nice Friday night. The atmosphere is always quiet so you almost never have to talk over other people. The lady and gentleman who run this place are really quiet, but super sweet and willing to help you with whatever you need.

Just go in and say you want 901 and 102. You’re welcome.
Many of their other dishes are amazing as well such as shaking beef, chicken in garlic sauce. Also can’t beat their lunch specials.
This place is glorious.

I came here just to try the phở. There is one phở option on the menu. The person (Bat M) who got the wonton soup when they ordered phở probably got their order messed up. The phở was just okay. Very inexpensive. They add a bit of hot sauce to their fish sauce and peanut sauce. Interestingly, they shave their limes. No jalapenos, basil or lemongrass came with the phở. The meat is precooked. Interesting broth. Not a very complex broth, but better than Moto Phở downtown.

I REALLY want to like this place. The staff is incredibly nice, and it’s only one of two Vietnamese restaurants in Charlottesville, and actually NEITHER are exclusively Vietnamese!
When I pulled up, I was wondering why the parking lot wasn’t full. Why there was no one inside when I walked in. Who doesn’t like Vietnamese food? I soon got a guess.
First off, service is not on the level of American restaurant expectations. It’s downright slow here. When I arrived, there was one employee doing everything. And there were five tables waiting to be bussed. Lo and behold, eventually a woman popped out of a closet as if she’d just woken up from a nap. In her slippers. I don’t know, she might be the owner and live there on the premises.
What this place does very well is give you a lot of food for a very good price. When you order spring rolls, you get THREE! The problem is, it’s just mediocre in taste. My rice noodles in my rice noodle salad were way too warm. They’re supposed to be room temperature.
If you’re a person who is not too picky with your Vietnamese, then you will love this place. My problem is that I’ve had better.
I did notice several people ordered food to go, so I’m guessing Saigon Café has a decent takeout clientele.

This place does NOT sell phở! It is wonton soup accompanied by bean sprouts. Even the noodles are wrong. This place is the WORST!

Best Vietnamese restaurant in C’Ville ! Great tasting food, very fresh and affordable !!! Lunch specials only $ 3.76 with tax. Owners are very nice people.

The owner is a sweet little lady that managed the front of the restaurant. Unfortunately everything else was poor from the décor to the food. Walking into this place is like getting on a time machine to the 80’s. My husband got the beef phở that tasted like a child made it. I had some kind of stir fry noodle that was cheap buffet quality.

Now that it’s super hot outside, we should celebrate with hot soup!
We wanted to introduce some friends to the wonders of phở, and there’s a place in town!
We started off with the vegetable rolls. Crunchy, offered with large lettuce leaves, and a very liquid sweet and sour (not bad, just not used to the consistency).
A couple of us ordered phở: beef soup, rice noodles, sprouts on the side. Some of the fancier places I’ve been to offer a larger variety of fresh greens to add, and several types of sauce. However, I think there’s something to be said for simplicity :) There wasn’t a vegetarian phở option unfortunately, but there were plenty of other foods to be had.
Service: quick, courteous!
Also, if you’re looking for a budget option, this place is GREAT.
As for the people complaining about there being different phở options: aren’t you amazed that there is phở is C’ville AT ALL?! I sure am.

It had been 5 years or so since my last visit to Saigon. The phở is much improved although it still doesn’t compare to anything found at the Eden Center in Falls Church. My dish was laking thai basil but did come with a lime wedge and mung bean sprouts. They now have Bahn xao on the menu which I’ll try soon.

Food: Their «Phở» tastes more like regular noodle soup. Maybe if they advertised it as «Oriental Noodle Soup» rather than «Phở» noodles, people won’t expect the traditional phở taste and would actually enjoy their food.
Music: Sounds like a karaōke session gone bad. literally.
Service: Cute old couple
Conclusion? Food and Music definitely weigh much more heavily than the cute old couple who runs the place.
I would never go back there for Vietnamese food again!

You’re stupid if you went to Saigon looking for good phở. Lawl.
The extremely cheap vermicelli bowls (my fave is the pork) are what’s worth ordering at this establishment. The aging couple that runs the place are as sweet as can be.

Best Vietnamese food in Charlottesville, hands down. The Vietnamese spring rolls are amazing and crispy, and the vermicelli dishes delightful. The only reason it doesn’t get 5 stars is because the service is inconsistent, but if you do carry-​out like I usually do, it’s a 5 star, especially at the price.

I drove 2 hours for phở. It’s difficult finding phở on the east coast, and finding really great phở? Well I haven’t yet.
Saigon Café is a tiny little place. They have ONE option for phở, and that’s phở tai. So if you’re looking for chicken phở or vegetarian phở you’re out of luck. It wasn’t great phở, but it passed. It was pretty bland. I saw people ordering other food– it looked good. But then, looks can be deceiving, so I won’t comment on what other people were eating. ;)
And yes– they still have a $ 10 minimum if you want to use a credit card. So bring cash, or plan to eat a lot (the more fun choice)!

Are we all talking about the same place? The restaurant right near Cville café? Where they had a great porc vermacelli? The favorite was what we used to call the 901?
If I’m mistaken you can disregard whatever I write.
3 of my friends in a span of a month each found some kind of insect in their dishes. One of them had a dead grasshopper. Another one found a LIVE cockroach in her dish, and when told them, all they did was kill it… and left it there. They didn’t even refund her meal. It may taste good and be cheap, but it’s UNSANITARY.

Love this place! Of course, it is not as good as some Vietnamese restaurants in Northern Virginia. However, it is cheap and filling, what more can you ask for from a place that charges $ 6 to 7 per a dinner entrée?
Avoid Phở at all costs, it is awful. Surprisingly, Chinese food is what they do the best. Not as greasy as spots near the University, and the vegetables seem to be higher quality. Did I mention they give you a ton of food? From their vegetarian menu, I heartily recommend Tofu with bean sprouts. Tofu is perfectly crispy, and bean sprouts are cooked just right.
The only complaints I have with this place are that they don’t deliver, and the service can be painfully slow sometimes (An old couple and a helper seem to cook, serve, clean, and work the bills…)

I hate giving a place where I received such great service a mediocre rating but I gotta be honest. The food is a bit meh here. I grew up eating Viet food NON-​STOP from my mom, my in-​laws, my aunts, family friends, you name it, I’ve eaten their cooking at some point in my life. I’ve also dined out at my fair share of Viet restaurants and dives. In short, I know good Viet food pretty damn well.
Unfortunately, I think they missed the mark here. I don’t know if they tamed the flavors down or what, but their phở tai nam was pretty weak. I don’t know if they didn’t allow the broth to simmer longer or what, but it was definitely lacking in depth of flavor. I needed to add a ton more flavorings to it. They did offer me some good goi cuon for free, but I think I may have charmed them a little with some language skillz. Woot! ;-)
Overall, it’s a sad miss here. Again, I was treated super nice but in the end, what I want was the full experience: service with great food. I only got the former at Saigon Café.

Really cheap, generous portions, and tasty food. Wouldn’t mind going back but there are better and more authentic vietnamese restaurants in DC!