Saigon Diner

$ 7.31 for a large bowl of Phở is not bad. Broth and beef were both flavorful. They didn’t skimp on noodles or meat either. Food came out quickly. I just have to take one star off for lack of customer service.

Great Banh Mi (Viet Sandwiches) highly recommend the Banh Mi Thit Nuong (BBQ Pork) with egg and extra butter! Became a regular since I work down the street. The only downfall is they’re location gets them a lot of traffic so during lunch time they can be pretty busy. I call and order ahead of time now so I can drive, pick up, and leave. I don’t know any other good Vietnamese restaurants in this area, so I definitely recommend them if you are thinking of trying them out. Maybe ½ stars off since the Phở (noodles) isn’t «amazing» compared to others I’ve had, but the cashier/​owner is nice, I only speak English and she’s maybe is not as fluent with English so she may come off as «not listening» …idk! I eat here regularly, try em out! Oh and try their café sua da! (Viet coffee) …super dank!

BBQ Pork Vermicelli should be renamed to vermicelli and lettuce. Very little meat, and very little value, and poorly constructed to boot, but there is a reason for that it seems.
The dish is constructed in a fashion to make you believe you are getting plenty of food, but it is just an overpriced, tasteless, deceitful dish. Mostly lettuce on the bottom, topped by gobs of noodles, and maybe a dozen dry slices of bbq pork. There was cucumber but it wasn’t discovered until I was almost finished eating because it was hidden in the forest of lettuce on the bottom.
Same with their phở. Mostly noodles, very little meat.

I wanted to get the mango jabanero really bad after coming back from the medical center area. I passed by M&M Grill but it was so packed that I decided to go somewhere closer to work. On my way I saw Saigon Diner and I remembered how often I used to go here. When I entered, I was happy to see the familiar décor. I wanted the tofu but they were out of tofu so I ordered the General Tso’s chicken. It was fresh as the line cook had forgotten to prepare my meal. The owner saw that I had been sitting there and apologized. I was going to leave and never return but her kind words and the way she handled it was the sweetest thing any restaurant owner has ever done. It totally made my day!

I’m a regular here for their bahn mi’s. They’re super cheap and delicious. I also enjoy their boba drinks. If I have any complaints about this place is that I’m not a huge fan of their spring rolls, and the service is SUPER SLOW! They have very few people working here so I find myself only going here when I have plenty of time because you definitely won’t get your food in a flash.
The only thing that stood out to me here was that quite a while back one of the ladies serving my table told me in Spanish not to leave a tip because she said the owner keeps all the tips. That really says a lot about a place. I really felt bad for her.

The only reason I have come to this location the few times I have is because its super close to work. After this time, I will not go back– I will drive an extra mile to different Viet restaurants off Tidwell. The 3 times I have been here I tried Phở Bo, Bang Mi, Bun Thit Nuong and all have not been good. Never fresh and bland. This time it tasted like the food was literally bad-​like rotten and the pork tasted like they cooked it 2 hours ago (I went in at 1). Even the fish sauce was bad. I am half Vietnamese raised with Viet food all my life so I know what it should taste like and I’m OK with going to restaurants close to work with sub par food, but not like this. I am not one to send anything back so I just stopped eating. Service is always bad, but that’s no surprise.

I go to this place all the time for lunch, their Banh Mi BBQ Pork is really good, the bread is always fresh and the pork has good flavor. I’ve also had their Phở and it’s flavorful as well. I’m not a big fan of the smoothies though so I’d skip those.
They get really busy at lunch and are sometimes short handed, but service is pretty quick otherwise.

Good phở, Bun, Com. Solid bahn mi. Don’t go for the tea, it’s a bonus not the specialty.

I have only been to this place for lunch. It is real close to my office. I stopped in today for some Phở Ga. Service is very quick. I had my bowl of phở before I could eat the spring roll that came with the combo. I have had better but you cant beat the price. The spring rolls are really good here.

I stopped by for lunch and had a lunch special that included beef noodle soup, an egg roll, and a drink. The meal came out pretty quickly. the service was relatively friendly. THe food was just okay though. This place is close to my office so I’ll give them another go for lunch and try something different.

I came here on recommendation by a friend… i needed something quick and close to home.
i’ve actually never been here prior to this…
so we ordered the grilled pork banh mi… its pretty good. the bread was crisp and not hard. the meat well seasoned and the best part is they didnt shaft me on the lard butter… yum…it definitely makes a difference in the sandwich.
i was disappointed that they didnt have a bigger boba selection.
they mainly make smoothies and some other drinks. i tried the green tea smoothie with boba. to my surprise the boba was pretty good. not that sweet but definitely not hard or chewy. so pretty good. the green tea smoothie is not my favorite. im not really into boba smoothies but for what its worth, it was decent. you get to pick sizes as well. there’s a large or a regular. about 3 – 4 dollars a drink.
so if you need a quick fix, you’ll probably find it here.
A-​OK in my book.

I’m just gonna say it though I hate being rude. This place sucks.
The food is blah, and the milk tea is even more blah.
At least atone for it by being cheap… but no.
The 2^nd time I went here, they were out of nearly every type of milk tea except for like 2. Unfortunately it’s the only milk tea place in this area so we’re not left with much options.

Okay, so I’m craving something good, so I decide to try the Vietnamese place near where I live. I decide Saigon for dinner. Good choice. I cannot comment on the phở because I got the marinated beef cubes with fried rice. I was really good — the beef was tender and tasty. The rice was good too. My only disappointment was the salad that came with it – no dressing. maybe this is how its supposed to come? IDK — kinda bland if you ask me.
At any rate, the place is nice and clean– and eco-​friendly with energy star light bulbs (those weird ones that are the curly que kind). Okay, so all in all, a decent meal for a decent price. I will be back to try the phở.

I came here on a Saturday night for a quick bowl of phở. I walked through the door at 7:30 pm to an empty room. Maybe that should have been my cue to walk back out but my Unilocal addiction forced me to stay and snag the FTR, regardless of the outcome.
I called out to the staff in the back and a lady came out to tell me they’ll only do take out because they close in half an hour. I can wolf down a bowl of phở in 5 minutes flat, but the place was empty so I figured I’d cut them some slack.
So I ordered my phở to go (haha that rhymes) and an order cha gio, provided they let me eat the cha gio there. That was ok with them. When the cha gio came out, there was just the rolls, lettuce and sauce. They were actually really good, nice and crispy and not too oily. I really missed the cucumber and pickled carrots though. It’s just not the same without them.
So I got my phở home and busted open the bag to prepare it. Broth. Check. Noodles. Check. Meat… WTF, why is it cooked? Weird. Cilantro, onions, jalapenos, bean sprouts. Check. Basil. Basil? BASIL? WHAT, NO BASIL? Those bastards! So I assembled my cooked meat, basil free phở and dug in. The broth was a little bland, but decent. It was edible, but that’s not the most enticing way to describe any food.
The restaurant itself was nice enough. Pretty new, contemporary design, very much like a cool youngster café I would have hung out in when I was 16. I don’t mean that in a bad way either.
Prices were a little higher than most, but we’re talking just a teeny little higher. Most Vietnamese places are really cheap to begin with so you can still get a meal here for under $ 10.
As I was leaving, the lady told me to come back for a bbq pork banh mi. She said their banh mi was really good. With the deli counter right in the open and lots of signs promoting the banh mi, maybe that’s their specialty. I may just give them another shot.