Saigon Le

Best Vietnamese food in town. However, it was destroyed by fire on March 8, 2016. Will miss the spring rolls, Saigon rolls, and sweet and sour soup, which were all Best in Memphis. Owners say they will rebuild. I sure hope so!

This place is amazing! All the ingredients are so fresh. We eat here at least once a week. I like the Vietnamese Hot and Sour soup with chicken. She makes an awesome seaweed salad too! The Saigon Le egg rolls are a «must have»!! As well as the bacon wrapped shrimp on skewers.

I finally visited Saigon Le and my life will never be the same. It seemed only a moment after our order was placed that heaping plates of steaming, pungent goodness were being placed on the table. The server immediately demanded I put chili paste in the peanut sauce for my spring rolls and I am forever grateful for her sassiness.
I had the kung pao tofu, spring rolls, and veggie wontons. This deliciousness, coupled with the eclectic crowd, and the blunt server who told me exactly what to order after I asked her too many questions about the menu were the perfect complement to an afternoon spent at Crosstown Arts.

This restaurant has made a turn back to Excellence since new management 6 months ago. Delicious food at an excellent price. I eat here once a week! And never disappointed.

Soup and egg rolls were great! It was my first time trying the Vietnamese Phở Tai soup. Like all other Far Eastern meals, it was much more food than I could handle.
Saigon Le is a great asset to the Memphis food scene as it has consistently won Best Vietnamese in the Memphis Flyer Best of Memphis issue.

The restaurant has a nice selection of appetizers and main entries. Food is yummy in general. I think the restaurant can survive in a city like Memphis due to lack of competition from other Vietnamese restaurants. The two servers here yell and rarely use inside voice. Food is yummy but dining environment needs improvement.

Superior. Now under new management. Homemade sauces. Friendly owner. Best Vietnamese in Memphis.

For the entire 4 years I moved out of state for college, the one thing I craved most was not bbq, but the VEGETARIAN SAIGON EGG ROLLS at Saigon Le. I seriously had dreams about them, they are that good. I am not a vegetarian, but for whatever reason these are more flavorful and amazing than the regular ones. Comes with a big plate of fresh herbs and lettuce with sauce for dipping… Ahh I want some right now! My other favorites include ginger chicken, lemongrass tofu, curry chicken soup, special steamed vegetables, chicken wings, the lost goes on. By far one of my favorite places to eat in Memphis, TN.

Every time my husband is in the area I have him pick up take out.
The cream cheese wontons almost melt in your mouth. The wonton soup is amazing. It’s not just broth and wontons. They add slices of pork and vegetables. It’s very flavorful. The fried rice is delicious with a little bit of everything in it.
This is food we crave time and time again.

Food was OK, nothing spectacular. Service was not great. Had to flag someone down to get refill on drink. Servers did not smile at all. Just kind of gave a bad atmosphere. Sheriff was escorting someone out in first 5minutes in restaurant.

Everything I’ve ever gotten here is great. Lots of choices for vegan too. Service is great and it’s inexpensive. Portions are large. Definitely recommend the spring rolls and black bean tofu.

This is hands down my ultimate favorite restaurant in Memphis for lunch and try to eat here every time I’m around midtown. I even usually order takeout for later. Fried cream cheese are great. Wonton soup is always the best with the pork and vegetables. The lunch menu is priced super cheap and each dish is individually specially hand made and delivered fast. Only problem is I’m not educated enough in Vietnamese cuisine to know what each meal is. I always choose my shrimp chicken beef or pork and just guess which dish to order. So far I’ve never been disappointed but it is always a surprise when I discover what they bring me.
Suggestion 1. Make your lunch menu separate with pictures and descriptions. This will help the dumb people like myself
Suggestion 2. Customers are promptly greeted with a glass of ice water but are never offered an soda drink. Most of Those who are not offered a drink will likely settle for the water they already have. This could increase your revenues. Try it.
I’ve eaten here at least thirty times. I doubt you will see me post five stars for another restaurant.
Thank you for all the hard work you do each and every day. You serve your customers with a great experience and unparalleled food. You excel at what you do!

Those 2 females that wait tables are a trip, scowl at you if you are a female, giggle girlish if a male. But I refuse to let them run me away as I love their food. I asked her once what the woman next table over was eating. She replied she didn’t know, wasn’t her table. I still go when in memphis as the spring, egg rolls are so good.

I’m a creature of habit, so when I find a dish I like, I stick to it. I go to Saigon Le for the lemongrass tofu, which might be the best I’ve ever had. The price is excellent and the portion is very generous. The service is also great, the people that work there have a lot of personality. I hit it up about once a week, and when I sit in instead of getting take out, the server just says to me, «Lemongrass tofu?»
Some people prefer Phở Binh — they are both excellent, and entirely different styles of lemongrass tofu.
This place is a Memphis treasure.

I love all types of food… and I will try anything twice… except olives and beets…
But when it comes to my favorite restaurant in the entire world… one would think that as an American, it would be a burger place… as a Southerner, it would be a bbq joint… and as a Jew, a deli…
However…my favorite restaurant in the ENTIRE world… hands down, no questions asked, undisputed… is a hole-​in-​the-​wall Vietnamese restaurant named Saigon Le.
I love Saigon Le. I am truly, madly, deeply, in love with Saigon Le with all my mind, body, and soul. Let me state for the record… I love Siagon Le. I am truly, madly, deeply, in love with Siagon Le with all my mind, body, and soul.
This place is beyond legit… dont go for the ambiance, décor, or service… but for the food. This place has won countless «best of», «favorite», and food awards from local and national publications.
This place would be where my last meal comes from… and here is my last meal menu… the menu I recommend to all people who go…
Albert’s favorite meal of all time… TO BE SHARED among family and friends… if you truly love someone and want what is best for them, a meal at Saigon Le is the best gift you can give them:
–Order of Saigon Rolls… ten perfectly cooked mini egg rolls that you wrap in fresh lettuce and dip in fish sauce
–Order of Birds Nest… ten perfectly fried mini egg rolls with a different batter than siagon rolls that you wrap in lettuce and dip in fish sauce
–Chicken Wings
–Veggie Egg Foo Yong… best egg foo yong in America according to my dad
–½ AND ½ MUSSELS… off the menu item. MINDBLOWING
–Chicken Lo Mein
PERFECTION IN EVERY WAY!!!
BEFORE YOU GO TO ALL THE BBQ AND FRIED CHICKEN MECCAS IN MEMPHIS… SAIGON LE MUST BE YOUR FIRST STOP.

I believe a 3-​star rating is appropriate for Saigon Le, but I would also say that I frequent this location more frequently than the rating would lead on. Also, I have only tried maybe 6 or 7 different items on their extensive menu. The value for their lunch specials is fantastic. Service is usually fairly prompt. Their chinese food is average. The vietnamese options are clearly better, and their charbroiled pork dishes on rice or vermicelli are well above average. Their fish sauce is very well made. The phở is also above average, but not among the best I have had. The location is a complete dive, but the food is good enough to ignore the surroundings.
TLDR: Dive restaurant with cheap lunch specials. Vietnamese dishes are better than their Chinese selections. For Vietnamese food, it is above average but not close to the best in the Southeast.

Spring rolls sucked… I asked no pork so she comes back and says we added bean sprouts today. I HATE sprouts. So that spring roll was ruined and it’s not served w peanut sauce like it says.
The beef phở was not good. Very greasy no taste and it had some random tentacles from god knows what in it. I took all the meat out of it. It smells very gamey and my lips feel like I just smeared it in butter. I will never come here again. Phở Vietnam needs to open back up!

«Don’t judge a book by its cover, and don’t judge a restaurant by its neighborhood!»
I stay in med district and I never went to Saigon Le because of its sketchy looking façade. I finally tried out this restaurant and I was definitely impressed by it extensive menu. It certainly has lots of variety for a reasonable price.
We ordered two tofu dishes, one with black bean sauce and other one with lemon grass. Both the dishes were way beyond my expectations. They were one of the best tofu-​dishes I had in Memphis. I was delighted by its taste and I got a feeling that it was too authentic and not Americanized (I do not have any Vietnamese friend who can help me decide about its authenticity).
The staff was also friendly. My friends told me that the restaurant is generally very crowded during lunch time and lots of people prefer take-​away during dinner time. I went there for dinner and I just saw people carrying boxes.
I am definitely visiting this restaurant once again. I recommend everyone to give it a try.

«Were you doing what I think you were doing, V?» Grandma looked up from her People magazine and shot me a stern look.
«What?» I gulped down a mouthful of rice, «Who is the girl next to George Clooney?»
«Just another Italian model. I think you just spooned the butter sauce from the mussels over your rice before you put it into your mouth. You know that butter and rice ain’t supposed to mix. We had been eating rice for thousands of years before butter came along. Don’t act like an alien just because you have spent more than a decade abroad. «
“But the sauce is so good. You always told me not to waste anything…»
That’s what would have happened if my grandma were present when I had mussels at Saigon Le, and if she spoke English.
I love mussels but had never ordered mussels in a Vietnamese place until Saigon Le, now I know. Judging from the menu, it’s one of their specialities. The green mussels were huge and meaty – move over pork, mussel is The Other White Meat. The (French influenced?) butter sauce was so good that I couldn’t help soaking it up with the rice.
I also enjoyed the vermicelli salad with Vietnamese grilled pork. The pork was succulent and flavorful, and I discovered lots of salad greens at the bottom of the bowl, a welcomed variation much to my surprise.
I like the fact that their dining room is small and sectioned, imparting a sense of coziness, unlike a few other Vietnamese places all with one big open room where I can’t seem to find a place to hide.
I could see why their service registered quite a few complaints on Unilocal but I didn’t experience anything unpleasant myself. «Attitudes» stemming from cultural differences and language barriers rarely faze me.
We counted 12 cats in their back parking lot one evening as we were leaving and I was mildly intrigued.

Let’s me make this simple for you guys. As a frequent connoisseur of Vietnamese cuisine, Saigon Le is good for only egg rolls and fried rice. You want phở? Go to Phở Vietnam (which is only around the corner on Poplar) or Phở Saigon. You want service? With the exception of New Que Huong in Collierville, you won’t really find much service in any Vietnamese restaurants in the area.
Since enough people had talked about the 10 Saigon Mini Egg Rolls, yes, it’s delicious! But the egg rolls at Phở Hoa Binh is comparable. Phở Hoa Binh also have a lunch buffet which includes egg rolls. And, for that price, Phở Hoa Binh cannot be beaten.
Let me just get into the special fried rice cause it’s just RIDICULOUS! It got the right amount grease and the right amount of meats and vegetation. If you never had Chinese sausage in your fried rice, you don’t know what you’re missing. First of all, I’m Asian and I eat fried rice growing up. Typically I make fried rice myself, but when I’m just lazy, I’ll just go get the one from Saigon Le. I think I just stereotyped myself…
The Chinese food in general at this restaurant is just not good, but I wouldn’t say bad. Even Yao’s Downtown is better (not that it means anything). I’d rather drive to Mulan at Cooper-​Young for Chinese. Asian Palace, Fulin, Mosa (certain items), Wang’s, and Mulan are about the only good Chinese restaurants in this town.
So in summary, if you want good Vietnamese, go elsewhere. If you want good Chinese, go elsewhere. If all you want is fried rice and eggrolls, well, this is your place.