saigon restaurant

rediscovering an old favorite. we have dined periodically at saigon over the years, and always liked it. but the lure of newer and arguably flashier asian restaurants has gobbled up much of our dining attention recently. so, after about a year's absence we decided to return to this old vietnamese standby in bel air plaza.
shame on us for being away for so long!
first off, the place visually hasn't changed since our last visit. it remains a very pleasant dining room, with high back booths along the wall of windows, and tables and a small bar filling out the remainder of the room. the tv was muted, but had the food network on. whatever...
and the background music remains as odd and vaguely off-putting as ever. mellow pop and country. seriously? it's just wrong for this sort of restaurant.
but, they have a new menu. and it is chock full of absolutely wondrous delights!
the first clue that diners are in for a nice experience comes quickly: the ice water glasses come complete with a thin slice of cucumber. better than lemon. better than lime. it really jazzes up plain old h2o. only a few other omaha restaurants do this. every one ought to.
then there is the beer and cocktail menu. while i usually stick to hot tea while eating asian cooking, they have some excellent beers here, including one new to me...saigon. it is wonderfully full bodied, and is now my favorite asian beer!
the new menu is 4 full pages long, plus a 2 page special menu advertising new dishes. i must have spent 15 minutes debating with myself what to order. everything sounded soooo good, i wanted to order something from every section: the soups, the vermicelli bowls, the meals for two, meat items, the seafood dishes, and even the interesting vegetarian offerings. i ended up with the pork clay pot, and my husband chose the grilled pork vermicelli bowl with thinly sliced raw veggies. the pork clay pot was attractively served with the meat, sliced peppers, carrots and onions still sizzling in the pot. and the flavor of chargrilled pork permeated the vermicelli and raw veggies, creating a fascinating blend of barbeque aroma amidst the noodles and thinly sliced veggies. we loved every bite! each main course was large enough to take a portion home.
we had started with the always good spring rolls, plus a new item, flaky pastries filled with pork in the center. yum!
and a word or three about the hot and sour soup: it is much lighter tasting than the chinese version i am so familiar with. and it has just a touch of sweetness. believe it or not, it was a perfect soup for a warm summer evening.
our service was excellent. water glasses were refilled seemingly every 5 minutes, and the wait staff checked back on us regularly. only when we asked for take out containers did we have to wait longer than expected. still, we were in and out in about an hour. that included my delay in deciding what to order.
and meal prices are really dirt cheap for such high quality food. there is no way i could ever cook these foods at home for a lower cost, and it would take me hours. in contrast, the beer and wine prices are more typical of most restaurants in the city.
if you enjoy asian cooking, you will take joy in saigon restaurant. it is absolutely one of metro omaha's finest asian dining options.
food: a
atmosphere: b+
service: a-
menu sophistication: a
value: a


-----23 oct, 2010-----

vietnamese done with style. saigon has been open for many years, and offers consistent quality food in an attractive atmosphere. the lunch menu is a bit streamlined as compared with other asian restaurants, but it offers a nice selection of soups, noodle dishes as well as veggie, shrimp and meat dishes served with steamed rice. i wish some of the appetizers could be ordered in individual sized portions. most come in shareable portions.
lunch entrees are all less than $10. expect to pay a bit more at dinner.

this of one of my comfort food restaurants. love the pho and the other noodle soups. crab rangoons are the best in town. the egg rolls are great too. we have always had great service when we went.

wonderful treat. had a chance to enjoy a wonderful lunch at this place. simply put you can't go wrong here. service was awesome and the food was very tasty. the portions are very generous. saigon was well lit and clean. yes it has a slight mom and pop diner feel, but so what, it is really cozy. waitress even asked if we had eaten there before and was happy to assist with suggestions and understanding of the different condiments. of the various places to have eaten pho, this ranks in my top 5. there is one "issue" that isn't even saigon's problem. parking may be an issue so be prepared for a short walk to this restaurant. will i go back? you had better believe it!

authentic and delicious!. my husband and i have been coming here for years, and i have to say it's the best vietnamese food in town! the price is amazing, too! don't be scared off by the location either... not all business opened when sw fw was being developed so you get what you get! i also have to mention how amazing the two waitresses are that work there. they been there for years (i feel bad because i don't know their names... but it's a little too late to ask at this point) they work so quickly and efficiently even though the place is always packed. they both know our typical order now and even go out of their way to brew our tea just the way we like it! you must try this place.. and get the "noodle #5" and egg rolls!

hidden gem. i never would have thought to eat her if a local wouldn't have dragged me here. everything is awesome. vietnamese coffee is great & best egg rolls you'll ever have. cash only. ask server for suggestions on menu. most likely the descriptions on the menu will be confusing ;)

great little resturant with a relax feeling. i still haven't had a bad meal there, the pho is amazing along with a nice selection of appetizers. while the food and price is wonderful the service however is poor. i hate doing take out but i normally have to with this restaurant, the servers are most likely the children of the owners. they are really not attentive, cheerful or professional. again i really love the food but i would strongly recommend placing an order to go. i would definitely give a 5 but the service is always bad.

clean nice kept place. good fresh food. had a grilled & sliced short rib the beef galbi. came with diakon kimchi small salad & rice grilled onion with the beef.

shame on you!!!! we were out in the storm last night with tornado sirens going off. our original plans were to eat at saigon but we also needed to take shelter. they originally told us to come in after the door was locked. my boyfriend assisted his elderly mother out of the car. he then pulled over to a parking spot to let us pull up (we came in two separate vehicles). he got my daughter out of the car and was starting to help me when they started to motion to stop. when we came in the waiter told us his manager or owner told him to tell us they were closing due to the weather and we had to go. we said we didn't even have to eat we just needed to get out of the storm. they still made us leave. they sent an elderly lady, a young girl and a couple back out in the heart of the storm. nothing else was open and we ended up having to take shelter underneath a bridge!!!! we are or should i say were regular customers and you treated us like this. never again will i eat at your restaurant. i work at a food establishment and i assure you, my boss would never send away someone let alone in a tornado!!!!!!!

the real deal. this place is good- 'nuff said.

genuine cuisine. i only went there once, but generally speaking the food is really close to the vietnamese cuisines that tourists would find in vietnam. it has great good, service, and amazingly low price. recommend to anyone who loves asian food, especially who likes rice, and noodles.

they are open still. they had a sign saying they were closed that weekend for family reasons

servers use same cloth cleaning tables with the same cloth with which the seats are wiped. menu pricing aren't updated. less meat was given in pho soup, less chicken in sweet and sour dish, and less of everything in ingredients but price has gone up. great way to take customer's hard earned money and assuming customers aren't smart enough to know the difference. increased your price but lowered the ingredients, you shake down the cost onto the customers. but i was still going to the restaurant and ignored all that flaws. until they are starting to get every penny and cent out of random customers. i haven't paid much attention to my bills at saigon until over the weekend eating at saigon, i realized they automatically add hidden tips/fee to my final bill when tipping should be voluntary, not forced. we didn't have large parties, hidden tipping/fee were added to even single/two person diners. saigon will also add their desirable amount of tipping onto your bill without your knowledge or consent.and they are selective on which customer they does this to. this has become common occurrence to few of my friends who dine in here regularly. but this is the first time this has happened to myself. i have told restaurant worker about this, and told them customers should have the right to tip however much they see fit with the exception if it is a large group/party. their responses was you didn't give tip and our worker works hard. i think we all have worked hard for our money, so that's irrelevant response to why you could put down any tipping amount onto a customer's bill. and if the service wasn't good, why should a customer been forced to tip? she refused give me the print out receipt. only willing to give me back the tips that she took. i didn't want the tips back. i wanted the receipt. in the end she still wasn't willing to give me that print out receipt has a proof of her adding the tipping amount on and only willing to write on a piece of paper of what i ordered.
not going to come back. i've been eating here for years, and sad to say, saigon it's not the same as it once were.

terrible value. small portion size. small amount of food swimming in pool of watery sauce. feels like i ate nothing. not friendly service. stay away from this place. don't waste your money.

this place has been open since, well, before i would have been willing to try vietnamese food. now, this is on my short list of "let's go somewhere different for lunch" places.

the decor is like a cross between a diner and a chinese restaurant. clean and well lit, but nothing special. atmosphere isn't the reason to come here, or a reason to stay away.

the staff is polite and service is prompt. i would appreciate a little more help in the way of offering advice and suggestions, but it may be that i am the only person that needs the help.

appetizers here are good, and come in small portions that won't ruin your appetite. the pate so is a very interesting meat paistery that i love, and the spring rolls are just what you would expect.

the stir fry dishes are​ all good - but the best i've ever had, but they are good enough to scratch the itch. the soups and stews, however, are the real reason i go to this place. the pho and the seafood soups are big, well prepared a always satisfying.

this isn't my favorite place in town, buy i've never had a bad meal here. in a competitive market like omaha, you can't stay open for not than 20 years without good did at reasonable prices. that is what you seek find here.

eating here was a treat. i went on a suggestion to get their beef pho which i've never had before. it was very tasty and cheap but there was a lingering smoke from the kitchen that was irritating after a few minutes. i would eat here again however i think thai kitchen easily beats saigon.