saigon restaurant

unbelievably good food, amazing service, reasonable price!. i noticed that this restaurant had an excellent rating and decided to give it a try. the moment i walked in the door, i was immediately charmed by the cozy, out-of-the-way feel -- and the delicious scent of the meals being served.

while i waited, a waitress brought me over a cup of tasty lotus tea, and a man placed in front of me a cup of quite possibly the most delicious cup of soup i've ever had. i settled in for what i thought would be a long wait since i ordered three entrees and a couple of appetizers. but i hadn't even finished my soup when the food came out, less than ten minutes later--and that was only because one of the entrees i'd ordered was apparently more "time consuming" to make. they were very friendly and welcoming and unlike many times i might order takeout, where you feel awkward and out of place while you wait around for your meal, i actually enjoyed the experience. considering it had been one of the hardest weeks of my life, i appreciated their collective kindness and great attitude.

the drive to my destination was close to torture, so overwhelming were the delicious scents coming from the bag in my back seat. i drove a little faster than normal, risking a speeding ticket to get it to my boyfriend's house sooner so i could try it.

i barely got in the door before we both ripped into the bag and dove into the feast like two starving beasts. normally, we have more manners and decorum, but honestly, the food was so damn good, it should have a warning label. i had the bun bo nuong (vermicelli with roasted beef), which had the most flavorful and deliciously spiced beef along with a generous assortment of shredded lettuce, mint, cilantro and pickled vegetables. my counterpart had the vit quay chien gion sot (roast duck with sweet and sour sauce). our dinnertime conversation, which is usually philosophical and interesting, consisted of "mmm. oh god. so good." rinse and repeat.

"where did you find this place?" my boyfriend asked, the first complete sentence he'd uttered in nearly a half hour. "that's the best vietnamese food i've ever had."

was he ever thrilled when i reminded him that he still had some egg rolls and another entree waiting for him. but he was too stuffed to even consider it.

his two standard poodles sat dejected in the corner, pouting. you see, he usually gives them a taste of his meal. but not this time--he was not in the mood to share a bite. better luck next time, guys.

i don't know what my dreams consisted of last night, but i seem to remember dancing in fields of mint and cilantro. a happy tummy usually equals happy dreams.

you would think that a meal of such quality would cost you. but three entrees, two of which were seafood and duck, plus two appetizers cost a little over fifty bucks. pretty reasonable, i'd say.

my sage diner's advice for the day? you need to try this place.

yum. the pho is amazing if you haven't been there yet this is one of the best in the fort

terrible experience. a favorite location for my wife and myself for years, but no longer. drove 20 minutes to order and carry out food. placed the order with a young female hostess and left with what i thought was all of my food. big mistake. i assumed that she would have confimred what was placed in my bag. i drove 20 minutes back home and discovered the spring rolls had shrimp in them instead of the vegetarian ones i ordered and my wife's beef rice noodle soup was not in the bag at all. drove 20 minutes back to the restaurant and had them cook an entire new order. they offered me about $3.50 compensation which was a disgrace and truly demonstrated how much i mean to them a s a long time customer. after nearly two hours total in travel and order time the entire meal should have been on the restaurant. i even gave her a $4 tip for simply putting the food i ordered into a bag which she failed to do. the young female hostess should find a new line of work. she tried saying i did not order the soup at first, but i reminded her about our conversation surrounding the soup after i stated that i wanted it. when i asked to talk to the manager she stated there was not one. what? very disappointed since we have always enjoyed eating there, but there are many other restaurants i the omaha area and i am sure we can find another one that will appreciate us much more.

bad service. i went so many times for the restaurant because of good food. but recently when i went with my family the food was not good as before and to my surprise for 3 people they charged 18% service tax. when i asked them they were very rude and saying we changed the policy charging 18% service tax. so how i didn't like the new people and the taste was not good as before. so be careful about the new service charge.

unexpected surprise. we were looking for a sit down oriental restaurant and happened to find this one listed close to where we were. it would have been worth the drive whether a mile or across town. the waiter, yujid (jerry) explained the menu, gave helpful advice and was very respectful of our lack of knowledge of vietnamese specific menu items. he made several suggestions- we had the seafood lo mien, sweet and sour pork and cashew chicken. we didn't go adventurous for food choices, but what we had was excellent. good ingredients, fresh vegetables and cooked to our liking. i would recommend this and will go back again. it was clean, friendly and was an actual sit down restaurant- not a buffet.

excellent. pork clay pot and pork fried rice are excellent. everything on the menu we have tried has been worth it. recommended.

extremely impressed. i had pho for the first time that my friend's mom made, and i was instantly hooked. he recommended saigon, and it did not disappoint. everyone was very friendly, the large size pho is very generous for the price, and it was absolutely delicious. i went in again this weekend, and they gave me a cup of tea while i was deciding what to order, and a small bowl of soup while i was waiting for my to-go order to be ready. i've only been twice and i already felt like a regular. i've been recommending it to everyone, and i will definitely go back soon.

great, inexpensive.. food and service were both excellent, very affordable. the egg rolls were tasty, and my girlfriend had a beef and noodle soup which was delicious. will be returning soon.

still the best!. three years since my first review, numerous other places tried from new england to the dc area and hawaii and still hands down saigon serves my favorite bowl of pho. somehow, even though i already loved this place, my last trip and bowl of pho was the best yet! just that much clearer and flavorful. everything else is great too, my other favorite thing is the chicken or beef on a stick served with salt and pepper in lemon or lime juice. and their bahn mi is a perfect takeout item. either saigon needs a second place further up the coast or we might have to move closer.


-----04 may, 2010-----

best pho yet!!. wow, the broth is perfect. we stopped here after a trip to hawaii where pho is sold on every corner and i can say that saigon in maine is on par with the best i tried in hi! the staff were great and wanted to help us prepare our dishes the way they would. a slight language barrier was easily overcome and their recommendations were right on. the large pho for $6.50 was a meal. now if they only gave us some red thai chiles for the pho? my new favorite restaurant, too bad it's so far from where we live.

expect nothing. several of the reviews on here note how terrible the service is here. i went by myself last night, sat at the bar for some pho tai and a vietnamese coffee (no room for the egg rolls, unfortunately) and had a wonderful experience. i went in with no expectation of good service due to the mixed reviews and was very pleasantly surprised. the whole floor was staffed by one woman (aside from a man that came out to cashier at some points) and they had 5-6 tables occupied so she couldn't hang around waiting on me, but she was very friendly. she showed me how to make the coffee, and smiled at my barely-passable pronunciation. in addition, the pho tai was incredible. i think i let the beef cook a little too long in the broth, as some of the last pieces i ate were a little tough, but other than that it was a perfect experience. i look forward to coming back and trying the egg rolls, which i've heard a lot about from friends, and exploring the rest of their menu.

saigon has it all - amazing food, great service and fabulous prices. i just wrote a vivid 2 paragraph description of all the ways i love saigon, and accidentally deleted it. without time to rewrite the whole thing, i have to give this place at least a few nods.
the ambiance is quaint and cozy, the staff are super attentive and helpful, the food is absolutely amazing and they do all their best to provide a great dining experience.
i've had the pho many times (without a doubt, best in portland), as well as vermicelli dishes and they are always amazing, hot, plentiful and affordable. sauces are always perfect.
the deal sealer for me was when this past winter, like every american around, i was brought to my knees with a horrible cold/flu. the only thing i craved was their pho broth. the owners/manager worked with me to prepare/price a special order where a few times a week i would order 2 lg containers of their broth and i sipped this throughout the days. it was stellar - spicy, sweet, not too salty, flavorful... just incredible. they are so kind, take care of their customers and really make sure all details are covered. go here and enjoy!!

by the time we left, i had managed to drown a craptastic day in a giant bowl of pho and fish sauce. mai and her staff at saigon are definitely serving up the cures to what may ail you and it's more than worth the trip out forest ave. to pay them a visit.

great food, worst service. on sunday, february 17th, we decided to try saigon for lunch because we'd heard such good things about this restaurant. the food was very good, indeed. that said, our waitress was unfriendly from the moment we sat down , beginning with her impatiently asking if we needed menus. that was the high point; her attitude went downhill rapidly from there. i felt lucky that she took our order. she never asked if we wanted anything to drink, never checked to see how things tasted, or if we wanted anything else as the meal wound down. she looked away every time i tried to get her attention to add another dish to the table or, finally, to get our check.
someone in an earlier review suggested that diners here should relax and go with the flow, but that's really a cop out. we typically tip in the 30% range and aren't especially demanding about anything. i do expect a menu, though, and i don't think it's too much to expect that a waiter or waitress might check back from time to time to see if things are going ok. getting back to the food, i would say that saigon is truly excellent. i'll order food to go in the future, but i doubt we will ever want to take a table there again.

goooddddd fooooddddd!!. i love their food. great eggrolls, tea, i love the pork with rice dish and my husband loves their soup! it is a total hole in the wall, but that is also part of what makes it interesting. there are people from everywhere there and it is truly a cultural experience.

favorite vietnamese restaurant in omaha. we’ve had lunch at this restaurant a couple of times. the appetizers are excellent. the noodle soups have a rich and luscious broth and the rice dishesare some of the best we’ve tasted. on the down side, there is a definite odor of heating gas or oil. reminded me of shopping in seoul, south korea back in the old days. it’s off-putting but one gets used to it within 15-20 minutes. and the first time i ordered the seafood noodle soup, the broth was lukewarm and the shrimp still cold; the taste was excellent though. it was a cold wintery day and i really wanted some piping hot soup. we mentioned it to the waitress when we paid the bill and she said the next time to let the staff know and they would immediately correct it. the next time we visited, i ordered a different noodle soup and it was piping hot...so delicious. the restaurant is clean and the service attentive and pleasant. the location a bit far for us to drive, but the food is worth it. we’ll be back!