Saigon Restaurant

Would give their Petty Ass a 0 stars. Asked for soy sauce the MF charged me 50 cents and broke my $ 20 to get it. PETTY PENNY PINCHERS. Wont be back!!!

Best chicken phở in Oakland. I’ve been to Vietnam a bunch of times and am a phở lover. This place knows how to cook good broth and awesome chicken. Tons of condiments too!

Food states so great and eating it make I feel happy with distinctive smell. I went to come Saigon restaurant n tried so many foods. Sometimes I must waited longtime in lunch time because very busy n full customers. But I still come there always because All the delicious dishes are there.

The phở here is not bad. Pretty average for a Vietnamese restaurant, the broth is a little sweeter than I prefer. I give this place a 2 star rating not because of the food but due to the overcharge placed on my card. When I went there for dinner with my colleagues I paid $ 9.80 for my phở, which to me is not a bad price. I left them a two dollar tip in cash so I didn’t have to leave one with my card. Come to find out when I checked my transactions this morning that I was charged an extra $ 1.20, which I know isn’t that much but still I think that is rude, unnecessary, and possibly illegal. I did not see any fine print stating that there was a minimum to be charged to a credit card.

I avoided this place for years because I thought it gave me migraines. So a few months ago, I went here for a co-worker’s goodbye party. I must have gotten the right thing that day because I didn’t get a migraine. As for our service, it started off OK but then fell off a cliff. A week or two ago I had a craving for curry, got it from here, and got a migraine.
The food is tasty; the people who work there are generally nice. I just can’t go here because I am evidently sensitive to some ingredient they use.

This place has been here for years, offers good service, good food and a comfortable quiet retreat from chaos outside. What more do you expect? Since my move to the area in 2005, I have seen Saigon weather: the Great Recession, Occupy Oakland (do you remember it? if not you shouldn’t post a negative review of this place), window shattering protests, and now, hipsterization and «foodie Oakland.» I occasionally visit (about 1x every year) and always leave well-​fed, nourished and ready for battle. My favorite is the phở soup. Thank you Thank you Thank you!!!

The phở here is OK, but not worth the close to $ 10 price tag for one bowl. I tried their special combination, thinking there would be nice chunks of sliced beef, beef balls, tripe, tendon, etc, but I could count how many pieces of each I received (not much of each). The broth was good though…

What’s not to like? I come here for the food.
Pros: Affordable. Tasty. Generous portion sizes. I haven’t had to wait long for my meals. Hot tea at every table.
Cons: Customer service is okay. Now, to make it clear, they don’t yell at you like at some Asian restaurants or make you feel like you’re wasting their time. But, they’re also not kissing their customers’ butts. I won’t be scared away just because they’re not bending over backward for me. Besides, I’m here to spend $ 10-​$ 15 total. If you want to get schmoozed by your server, go somewhere else.
I’ve had their phở, vermicelli noodles, fried spring rolls, and their roast chicken. Everything was good and well-​priced.

Best Vermicelli and Vietnamese Iced coffee in town. They give free hot and sour soup. Service isn’t really friendly but at least they are fast. If you get the dry vermicelli or Pork Chop rice plate you’ll thank me. Can’t comment on the Phở since I’ve never had it.

For a restaurant that is located in the Frank Ogawa Plaza, their service could have been better and quicker. Like, come on, you’re catering to business folks here. I ordered a rice plate with grilled pork, and it was alright. The meat was marinated well and their rice was normal. However, I anticipated a side of phở soup, but I got a Chinese sweet and sour tofu soup as a side. Threw me off completely and I don’t like that soup, so I only tried it– unsatisfactory.

This place is about average overall. I think they could work a little bit more on customer service. Food was okay. They have reasonably-​priced lunch plates which is good especially for the employees in that area. I did like their deep-​fried fish cake. Probably not going to be my go-​to spot for Vietnamese food but it’s a fairly good option.

I used to go here at least twice a week every week during my lunch break. I thought the place had great food until one day, they got my order wrong and I found a small cockroach in my food. I went back and complained and although they gave me my money back, they took no responsibility for it and simply responded that ‘it wasn’t theirs’.
Just read another Unilocal review that said someone found a maggot in their soup here. Wish I had known earlier. I do not recommend this place in the least bit.

Saigon had the best grilled pork spring rolls, shrimp spring rolls, wonton soup and vermicelli noodles with grilled pork chop. I love coming here with the variety and good food. It’s a nice place near the job to enjoy quality food. The staff is always friendly and accommodating. Will definatly make this one of my work top 5.

This food is not what other reviewers are writing about! The best Vietnam food around is Ba Vo on 17^th @Webster they used to be on 13^th @Franklin. The Saigon waitress was not friendly at all she was stone face, after taking my order of the vermicelli she disappeared never came back to check on me. the noddle bowl was ok the grilled chicken was dry had to ask for more sauce. you think I left a tip… Hell No! I will not be going back.

Located on the north eastern part of Fank Ogawa Plaza this restaurant is best at lunch.
Like most of the places along Ogawa Plaza they have a strong lunch crowd and the specials are very cost effective. You get a lot of lunch special for not too much money. They put a few tables outside for the lunch rush, but most everyone chooses to sit inside. The décor inside is unremarkable, chairs, tables, lots and lots of room and some traditional musical instruments on the walls.
Weekday evenings you’ll pretty much have the place to yourself.
They have some non standard Vietnamese items presumably to cater to local tastes such as sweet and sour pork. Conversely they do not have a full range of Vietnamese dishes such as Banh xeo (crispy pancakes). No salty plum or salty lemonade drink, but the sweet lemonade and Ca phe da (iced coffee) are excellent.
Personally I found the food to be good-​but not great.

This is the ‘cafeteria’, my go-​to spot for lunch. Huge menu and never had a bad meal. There are more exciting options in Oakland but I really like this place. Shrimp rolls are great and the chicken noodle soup is awesome.

I have been visiting this place often as this is the closest authentic Vietnamese. I have not had a problem, and I have been coming here for a year. They are fast and offer water and hot tea. Linda is very friendly and always running around getting people’s orders! They had put in the wrong order one time, and Linda literally ran into the kitchen to correct it. Love their soup but if you order any clay-​pots then best to call it in ahead of time as takes 20 minutes to prepare. Every dish I have tried is very good. Only the fried rice I had ordered once was not very good but everything else was great

I work upstairs from this place and go about once a week. I usually get the shrimp fried rice, but have gotten the Beef Phở as well. Everything I’ve ever gotten here has been delicious. The staff are very nice and accommodating. I recommend this place to people I work with all the time.

I should know better than to go somewhere new when I’m starving.
I went in here wanting the vege clay port, since I was craving noodles. I’m pretty sure the menu says it comes with that, but I might be mistaken. Clay pot everywhere else I’ve had comes with noodles, usually vermicello. Am I wrong?
The first thng that struck me about this place was that is really has no soul — unlike almost every other Asian place in downtown Oakland I’ve been too, the people were brusque and looked grumpy.
Anyway, I ended up with tofu vegetables and brown rice. I rang the guy and he insisted it was correct. Still confused. I did eat it, since I was so hungry, but couldn’t finish since it was way too slimy.
Anyway, there are loads more Asian resturants in Oakland, so I’ll simply skip this one.

1−13−15
I went to this restaurant during my lunch hour. I go here once a year because I have usually have little time for lunch. When I was ready to order I advised 3 employees. 2 walked by without acknowledging my request and the third said wait a minute twice.
I was seated in the government employee side with a Oakland City Fire administrator and Supervisor Kaplan nearby at their own respective tables.
On a personal level I am happy for Ms. Kaplan. She was indeed getting all the attention from the restaurant staff. She seemed busy talking to those at her table getting things done. I don’t blame her.
I do blame the restaurant. The business is right across from city all and treating city hall staffer like Hollywood actors must have been a problem for the staff they have been unable to properly handle before.
I blame myself for trying the place out. I know better now. My advise is to try another place first. I walked out and went the Oakland Tribune Restaurant and got served quickly. If there were Hollywood types around me i was not aware because I felt like any other important paying customer. The hamburger at the Tribune is out of this world!

I’m a regular customer here and have always found the service to be friendly. Just be wary of busy days — sometimes they get overwhelmed and the one waitress gets swamped and the kitchen gets backed up, but aside from those crazy days, I’m usually served quickly. I’m vegetarian and they have lots of options. I think they have the best Tofu Spring Rolls in downtown Oakland, and their tofu/​vegetable Phở is great! The clay pot is fantastic, too! It’s great to sit outside on a warm day and the prices can’t be beat.

Lots and lots of MSG
I just ate there and have a headache now and a lot of thirst. For people who are sensitive to MSG like me this is an FYI
I ordered the Red Snapper lunch special. It had breading and thick sauce on the outside of the fish. It was not red snapper, I know for a fact. It doesn’t have the taste or the texture of red snapper. Not sure if it was cod or something else.

We stopped here for lunch after a doctor’s appointment next door, so we had no expectations either way. We ended up being pleasantly surprised by the quantity and flavor of the food.
I’m a big Phở fan and am partial to tripe in mine. I ordered what I thought would be just rare beef and tripe version of their phở and ended up with the everything version, including very tasty tripe, rare beef, well done beef, beef balls and a bit of tendon. Usually that means a little of everything so I prefer to order so I get more of my favorites. This bowl however was PACKED with both meat and flavor! I did have to ask them for Siracha, which surprised me as I’ve never yet met a Vietnamese restaurant that didn’t have it on the table. But then, we were sitting outside in the plaza, so maybe that’s why. In any event, by the time I scarfed down the various bites of beef, slurped up a bunch of noodles and drunk half the bowl of tasty broth, I was sloshingly full and very satified.
My friend had the vermicelli with pork. No lack of meat there either, but she said she was surprisingly pleased by how many vegetables they packed into the bowl as well and how fresh and crisp they were. So her meal was also a thumbs up.
We finished with Vietnamese coffee. If you’ve never had it, it’s a very super thick brew that is dripped using a special strainer, into a glass with sweetened, condensed milk at the bottom. Whatever coffee they were using, it was really delicious and had an almost chocolatey flavor when stirred into the sweet milk. I usually have mine over ice, but today we drank it hot and it made a lovely dessert after the spicy, salty broth and noodles.
I would definitely come back here if I was in the neighborhood. Their dinner menu looked intriguing and very extensive, including a number of dishes I’d like to try. Oh and, while several people complained about excessive MSG, I didn’t find it to have much, if any. I’m sensitive to MSG but I had none of the usual headache, sluggishness or excessive thirst I get if I’ve had too much. Perhaps they have heard other people’s critiques and have cut down. Otherwise, those others are more sensitive than I.
The service was adequate. The attitude was great. I interacted with at least 3 employees during our meal and every one was smiling, friendly and even joking. When my friend was late to pick me up after the meal and I was worried about hogging a table, I got told, «no problem. You sit there and wait as long as you need to, be comfortable!» So they all seem to be very nice people who know their jobs!

According to the friendly gentleman at the register, Saigon Restaurant has been around for 33 years, so my expectations were higher than usual. I only tried one of their dishes, and while the people are nice, I can’t say I’m a fan of the food.
I came in and placed a to go order with the cashier. They generously provided me with free soup while I waited for my order to come out. Although their intentions were good, it was a super sour… and chunky… soup. Be forewarned that it’s not a light broth. It’s almost gelatinous.
I ordered the BBQ chicken and egg roll over vermicelli (#49). The chicken is cut into super thin, flat strips and not very flavorful. Egg rolls were mini ones that seemed full of some meat. Again – super small egg rolls. The vermicelli noodles themselves were okay, but stuck together… that probably cant be helped. The green stuff underneath seemed kind of soggy from the heat of the stuff on top.
I know I shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, but I glanced at some of the orders that passed by me as I was waiting. Some of it looked good, and some just didn’t do it for me.

Way too much msg in their broth. We guzzled down their phở because it was so tasty. The meat was really good. Slices of seasoned marbled steak. Plenty of tripe goodness. And the broth was so yummy!
After getting pretty serious msg headaches afterwards, now we know how they made the broth so flavorful. I feel my headache coming back just thinking about it.

Was here for lunch with a couple of co-​workers. The restaurant is located on Frank Ogawa Plaza across from City Hall. They have an extensive menu including phở, bun, noodle dishes, rice plates, and lunch specials.
I ordered lunch combination plate that included two skewers of chicken and beef and grilled pork with a small salad and a scoop of Vietnamese fried rice. The skewers of meat and the grilled pork were moist and not over cooked. Tasted great with the fish sauce. Never had this Vietnamese fried rice and it was tasty. Lunch includes a complementary bowl of soup as well.
Service was friendly and efficient. If I am in the mood for Vietnamese, I will be back to try other items on the menu.