Saigon Village Bistro

I ordered the rare beef phở + spring roll combo for $ 8. On a Monday during lunch, this place was nearly empty. This caused for great service. I was in and out in about 40 minutes max.
The restaurant is very run down. On the outside it looks dirty. Going inside, it was not sparkling clean and could use an update but they had an A rating (as of my visit in Jan 2016) and all the utensils I was given were clean. I’ve been in worse so it didn’t bother me.
The prices were good. For a small bowl of phở it’s about $ 5 – 6. The menu is more extensive and includes much more than a regular phở place. The serving size was also good. The regular bowl was the size of a large bowl at many of my regular phở places.
The spring roll flavors were good. However, it was rolled so loosely that it was falling apart even before I took a bite. The meat in the phở was average quality, however the noodles were gummy. If you aren’t a regular phở eater, you may not notice. For a person like myself that eats 1 – 2 bowls a week, I could tell. The broth also lacked some flavor in comparison to many other places I have been. But it was decent and satisfied a craving.

Good place & good food. I love this place

Phở is good but tasted msg. And avocado with boba was kind of bad choice. Boba is too mushy and too soft. Probably it’s been sitting there in the heated pot for so long and avocado tasted bland.

Great food and experience.

The food was pretty good. I got the P5 Phở. My boyfriend got the 7 meat course. He liked most of it, but be warned, some assembly is required.

Food was absolutely delicious, I ordered banh mi pork and well done flank with brisket. For $ 10.34 was an incredible deal for all the food I received. I will be back.

The 7 course meat meal was pretty good. I ordered a strawberry smoothie with boba and it sucked! It wasn’t even smoothie consistency! It was more like naked juice consistency and it wasn’t even cold! The boba was barely intact as ball form. Worst strawberry smoothie I have had. Btw the phở was pretty good though.

Bad service today. Waitress was busy eating at a table across from us. We had to interrupt her meal to get service. Dude, at least go eat away from the customers! Lol… play it off! Sheesh!
With that being said… no $$$$$ tip was left. Or maybe I should a left a note saying Tip: wait til customer leaves and THEN eat!

Not one of the best phở’s around but it was decent. Only vietnamese place around that was open on christmas day. Service was also decent. We had to constantly ask our waiter for missing items (utensils, condiments, straws). I don’t blame him because it was a slow night. They also did not have any bahn mi (sandwiches) so that was a bummer.

Friendly staff, relatively clean facility, albeit dated décor (possibly a previous Norm’s restaurant), and good food. We ordered the Phở Tai, Bo Luc Lac, Bun Bo Cha Gio Tom, and Bun Bo Nuong Cha Gio Tom. The latter three exceeded expectations. The Phở Tai was lacking in the broth. Not sure we’d go back due to the neighborhood… very sketchy.

Had the spring rolls. Mediocre. Had the charbroiled vermicelli — one notch above mediocre.
Great services though.

Their prices are decent for the amount of portions they serve. Quality is also really good. This may be my new favorite Vietnamese restaurant in Pomona.

I like this place, food has been really good IMO! But why its always empty is what concerns me! Hmmmm

Very nice restaurant with Asian style. Feel like back home at Saigon.
Foods are good, original Vietnamese taste. Price is awesome! More than happy when I see the menu :) :D
Best Vietnamese restaurant in town!

Not too shabby. Came here on a random weekday for lunch and was seated immediately. The hostess was nice enough — I didn’t really understand her that well. She was a little brusque at first but definitely warmed up by the end of my lunch.
This place is pretty big and there was only one other table occupied in the whole place. I ordered the broken rice plate with beef and added two eggrolls with a Thai Tea. Everything tasted decent and the price was OK — about $ 13 for everything. Next time I’ll try the phở when it’s not 100+ degrees outside!

Located across the street from a master toddy muay thai gym, saigon village is the only place i could find in the ie that serves 7 course beef. Yes its not the most exciting looking restaurant but that 7 course beef is ridiculous. The beef wrapped in hawaiian leaf was the best course hands down. Wrapping all the courses in rice paper was actually pretty easy and the sauce aka mam nem was super dope. My dad and i also ordered a side of fried eggrolls which we wrapped in rice paper with the herbs and veggies creating a spring roll within a spring roll mutation. So although you have to trek through the mean streets of p-​town to find saigon village that 7 course beef is worth the trip.

this place is one of the few phở places in pomona
it’s actually pretty good! I’ve tried the phở and the bun thit nuong. I liked both of them. I also liked their egg rolls. yummie
the restaurant is pretty spacious and my bf’s friend threw a party for his kid’s birthday here. didn’t know you can book a party here lol

I’ve been to this restaurant a few times and I’ve ordered to go as well. I only eat here for bo 7 mon, which is basically 7 courses or types of beef. The food is delicious and the service is always friendly. Their bo la lop, the seasoned beef wrapped in the leaf, is delicious, and the other dishes they offer, such as the pan-​friend shrimp, is really good, too. The veggies that comes with your food if you order bo 7 mon are all fresh and comes in a grocery bag. It’s not weird at all, it’s just how we Vietnamese do.
We also usually get the papaya salad, which is shredded green papaya with chopped chilis and a fish sauce based dressing. Very good.
Overall, I hope this place continues to get business. Every time I’ve come in, it’s either been empty or had one customer. The food is great, service is good and the place is in good shape. Try this place out!

Very disappointed! I stopped in on a Christmas day because my friend and I got tired of studying, the service was mediocre, the broth was just bland and tasted like MSG. The meat was too chewy and there were way too many noodles swimming in my broth.
The bathroom was heinous as well. No soap in the soap dispenser left me thinking, «ew…these people with unsanitary hands were touching my food…»
I’m so sad about this restaurant, please avoid this place! It is not worth the money!

This restaurant replaces Phở Express which has been closed since I’ve moved to Pomona in August of 2010. Saigon Village’s grand opening was sometime in late March 2011 or the beginning of April 2011.
I called them to see if they served phở, they told me they did so 4 of my friends and I came here looking to get our fix.
We were greeted as we entered the open, clean, roomy restaurant. No particular smells or aromas hit me. The place seems to be family owned with a mother holding her baby child near the cash register. A giant lucky Buddha stands by the door, cheering, smiling, as if their food was all there was to rave about. I wish that were the case. We were immediately seated and given menus. We arrived at 7 on a Saturday and people JUST started showing up after we sat down.
They have a HUGE SELECTION of food, with colorful and clear pictures visually showing you what to expect. Lots of the dishes look skimpy. Most items range from $ 5.50 up to $ 14 a person for the 7 course beef dinner. 4 of us including myself ordered the number one, Large Special Beef Noodle, while our last friend ordered beef noodle with rare meat and no cilantro.
Here’s where it started going south. I felt like the wait for the food took much longer than I’m use to. At least 15 minutes. I don’t know if it’s because they’re new or if they only have 1 chef, but everything was slow and semi-​unorganized. In all my honest experiences with any phở restaurant, phở usually comes out very quick. There’s also this «inexperienced confusion» I sensed from the workers (who were all middle to late age with the exception of one gentleman). There were moments where they didn’t know who ordered what dish, or what table it should have gone to. My friend with the special specific order got her dish first. She would continue to sit and wait for another 5 or more minutes before we all got our food.
The size of the bowl of phở itself was standard. Not the largest bowl we have ever seen for $ 6.50, but it wasn’t terribly small. The aroma was fine, but the biggest disappointment was that the broth didn’t taste like anything. There was no savory flavor of beef, I didn’t think it was overly salty (although one of my friends felt otherwise), it just wasn’t remarkable. The beef to noodle ratio was fine, a good amount of meat. Like always, I finished my noodles before my beef. I kept my broth pretty clear for a majority of the meal, dipping the meat into hoisin sauce and sriracha on the side. I would continually sip the broth hoping that some life, something robust and vibrant would come to me. Nothing.
The last 15% of my bowl I drowned in hoisin sauce and threw in bean sprouts. I was sad it was almost all gone because I wasn’t particularly full when I finished. I drank all of my broth. Such emptiness. Such disappointment.
People started filling in at the end and I would be lying if I told you I didn’t want to try their other dishes. The problem is I have to set my expectations terribly low now. I really wanted this place to be good, but the after this one experience, it’s forgettable. I do wish Saigon Village a lot of success.
It came out to be about $ 8 a person after tax and tip. They don’t accept credit/​debit cards for charges under $ 10. My friends and I, excluding the one girl buddy, agreed that we could all eat more. Come here and check it out, $ 7 if you don’t tip for a bowl of phở. Maybe you’ll like it more, or find their semi-​bland food more enjoyable than I did.
Conclusion: Friendly, if not unorganized staff, clean, big restaurant, lots of choices. Ultimately unimpressed. Their smoothies look good.