New Saigon

This was a great place, but it is now closed. We will miss it.

We have been sharing meals with Anthony and his lovely wife for over 22 years. New Saigon is now closed. Truely a sad time for those of regulars how have been blessed with wonderful food and friendship.

Sadly — New Saigon is closed. Apparently the landlord raised the rent and the owners closed the restaurant. All the tables are gone, as is the Michael Jackson poster and all the plants. No word on what may take over the spot. As a neighbor — I hope it will be a restaurant and not a nail salon.

BYOB. CASH only. FREE hot tea.
Truly cheap eats. A dive. You will be competing air and table space with aloe vera, potted plants and the smell of earth. I was happy with my 2 dish lunch for less than $ 10.
PHO ($ 5) — a smaller portion for half the price. Simple yet good.
EGG ROLL ($ 2) — 2 pieces and tasty.
I look forward to the catfish dishes.

The owners have known me basically all of my life! My parents stumble upon this place when my mom was pregnant with me. And afterwards, they would try to go here often. Year after year. They seen my brother and I grow up. This place always feels like home. THE FOOD. THE FOOD IS HOME. Great quality, amazing service and affordable!

I was here with two friends during lunchtime on a Sunday — this was my second time trying to eat here, as it had been closed the first time, so I was pretty excited that it was open!
We each ordered phở — at $ 4.50 a bowl. The bowls were smaller than I was accustomed to and two of us ended up ordering another to share. We asked for tripe, and the check somehow came out to $ 6/​bowl including tax, which I was a little confused about — 33% tax?
Service was very friendly, and the phở itself was good, although I thought the broth was a little too salty. I didn’t like the meat balls in the soup at all, although I don’t typically like meat balls anyways, and the meat was definitely well done, even though I ordered it medium rare.
Probably wouldn’t come back here, but that’s another one down in my quest to try all the phở restaurants near Argyle!

I chose this over Phở 777 because they have a much more impressive menu. Food was pretty good. I ordered Banh Cuon Cha Lua & Com Bi Suon Cha. Service was slow but not bad. family owned business so it was understandable. The owner/​waiter/​cook (perhaps?) was extremely friendly, helpful, and nice. We enjoyed our conversation with him. Definitely will be back :)

I go to Broadway Almost every week! and with that statement i have tried EVERY restaurant that is of course Vietnamese.
I love it here and its truly a hole in the wall, because its somewhere that never crossed my mine to go into. We went in here through word of mouth it was good… and OH BOY! it is so good.
The owner he is so friendly and we have become somewhat friends, and his wife is the magic in the back doing all the cooking.
Its BYOB so i brought my mom and girlfriend along with a couple of good friends with a bottle of wine and had them cook us up a FEAST! We also bought a fish at the market across and they cooked it for us. EVERY TIME we come here is a good experience, the tea is GREAT for winter time. Spring rolls and egg rolls are the best around town here. The price is of course world class haha.

First Phở experience!
I came here with my sister and the owner greeted us so well and was very friendly. He was a pretty cool guy, I gotta say, he greeted me and my sister in Spanish, which was so unexpected! He joked around a lot and such; it was pretty fun. The phở was pretty good, I liked it, and my sister loved it! The food is great. This guy is great, he really does value the business that he gets. I left with a happy experience, I definitely will visit this place again.

ALWAYS GREAT as much as we disagree on sh! t, the food is the sh! t, tasty as ever! Even if we live 1 hour away we’ll make our way there and visit uncle Tony as my husband and I refer to him as, even though his name is Anthony! :D

The best. Been coming here for years. Friendly owner
(Tony). Try the egg rolls, lemongrass chicken, phở. Great iced coffee too.

If u go to a restaurant for food this is the place.
if you’re weird about décor. this is not the place.
if you don’t mind somebody talking to you. this is the place.
if you like to be left alone this is not the place.
If your going to be offended if someone points out you have gained weight-​this is not the place.
I come here for food .the food is good. I find most Asian places very cold and unfriendly so this place sets apart from others.
I don’t care either way. If the food wasn’t good I wouldn’t come here.
Tony is very much from a different culture. They do things differently. This rest is his life. It’s obvious, as he tries to make friends with everyone who comes in. He doesn’t care or notice if you want to be his friend or not. If he needs someone to talk to or give relationship advice to I’ll listen as I eat. The food doesn’t taste any better or worse because he is giving me his opinion on some thoughts he has on one of his many conversational topics. He is a real person. He has opinions and his wife is cooking while he runs the rest until he takes his little vacation back to Vietnam where he is a rich God off of our measley money! He doesnt care if you like him or not. He is friendly and talkative. A rarity these days.
There is also parking in the back. Plus! Everyday is Christmas at New Saigon!

i LOVE new saigon.
This little hole in the wall place is as good as viet food gets and I’m from houston where theres a good viet place in every corner.
the place is run by an elderly couple who cook everything as it is ordered (sometimes takes a bit of time if there is a lot of people but the food is worth it). The owner is so nice and genuine, he just puts a smile on my face =)
the food: Everything here i’ve tried is cheap and delicious. The seafood pancake is pretty good for the price (5 dollars vs a korean place that sells it for 15), only problem is too many bean sprouts.
The pork chop with rice is to die for and so is their #1006 (yes i have it memorized) which is a combination fried rice. The flavors just all come together in that dish its amazing.
I have heard from friends that their phở is mediocre but since I haven’t tried it I won’t deduct from New Saigon’s glory.

Their won ton soup is $ 5, absolutely delicious, and fills me up (and that’s saying something).
Their egg rolls are exceptional. I don’t usually order egg rolls, but with the low prices here, I usually spring for the extra because they’re THE BOMB.
The proprietor is gregarious, as the other reviews have mentioned, but I will note that he did not bother my party during our meal and lively conversation. So he’s not overwhelming, which can be an issue. He’s so peppy! And he repeated the dishes we ordered back in Vietnamese, which was cool and, in my experience thus far, unique in the neighborhood. And he didn’t roll his eyes when I tried repeating everything he said. Maybe I’ll learn how to pronounce Vietnamese yet…
I look forward to trying more and more of their menu, since I live next door. But their won ton soup is so good, I may never get to anything else…
Cash only.

Good affordable Vietnamese food
I went here after a recommendation from a Vietnamese friend from Chicago. In my opinion, Vietnamese places in Chicago are sub-​par. This place is average but what I really like is how cheap everything is! I bought a bowl of Bun Rieu with a cup of Café Sua Da for a straight 8 bucks! My dinnermates also had cheap meals.
My Bun Rieu was pretty good. It had the right amount of egg, tomatoes, seafood, fish sauce, and crab paste seasoning. The vermicelli noodles were thinner than my liking, but it still tasty. My friends had Com Suon (Rice with Pork Chop), Com Thit Nuong (Rice with Grilled Pork), and Phở. They all liked it.
The owner is nice, personable, and provides great customer service. It’s a quirky little place adorned with a plethora of plants and random paintings

Wow. So when I first went here I thought this place was a gem. Then we calculated our bill, and found out that the owner «adds tax» and says they don’t require a tip. What he doesn’t tell you is that he adds 25% percent to everything and calls it «taxes.»
The food was pretty good, but not as great as great as a value it first seems like.
The second time I went it was really awkward. I went by myself on my break from work and we struck up friendly conversation. Then he starts telling me how to live my life. He tells me I shouldn’t settle down with my boyfriend and «keep my options open.» I mean seriously, who says that?! I told him I was in a serious relationship, trying to back out of the conversation… then it got really awkward. He asked very personal and intimate questions that were COMPLETELY INAPPROPRIATE. He was basically telling me to live it up as a young person and keep my options open. I just stopped talking.
Funny thing is, my boyfriend was the one who paid the bill the first time. The owner told me that day I went a second time that I was the only customer that day so far (it was around 2:00pm). Well, did he honestly think I wasn’t going to divulge that creepy information to my boyfriend? What an idiot. Guess who is never going back there again?! And leaving a 2 star review on Unilocal!
I suggest you try somewhere else. The owner thinks that by talking nice to you, you won’t notice that he is «taxing» you 25 percent.
Avoid this place at all costs. There are so many better (and less awkward) places in the area.

This restaurant has my nomination for best value in Chicago! (Yes, ALL of Chicago.) The food is unbelievably good, despite the restaurant’s unassuming appearance: nondescript tables, plastic trees, random Michael Jackson albums hanging on the wall, etc.
It may not sound exotic enough, but the egg rolls are, hands down, the best I’ve ever had. I am not a fan of egg rolls in general, but they are done perfectly at New Saigon. They are light, yet crunchy, and they are served with a very flavorful sauce which amps the flavor up to the next level. (They’re good even without the sauce, though!)
I also highly recommend the Bun Xao, any of the phos, and the Bo Lugloc. (I am quite sure that I misspelled that, but it is a beef dish served on watercress with gravy… mmm mmm good!) Wash it all down with a Vietnamese coffee (liquid dessert!), and you’ve got one heck of a dining experience. Even if you order all the dishes I just mentioned, I doubt that you’d spend over $ 20!
The owner is the only server and his wife cooks. The owner is *very* talkative which many people (my girlfriend and her mom, most of all) find annoying, but with that said, we always return for the outstanding food.
New Saigon is your best bet for Vietnamese food in Argyle– if not all of Chicago. Definitely make it a point to drop by and grab a bite to eat!

We decided to give this restaurant a shot even though there were teddy bear designs on the tablecloth and Dolly Parton music blasting from the speakers. You can’t judge a book by its cover– but you can most certainly judge a restaurant by its food.
Unfortunately I was disappointed. Granted I am Vietnamese and have a high standard for Vietnamese food– it just wasn’t that good. We ordered the guoi cuon (summer rolls) which was alright; however my main dish of the buon thit nuong (noodles with barbecued beef) had the wrong type of noodles, not enough beef or fish sauce and just overall OK. My hubby ordered the banh xeo (vietnamese omelette) which wasn’t crispy and overloaded with way too many bean sprouts.
The only two «Pros» about this restaurant are that the owner is friendly and our bill came out pretty cheap. Unfortunately, there are too many other Vietnamese restaurants in the area to try that it’s unlikely we’ll return to this one.

Since when did John Waters start designing restaurants?
Everything about this place screamed, «CAMP!» but more on that later.
We were at a loss as to where to go. So he whipped out his smartphone and found decent Unilocal reviews for this place close. Thanks Unilocal,you put out fires and save lives one recap at a time.
The décor is like a garage sale and cafeteria mated. From the plastic plants, old posters, seventies tables and chairs, Christmas tree and lights, tacky overhead lights. The SEC should send an engraved invite to Martha Stewart; upon arrival she’d spontaneously combust from the low brow stimuli. The music was Vietnamese ballads. It was melodic but I only understand Vietnamese by reading lips so didn’t comprehend the lyrics.
It’s BYOB.
The server is the owner. He personifies enthusiasm. He was very chatty, showed us stuff on his iPhone, and had a hearty laugh.
We ordered spring roll type appetizer with shrimp, pork combo dinner, and frogs legs dinner.
At the order of the frog legs dinner the server laughed his hearty laugh and patted his stomach. It was delightful.
Appetizer was good. Pork dinner was pretty good. It had a pork chop, pork fried rice, and pork quiche type portion. The frogs legs were surprisingly large. They were like almost chicken wings. Didn’t resemble Kermit the Frogs legs at all. Kermy needs to hit the elliptical. But I guess if he did he’d be next on New Saigon’s special list (hearty laugh, patting stomach).
Excellent prices!
When we left felt it was an authentic experience and joked we wished there was a ricksaw outside. So I made him give me a piggy back ride. I was so stuffed he almost died (hearty laugh, patted my stomach).
I’d return. They could camp it up more with some troll doll salt and pepper shakers, dogs playing poker or velvet Elvis paintings or pink flamingos (hearty laugh, pats my stomach).

I’ve already been here 3 times as of yesterday and it’s my favorite go-​to place when I want affordable Vietnamese eats. With noodle bowls under $ 5, you can go with a friend and have a tab of less than $ 10 before tax. Their rice dishes are decent too as well as fried noodles. Overall, I didn’t find the foods to have too much oil or grease compared to some other restaurants.
The owner/​waiter was very nice and courteous. He takes his time on getting your checks so just let them know when you are ready to go or you’ll be wondering if they’ll come to collect your money at all. Of all the times I’ve been there, my friends and I could sit there as long as we wanted and chat. So it’s a nice & homey place to just sit and catch up. They aren’t as likely to rush you out of the door like some other places. And lastly, bring cash because this place is CASH ONLY.