Bida Saigon

This place has great phở. It’s just what you need on a cold day and feels light and healthy n the summer!

I love this place. The portion size could be bigger but I am not complaining. I love that they have veggie options. They basically have a tofu for meat substitution. I ordered the tofu vermicelli dish and the veggie banh mi and it was extremely satisfying. They were lacking on the banh mi section because of the thin layer of stuffing but their main entrees were top notch.
They give you raw mint and bean sprouts, as any Vietnamese restaurant does, and you’re suppose to mix that in with your meal. the service was quiet speedy. We were a group of 11 so I had to forewarn them.
They do not deliver. Their catering skills are poor. But they were generous with the amount of fish sauce to go with our catering order. So why poor? I asked if they could put all the same orders in one container instead of all single portions and they put everything in single servings so I had to find another container and combine it myself. For the catering event, I ordered a bunch of vermicelli entrees and banh mis. Everyone loved it.

This is the best place in town for Phở. The selection is great and the overall quality is top notch. Their service is also really good too, as they are quick and attentive. If you like Phở then I advise you to check this place out!

First time I tried the phở (vietnam’s national dish). The broth was really delicious, with a great balance of flavors. (As in all south east Asian food, there is a wonderful mix of spice, sour and sweet) I was gladly surprised about how you can customize the dish (they bring fresh ingredients such as mint, beansprouts and limes and also you have several sauces you can add) That spectrum of options grants you the chance to keep changing the flavors in your dish as you enjoy it.
The place is not fancy, but its very clean. The service is very kind and fast.
I am definitely going back to try other dishes.

The phở is waaaaayyyyy too sweet. Never had phở like that. And I usually love phở. I dont think i will come back.

Great phò! Restaurant is a little plain, but the food overshadows any lack in décor. It comes quick and with lots of fresh veggies and spices. Best thing for a head cold.

I use to come here like once every week but with work and school it’s been hectic. The food is always good! The owners have been family friends for awhile so they have always treated us very well. This place has grown so much over the past years and I’m happy to see it continue to expand on business.

By far one of the best places to go treat yourself with a warm delicious bowl of phở. They also have banh mi, which is a Vietnamese subway sandwich with pork and fresh vegetables. I love their fresh shrimp spring rolls as well. I gave this place 4 stars because the service here is a hit and miss. Some of the servers are too busy texting on their phones to check and see if you need to order anything else. Great service goes a long ways.

I love this joint, I’m here a couple times a week. I recommend a number 1 and a number 11. Always good service and always great Phở.

I love Vietnamese food so much that I used to go weekly for phở when I lived in Hartford. I was honestly afraid to try the places in Knoxville for fear of disappointment, but I am so glad that I finally tried Bida Saigon– the food is excellent! The spring rolls were huge and the peanut dipping sauce was super tasty. The phở broth was fragrant and spicy with great depth of flavor. I recommend that you try their homemade chile oil in the phở– it takes it to a whole new level. I look forward to getting back on my weekly phở schedule again.
Some reviewers have complained about the décor, but I honestly never expect much by way of ambiance in Vietnamese restaurants. Bida Saigon looks way better than most of the Vietnamese restaurants I have been to, but if you’re looking for high-​class décor, this is not your place. If you want a clean restaurant with good service and excellent food, try it out.

I travel to the Knoxville region a lot for work and often times I stay in the smallest towns where chain restaurants dominate the area. So I often find myself traveling to Knoxville for food.
My coworker and I typically look for phở places when we are out of town. I found this place from Unilocal and I got excited to try it. I had their phở and the broth was really good. It was sweeter than other phở broths that I’ve had. You can taste the cinnamon more on their broth.
My fiancé got the pork with rice as well as their banh mi. She said she didn’t like the pork too much but the sandwich was really good.
This place is worth the drive if you’re not in Knoxville. The food comes out fast and the service was good.

«Introduce a Tennessean» If you’re looking for reliable bowl of phở, in a bright clean atmosphere, where perhaps you can take your friend who has never had phở, then this is your spot. This is clearly not my old haunt in Maryland, where rows of old short men sat for hours at long dingy tables, slurping bowls so massive you could bathe in them.
This menu is clearly in English, and has a very basic offering. Basic bowls in standard (more of a small/​medium to me) size are delivered. The egg noodle spring rolls are simplistic, and sandwiches plain good old french bread with pickled veggies and your choice of pâté or a more simple sliced pork.
Beef tendon is about the most adventurous addition they have here for phở, and it’s again of passable quality. It’s certainly got a smidge of MSG (no surprise there) that I’ve noticed has gotten a little heavier over my last 6 check-​ins.
I don’t go here expecting the soul warming feeling. That is certainly missing from the experience. If you haven’t felt that yet, you’ll know it’s not here. Only the bowls of phở that actually give me the feels, get 5 stars.

Phở is the first food item since sushi that I’ve had to eat several times before committing to an opinion. It seems a no-​brainer to like a broth heavy soup that has been cooked slowly to optimize flavors. But it’s a complex meal. You add your veggies yourself, the raw meat in soup thing can be intimidating, and ultimately it tastes better the longer you eat it. If I compare that to traditional Japanese ramen, phở is much more of delayed gratification. After about four visits to Bida Saigon, I finally did it right, so now I can write this review as a fan.
I should point out that Bida seems very authentic. Every time I visit I see Asian families or students, and that’s not common more many of the different ethic restaurants in Knoxville. The staff is friendly, and this place has a lot of seating to accommodate large dinner and lunch crowds. Over my many visits, I’ve had the sandwiches, Vietnamese coffee, and of course phở. The Phở is what took me the longest to get used to, but I’m definitely a fan of the traditional beef. I have learned how I add my lime juice and jalapeño is key. The sandwich options are also great. I think they are wonderful in the summer when maybe a big soup is a bit much in the oppressive Knoxville heat.
If you are a less experienced phở eater like me, I think this is a really great place to get your training wheels. It certainly is authentic enough to provide lots of options that are great for many palettes.

Good location for lunch takeout. I’m unsure of previous reviews knockin’ on their portion sizes compared to price, but I felt like I paid a fair price for what I got. I saw the interior while things were very slow (rainy, right before lunch hour), and although I can see how some people feel the billiards tables are offsetting, maybe that’s just their thing? I don’t mind it, but I couldn’t see myself bringing kids there at night. If you’re looking for an authentic Vietnamese ambiance, I wouldn’t recommend Bida Saigon.
Most importantly, the food was great. That’s all that truly matters to me.

3.5 stars. I was super excited about trying this place out because of all the chatter I’ve heard around Knoxville about it. I wasn’t blown away like I expected to be.
It’s not that I DIDN’T like the food, it WAS good for what it was, but I’ve had a particular dish — my favorite: vermicelli noodles with grilled pork and eggroll — a MILLION times and this was one of my least favorite preparations of it. The noodles were a bit larger than I expected, the dish could have used more veggies and MOST IMPORTANTLY the pork just had this odd texture but the flavors and authenticity were there.
So, I guess if I could put it on a scale of 1 to 10, 10 being the best prep of the dish I’ve ever had, this would be a 6. Not bad, just not my favorite.
I’ll be back to give this place another shot.

Wonderful phở! Traveling through Knoxville on our way back to NC we craved phở. I had tofu phở hubby had big bowl phở. Very good brooth was sweet but I liked that. The sprimp rolls were a wee bit too chewy but the peanut dipping sauce was delish. Décor is kinda scary freezers and pool tables with junk under them meet you at the door. A total waste of space and worry some for cleanliness. But food made up for scary weird inside. 3 and half out of 5 cause they need to clean up their décor.

The phở was average and didn’t stand out in any way. The broth was a little sweet but was flavorful. What was most disappointing was the rare beef was cut very thick compared to what is normally done for phở and was very tough. The tendon also was undercooked. The décor wasn’t as people make it out to be.

If you want the best Banh Mi sandwich around, check them out! They have a delicious selection! The one with the fried egg is my favorite!

I love this place. I seriously do. The bahn mi is simple, crispy, and delicious. And it’s $ 3.50. Earlier today I tried the Vietnamese crepes and they were astounding. I think it might boil down to cilantro. I love a cuisine that puts cilantro in everything!
Also, the waitstaff are adorable and sweet, which is clearly a plus.
One more thing —- the setting is pretty awesome too. There’s two pool tables that greet you when you walk in the door, but don’t let that scare you. I’ve been in this restaurant before when a lot of Vietnamese men were hanging out, drinking and playing pool, and it was quite an awesome atmosphere. It reminded me of a Frank Reynolds basement gambling scene in Its Always Sunny.
Awesome.

Reading the high-​rated reviews for this restaurant, my family and I wanted to give this place a try. It was nice and quaint.
Once you walk into the restaurant, you are met with a confusing side room with pool tables and random stuff stored underneath them. Then, as you look to the side you see the eating area. When I was there, all the blinds were closed making it way too uncomfortably dark inside the restaurant. And sadly, the decorations made the restaurant look like it was stuck in 90s.
The food here was pretty average. My family and I tried the com suon dac biet and bun nem nhuong and cha gio. The rice plate was pretty good but the pork was cooked to an uncommon pinkish color. The bun portions were small, I kept wishing there were more cha gio to my plate. We also tried the banh mi dac biet which were lacking in ingredients.
On the good side, the service was really friendly and fast! I wish they had provided more ingredients with their plates and would fix the interior decorations a little to make it a bit more appealing. Besides that, this place is a nice option for Viet food!