Saigon Diner

I love this place! This is a must stop for me every time I go to Reno (I live in Truckee). Food is always fresh and absolutely delicious. Owners are very friendly too.

I love their soups. I feel like I can’t say enough good things about it. Their broth is super flavorful, with just the right amount of ingredients added to make you full from just a small size. The appetizers are just the right amount to take away hunger to wait for the soup. But thankfully you don’t have to wait long! I’ve waited in line just to order at «fast food» restaurants longer than here. The owners are attentive, and make sure you have everything delivered right to your table, even though you sit in a cafeteria style are shared with another place. I am extremely happy they opened here. I don’t think I would have known what I was missing if it wasn’t so close to me. Definitely recommend stopping by!

Located in the old Shopper’s Square off Plumb and South Virginia where Viet Phở used to be located across from Port of Subs. I had the small, beef combination phở soup with all the nasty bits of cartilage, tendon, tripe and beef meat balls. They give you a good amount of meat in every bowl and the tendon is cartilaginous as well as soft, sticky and savory. I found this to be noteworthy. Along with the lime wedge to cut the fat in the soup and add flavor, bean sprouts, fresh basil and fresh hot pepper (jalapeño?) slices. The menu does not have a lot of choices, but they do carry the most popular dishes, and is posted above the counter. They need to change the «rush to open» poster boards which show the menu above the counter. It covers all but the cashier area and feels like they haven’t put much interest in the appearance of the place. The waitress was nice enough to go over the ingredients in the soup, all of which I enjoyed yet they could have held back on the tripe!(Something creeps me out about eating stomach). (The old Viet Phở moved to its own shop). The prices were a slight bit expensive at $ 8.50 (with tax) for a small phở soup but when you consider the amount of meat per dish it doesn’t seem all that expensive as the soup was brimming with tid-​bits. Restrooms are available just to the inner hallway across from the restaurant and were not overly busy.

Called in my order, and when I got there (one hour before their listed closing time) I was told they were closed. Excuse me?! The dude said it again, and apparently they were closing because «the cook was tired.». WTF? Seriously? Thankfully the tired cook made my food before calling it quits for the day.

This place is as average as it gets. The menu is super weird and is meant for white people. I was looking for bun, but its nowhere on the menu; they call it «cold noodle salad» or something. Phở is also listed as «noodle soup.»
The «cold noodle salad» I got was pork and egg roll. This was pretty «meh.» The pork wasnt charred, so Im assuming its not BBQ’d like in traditional Vietnamese places.
I got the «beef noodle soup» which was pretty good. The broth was really good, but was lacking in beef. Also, the beef was much more well done than I am accustomed to. Usually, you get raw beef on the side to put in the soup.
Its quick and super casual, so I will probably go back, but its not as good as Golden Flower, 777 or Phở.

The Vietnamese sandwich is delicious. Atmosphere could be better but the food is worth it. Nice family business. Plus it’s right by Cold Stone. Mmmm!