Saigon Bay Express

Always friendly staff and food comes out quickly. Love them when I am craving hot soup or a tasty sandwich on my lunch break. Only wish they were open during summer. Fresh and affordable. YUMMY!

Usually my experience here is good. One of the most vegan friendly restaurants on campus! I’ve been a loyal customer for a few years here now. :)

Pricey food that tastes bad. Their phở is not authentic and the price definitely does not match it. Their boba is old and the tea tastes like powder. In fact, I saw the lady mixing some orange powder with water. Disgusting

Friendly staff, fast service. Place is pretty clean. Have condiments on side of store.
Portions are decent for the price.
I tried the special phở and it was good but not great! The broth is light and tasty.
Perfect comfort food for cloudy, gloomy and rainy days

This is not a bad spot for lunch next to the library at Sacramento state university. They are always friendly and makes everything fresh when you order it. There is seating outside and inside the restaurant. It’s a small place so there is usually a small wait.
I ordered the Banh Mi Saigon special with extra jalapeños. It was a good portion size for $ 5.51. There was not enough vegetables in it. It’s not one of my favorite spots for Vietnamese sandwiches but it’s on campus so it makes it easy to grab something before class.

A nice hidden spot in Sac State. It’s really small but it’s pretty good. I recommend getting the turkey sandwich (I promise it’s SO good)
Considering how busy all the other places are in Sac state dining, it’s nice that this is by itself. It has a nice atmosphere to it being surrounded and nearly covered by trees. They have a really small dining area inside but there’s a large deck shaded by trees right in front.
The boba tea is also really good considering that it’s not a boba tea place. That’s saying something since a lot of restaurants that don’t specialize in boba is usually not very good at all.
Stop by here and get soup or a sandwich. Good place to study also.

$ 4.51 for just noodles and broth (cilantro and onions included)! This works for me because I try not to eat any soy or meat products when I don’t know where they come from.
Always quick service even when it’s busy.
Anyway, it’s cheap and comforting. Obviously not super authentic but it sure beats most other food options on campus.

I’ve got a favorite dish– the chicken phở. I’ve made Saigon Bay Express my go-​to this semester. Phở is rad any time of year and weather! The boba tea they serve is a nice change from the other campus restaurant that serves boba. Maybe I just have an affinity for comically large straws and chewy beverages. I particularly like the strawberry flavor. If I need to cram something healthy into my mouth but i don’t have the classroom space for slurping noodles, I nab a pack of tofu spring rolls. Like a salad wrap but no dry tortilla. And sauce. And tofu… Regardless its good stuff. You gain a star for effort and friendly staff! Phở-​nominal. (And puns on your reciepts.)

Eat outside… the smell is just way too over overwhelming. I don’t know what it is and why they don’t do something about it but it’s bad. Their phở is ok. Definitely just thrown together and nothing special whatsoever. I am not a fan of their spring rolls or their smoothies. Their spring rolls are large but with mostly noodles. Their smoothies are just bland. Milky and chunks of ice in every gulp.

$ 6.75 after tax for a bow of beef phở w/​dank and meatballs. Generous servings, and one of the cheapest spots on campus for a full meal. Besides the one time the old male owner yelled at me for using my credit card because it costs the shop fees this place is really decent for phở and cheap prices imo as I come from the Bay Area and phở can be upwards of $ 8 for a small.

I mean, their phở is not as good as the phở you can get from other restaurants but they’re pretty decent for phở you can get on campus. If you don’t have time to go off campus and you’re craving Vietnamese food, this is definitely the place to go.

I’m really surprised to see all of these negative comments. I love this place! The staff is really friendly and they always remember my order. I have only ordered the Tofu spring rolls (good but overpriced), and the Phở with tofu (really good!). Not sure what everyone else ordered to get this place such low ratings, but I suggest the Phở. It comes in a fairly decent sized container for how little you pay.

The most horrific Vietnamese sandwich I have ever paid for… It was 90% FAT! 10% meat. I have not ordered the phở, but ppl say it’s nothing special. If they can’t get a sandwich right, I have lost all faith.

This used to be my favorite food/​study spot the last few years and this place has went under huge change. They seem less personal with people, faster to take money but slower in delivery if you listen you can here the younger staff complain/​swear and orders are misplaced. I watched everyone behind me get there order first and stood alone for over 5 mins still waiting. Please bring the old staff back.

Something is wrong with their boba… hopefully next time when I order food the experience would be better…

WHY WE WENT HERE:
— met a friend for lunch on campus in between classes
THE LOOK (FROM THE OUTSIDE):
— nowhere near the other eateries on campus
— outside of the library
— deck for a good amount of outdoor seating
THE LOOK (FROM THE INSIDE):
— very cramped
WHAT WE ORDERED:
— banh mi
— boba drinks
— tofu spring rolls
THE TASTE:
— the banh mi was fairly good and had this white sauce I’ve never seen or tasted (I grew up in San Jose and have eaten Vietnamese food — bought and homemade — throughout the years and know what traditional tastes of Vietnamese food is like)
— the boba drinks were ok, I’ve had better
— the boba in the milk tea didn’t taste fresh (they were lumpy and hard; not consistent)
— the tofu wraps were very tasteless, but the peanut sauce helped greatly in taste
CUSTOMER SERVICE:
— polite
— prompt service
AFTERMATH:
— after eating their food I had a stomach ache, headache, and a cold sweat
— I ended up having to throw up several times until I felt better

First off, I would like to say that the restaurant is the only one of its kind, which was a relief to me because I thought there wasn’t (and I can only take so much of Burger King, or Panda Express or any of the other places).
All of the items are a bit overpriced in compared to other places, but hey its the only viet restaurant there so can you really do anything about it?
The sandwiches are good (in particular, the Saigon Bay Sandwich)
though all the contents seem to always spill out whenever you take a bite out of it.
The soup is okay, I was expecting it to be a little bigger.
Overall, try this place out. I liked it my first time, and I know others have, too.

What the phở? Phở at school? Awesome!
Now that the weather is getting colder, we thought it was a perfect day to pick up some phở on campus prior to class. For around $ 6, you get a soup container full of pretty tasty broth and a heaping of noodles.
Grab some sriracha, limes, peppers, and hoisin sauce at the counter… have a seat inside or outside… clean up after yourself.
Not the best phở, of course… but not bad for some serious campus fast food.
They also have banh mi, spring rolls, and boba. Glad there’s a quick Asian fix at school besides Panda Express. It’s located near the library… you can’t really miss it.

This place changed the staff. These staff aren’t friendly. Hardly greets you until you pay. Not friendly at all. A few weeks ago when I was ordering a hot tea on a warmer day, one of the workers here had the audacity to make a comment to another staff about it with me standing in front of them. Come on dude, at least joke about it and don’t be rude and judgmental. They no longer carry odwalla smoothies and runs out of blueberry muffins more often now. I miss the people who use to work here.

Before coming to Sacramento, I never had a Vietnamese Sandwich. When I tried it, I was mindblowned! Why hasn’t anybody introduce me to Vietnamese Sandwiches?! It is amazingggggg. I’m hooked on those sandwiches. I am not a fan of phở so i can’t comment on it. The staff here are nice and they remember you if you are a regular.
Several of my friends say the food is overpriced, but we pay for convenience of Vietnamese food. Since I am new to the food, I was shocked of the price of sandwiches from other places compared to Saigon Bay. I’ll still pay for the sandwich when I am craving some Vietnamese food.
Overall, the sandwiches are hella good, staff is nice and friendly, and having a Saigon Bay on campus is convenient