Saigon Bay Restaurant

Have now been back many times. This place is GREAT! Every soup I’ve had has been amazing. Please go try this place. The tamarind chicken wings are awesome!

NOOOO this place is closed down for another stupid burger joint!!!

Really confused. Just swung by today around 12:00PM to grab some lunch and the place was closed… as in, butcher paper covering the windows and no lights on. So, uh, is this place closed for good… or? Given the cold weather and drive, we were super disappointed. Won’t be back.

First of all, let me say this– it’s a cheap Vietnamese restaurant. Do not come here looking for an intimate, nice and swanky little place. This is the place to go in town when you want some real phở, big portions, and an amazing variety of non-​soupy Vietnamese dishes. Amazing lunch place.
My favorite is #44– the combination with rice, fried fish paste, chicken/​beef/​pork skewers, grilled shrimp, and eggrolls. Yes, you get ALL of that on one big plate. It’s comfort food heaven if you like that sort of thing. Everything is always cooked to perfection, and seasoned so well that you don’t even need to touch the bottle of Sriracha provided at every table.
I’ve been coming here every time I’ve been in Sacramento for years and years. While there are other great Vietnamese restaurants I’ve been to all over California, NONE of them have the level of variety offered in the dishes here– it’s like Saigon Bay is an extra-​varied Vietnam that other places haven’t heard of. Maybe they’ve invented some of their own dishes– I’m not Vietnamese, so I’m not sure. All I know is that when I want the taste of fish sauce, the texture of crunchy, and several of my favorite meats in one place, this is where I go.

I love this place, but the last time I went the server didn’t seem to understand what I was sending and the dish (sweet and sour fish soup) was reaaaaalllly sweet. There egg rolls are awesome though!

Unlike its major phở competitor– Phở Bac, this place rules! Not only do they have a larger selection of cold noodle, warm noodle and soup/​phở dishes, but they also have less MSG in their stuff! I can feel it.
This is not confirmed of course, but I always leave the compeition with a pain in my neck and shoulders, where as I leave Saigon just hungry for more. Like after eating Chinese food. That kind of hungry for more.
I usually stick to my favorite– the number 10– which is the rare steak. Bowl full of usual phở suspects and the traditional plate of cold fixins-​add ins to accompany. But the broth is soooo flavorful!!! It seems to be a little sweeter than most places– and I love it!
I have also tried some of the cold noodle pork dishes and the fresh spring rolls. I have never been let down and hope you are not either!

While looking for the closed Henry Nguyen’s, we spied Saigon Bay and decided to give it a try. Very glad we did!
We ordered vegetarian noodle soup and fresh spring rolls with shrimp. The service was good, the wait staff polite and attentive. Our soup was delicious, but I kept thinking to my self how the soup would be improved with the addition of pineapple chunks. Next time I’ll ask them to add some to mine.
The peanut sauce was delicious, and a big squirt of sri racha made it extra yummy!

My favorite Phở place in Sac.
Their honey walnut prawns are to die for. I wish the portions were a bit bigger, but for the price it wasn’t TOO bad. The phở here is delicious, i prefer egg noodles over rice noodles, and they have a good selection of Phở with egg noodles.
One thing I will say is that customer service is not THE best. It kinda slow, but I’m not the type of person that needs to be waited on hand and foot. I hate when servers constantly talk to me while i’m trying to enjoy my food, which thankfully they servers don’t talk to you much here. Just let me eat in peace and fill my water cup ever so often, that’s all.
Great phở place, nice ambience, clean setting.

Their phở here is good, always above average. In terms of flavor, it is usually spot on. You might get a little dehydrated and have food coma if you drink too much soup, but what phở broth doesn’t do that. The meat is decent here, but the portions are sometimes bigger and smaller than average, but it all falls within one standard deviation of the optimal meat threshold. The noodles are never over cooked here so you can enjoy them from stat to finish.
If you want something cooler, go for any of the rice noodle dishes. You get rice noodles over an assortment of veggies, well just lettuce, cucumbers, and bean sprouts. On top of your noodle there is your meat (s) of choice with two egg rolls and a bowl of fish sauce on the side. The egg rolls at Saigon are pretty hefty for a vietnamese place and their filling is no joke.
My dad is pretty picky when it comes to eating out and is hesitant to try new things. If we ever went out for Asian food, it had to be Chinese food. Up until I was 14, I was convinced Chinese food was the only type of Asian food. So when I took my dad to Saigon, I was surprised to see his reaction. He actually liked it. Apparently he liked it so much, he goes almost every week.
Saigon is a great choice for Vietnamese food in the area. You will definitely be full from the large portion of phở or the rice noodle bowl. It also has a thumbs up from my dad, so it is at least worth a try.

Can do!!! Very dependable, solid phở. I wont steer you wrong when it comes to my absolute favorite cuisine!

Okay, so I guess I should update this review since my last horrible encounter here. I gave this a second try because I was hungry and I had a long night at the clubs the night before and I just wanted some good comfort food. I actually ordered the #76 pan fried crispy noodles again to see if it was different.
Today’s experience was much, much better. The noodles were good and had plenty of vegetables but the sauce still lacked taste. The server came around every once in a while to fill our water cups (finally!) and they were very attentive. For four people, our meal came out to $ 33.
I’ll say I had a good experience here but I’ve had a lot better Vietnamese food than the Phở Saigon Bay chains in Sac.

Went here for lunch and got out of there in 45 minutes. That was a plus. Ordered the beef, egg roll, and grilled shrimp with vermicelli. Loaded up with hoisin, sriracha and fish sauce and made a nice blend. The grilled shrimp was very good.

I’ve been here twice. This is the only Vietnamese place I’ve eaten so my phở experience and knowledge is limited but I’ll break down how it went for me.
Started with the honey walnut shrimp. They are decent size and fried covered in a sweet sauce. I think you get 6 of them. I really like them. Go ahead and order this app if you are with someone else.
Each time, I ordered a large # 9 Saigon Special Phở. The serving size is big enough for a hungry man. If you are feeling savage, are super hungry, and need to increase your caloric intake, go extra large. The #9 gives you a little bit of everything– brisket, Vietnamese meatballs, tripe, tendons, the noodles, and other stuff I am forgetting. I was a fan of their brisket and meatballs but the tripe didn’t have much flavor and the tendons were like big pieces of fat in your mouth.
However, I thoroughly enjoy the phở. The broth and noodles were the bomb! Hit it with some Siracha, chili oil, or one of the other sauces to kick it up a notch. I was satisfied after eating it all. When you have eaten most of it and are nearing the bottom, make sure to pick the bowl up and slurp up all the broth and noodles at the bottom. I will definitely be back for more phở. Give it a try!

I had been here once before but it has been almost 2 years! I was really craving some Phở, and so I brought my boyfriend, who has never had Vietnamese cuisine here last night.
I ordered the Beef Phở with added Wontons (small) and he ordered a dish which included shrimp skewers, egg rolls, and something which seemed like tofu or squash wrapped in beef, served over vermecelli noodles. He LOVED his order and I sampled a few pieces from his plate and it was very delicious!
I am very picky about my wontons, and the wrappers on mine were sweet and the meat inside was just perfect. The small bowl was just enough for me. I can never finish an entire small bowl of Phở, I just usually eat all the noodles and vegetables. I’d probably say for the greater Sacramento area this is the best Phở place.
I really enjoy Wayside Noodles which is 2 blocks from my work, but in comparison to the same order, Saigon’s small is about $ 1 cheaper, the bowl is smaller, and not to be a Phở nerd, but I like the noodle to broth ratio better at Saigon. I like a little less broth with the same amount of noodles.
I let my boyfriend sample my soup and not more than 12 hours later he was telling me how much he wanted to go back and try some Phở soup this time but that I would have to «show him what condiments I added to make it taste so good.» … haha! That’s silly, good Phở starts from good ingredients.
The staff is very friendly, attentive, and prompt. The location is great but parking is limited. The only thing that could make this place better is a bit more aesthetics, but for such great prices, I can’t complain.

The entrance is a little hard to see; keep right and turn right after you see the Best Western!
I’ve been here about a dozen times, and I don’t even love phở that much! This place is THAT good. I absolutely live for their broth, no joke.
As much as I love the phở, I decided to go with the roasted duck and egg noodle soup ($ 9) this time, to satisfy a random craving. The boyfriend went from the rice vermicelli with grilled lemongrass beef, eggroll and shrimp ($ 8).
The food came out in about 10 minutes. My duck noodle soup came with big chunks of duck, something that was very hard to eat. The soup had an interesting flavor because of the spices, but it was still tasty. The egg noodles were good, but the duck was dry and the big pieces were weird.
The boyfriend wasn’t crazy about this lemongrass beef and didn’t like how his noodles had no flavor. He did, however, like his shrimp. The egg rolls were crispy but not overly tasty.
Overall, a disappointing meal after how excellent the phở is. Four stars because previously I had many five star meals. Next time, stick to the front page, the phở, and close your menu after that.

I’ll give this place a 3.8 because I didn’t like their Phở at all. The broth was too plain for me. The vegetables for the Phở does not look fresh. I brought my bf there and he was not pleased at all and he’s Vietnamese.
Their clay pot however is very delicious, therefore, this place is a hit and miss. Overall it’s an okay experience. Ask if I’ll go back there? Sure why not, but It won’t be for Phở that’s for sure =)

My step-​dad and sister came to town and wanted to take my son and me out to eat. They were wanting to try something new and since they never had Vietnamese cuisine before I suggested this place.
I ordered phở and my family did the ol’ point at the menu and say «I’ll have that.» The servings were a pretty good size and there were a lot of fresh herbs and veggies brought to the table… waaaaay ahead of the rest of the meal. My step-​dad asked me if it was a salad and I had to explain it was the mix-​ins for our entrees. Why they were brought out so much earlier than the rest I don’t know. This brings me to the only issue I had with the place and that was the bad service. The waitress seemed to resent us. It was weird, as if we were putting her out to be dining there. We weren’t loud, rude, or demanding, so I don’t know what her problem was.
I would give it 4 stars for the food. The phở was decent and my sister’s dish was spicy in a really good way. I can only give it 3 stars, though, because the service actually makes me hesitate when I think about returning.

Not the best Phở i had, but decent i must say. The service was good, restaurant is clean. Ive tried the chowfun here: decent, bun thit nuoung: decent. A little more expensive then the average prices that you can get down in Stockton area. Overall it was good and would return.
Service:4
Quality:3
Overall:3

Certainly not a bad place to eat — the service is generally quick and the food is pretty good. I’ve gotten the vegetarian phở, the combination phở, chow fun, and prawn spring rolls. They’re not bad. Did I mention that their extra large bowl is *really* extra large. Price isn’t too bad either.
North of Folsom Ave, this is probably the best phở you’ll find, but if you are looking for the better quality wholesome goodness, I recommend finding a place south of Folsom. I mainly go to this location because its the closest and most convenient for me.
Favorite Order:
Vegetarian Phở

I’ve been going here for a couple years now, and I’ve noticed that the past few times we’ve gone here, the portions keep getting smaller and smaller. (Boo :(minus one star) The owner is really friendly and she greets us everytime we come in, service is quick and we get seated right away.
I usually order the grilled pork spring rolls with my dish: a small phở with rare steak, grilled pork with vermicelli noodles that comes with the eggrolls, OR Beef chow fun. The grilled pork with noodles is different than most other vietnamese restaurants and by far my favorite dish here, it’s marinaded with the red pork seasoning mix. Wouldn’t want it made any other way! TRY it, you’ll LOVE it! The grilled pork spring rolls are made the same way but wrapped in rice paper, equally delish! I like that they always include both dipping sauces for the spring rolls: peanut sauce and fish sauce (major kudos) unlike other restaurants!
I wish they would step it up (along with their price going up) and add a few extra pieces of meat to their dishes and I would definitely be a regular here again.
The parking situation can be kind of irritating if you miss the turn to enter this parking lot. There’s not much parking in the front but plenty of parking in the back of the restaurant. For the days I don’t feel like cooking or to celebrate a birthday, I’m sure i’ll be back here soon!