Saigon Bay Vietnamese Restaurant

My husband and I have lived in Florida for almost a year. I was born here and love Florida… except for the lack of any decent Asian (Thai, Vietnamese, Burmese, Indian) restaurants in Naples, FL. Thankfully, every 3 months we are up in Tampa. On Tuesday for lunch we chose Saigon Bay based on location and reviews. We were not disappointed. We’re both huge Phở fans.
My husband ordered the fresh Spring Rolls, stuffed with FRESH shrimp. I make these at home frequently for his lunch (box) and so I’m sure not wanting to insult me he gave them one thumbs up! He also ordered the Phở with chicken (say what?) not beef which was kind of shocking but he said 100% worth veering off course and ordering something different. He’s a fan of all the condiments and different from the menu –raw jalapeño, cilantro, Thai Basil, bean sprouts and lime. Menu = lemon, plum sauce, hot sauce and bean sprouts. All I need in my Phở is basil, Sriracha and lime. And that’s exactly what I doused my onto my… Vegetarian Phở! I decided to be a rebel too and go with tofu. I was pleasantly surprised to be given a choice of veggie or chicken broth. I really enjoyed my bowl of soup, hard for me to call it Phở but nevertheless it was one of the best bowls of soup I’ve had in awhile. My only wish was for more veggies and less noodles. Next time I’ll definitely go traditional for the beef Phở.

We stopped by this place cause it was close to our hotel & wanted some Phở. Overall, I think this place is just okay. The prices were like any other Vietnamese restaurant and the flavoring of the food was just too bland. We got summer rolls for starter and I gotta admit, I like their rolls here. The rolls were big & the shrimp was a decent size compared with other Viet places. But everything else like the Phở dac biet and the rice dishes were plain tasting.

The first thing I ordered was hot tea. When it arrived it was Jasmine, but certainly not hot. Barely warm might be a better description, which means by the end of my lunch it was totally cold.
After ordering my bún with charbroiled pork & spring roll, I was presented with chopsticks and a small plate of spinach leaves drenched in the kind of «Oriental» dressing typically reserved for all-​you-​can-​eat hibachi joints. I guess this was some attempt at «salad», although I’ve eaten at my fair share of Vietnamese restaurants and never had it before.
The vermicelli in my cold noodle bowl were not the kind I usually see in this dish. They seemed more like angel hair pasta than rice vermicelli. So be it. But there was so much leaf lettuce in the bowl that I wound up picking a good two cups’ worth out to get a good balance of greens to noodles.
Maybe I shouldn’t have wasted my time because the pork was overcooked & so chewy, I had a hard time eating it; the spring roll was «ok»; but there wasn’t much cuc, pickled radish/​carrot, bean sprouts, or mint in there to liven things up. No cilantro. Watered down nc mm pha poured over top & mixed around didn’t improve the flavours.
BTW, this wasn’t the first time I’d eaten at this restaurant. I was underwhelmed then, but wanted to give it another chance. Looks like I was right the first time.

Im so glad they have sour fish soup! The soup is on the sweeter side, but still good. Overall great experience.
Will try the other dishes next time. My go to spot for authentic vietnamese food whenever I am in town.

I LOVE this place! Everything on the menu is amazing and the staff is great. We go at least a couple of times a month and everyone we’ve taken has loved it as well!
Definitely try it out!

One of the most favorite places of mine in town. Asian food is always the best option for you if you are looking for something fast, healthy, delicious and not expensive. I usually came here to have Phở, one of the best places I have been to. The place is clean and organized. Staff is very nice and friendly. Servers are pretty vocal and I usually don’t have any problem communicating with them. Reasonable price. Highly recommended !!!

Coming from Atlanta I decided to stop by for dinner on my way to hotel. I’m glad I did. Great food all around. Had the fried dumplings and wonton soup. Then had the charbroiled chicken plate. Everything tasted great. Small restaurant, well decorated and clean. Service was great too. I highly recommend this place.

Very nice people and nice, quiet, relaxing atmosphere. Food is affordable and most of the items are under $ 10. I ordered phở dac biet and it came out piping hot and very full to the brim. They also honor USF discount so if you’re a student or an alumni or faculty, bring it up to their attention

These folks are the nicest! I have been coming here for years and it is consistently delicious, affordable and clean. That’s a trifecta in my book. I’d say that my favorites are the seafood phở and the fresh rolls!!!

Vietnamese food is the way to my heart!
Some of my really good friends are Vietnamese and we always end up eating at a Vietnamese restaurants for lunch/​dinner. This restaurant tends to be one of the popular ones that we go to. I have been coming to Saigon bay for over 7 – 8 years and have had many good dishes!
If you are looking for a cheap and good dish, the Phở Tai (Beef noodle soup) is a great go to! Some other recommendations from me would be the chicken fried rice, bun thit nuong (chargrilled pork with noodles), and the chargrilled chicken with rice. Overall, I have had only one disappointment and that was when they served sushi… however, they stopped serving it and I was very happy that.
It isn’t the best presentation on the outside/​inside, however, the food and the staff are always the highlight.
Check it out!

Well I’m a super picky person… I’ve def had my share of amazing restaurants living in LA and Chicago !
First off everyone here is really nice! The place is clean and super zen…
The phở was the best I’ve ever had! So much flavor and they give you a huge bowl. I’ve found so much comfort in coming here. I was starting to think Tampa was the land of crappy food and no one cares. Thank god for this place!

I stopped for a nice light dinner… I have family in Hanoi so. I know what the food should taste like… and it was PERFECT!

Great Vietnamese foods! Their phở was delicious! The waiter was nice. I have tried many dishes here. I have yet been disappointed! It really beats all the hypes I have seen at other locations.
Recommended to friends and family.

Came to this place after one of our performance and this is the closest as everyone is hungry, starving and tired. As always it’s hard to pick a dish from the menu and I don’t want to keep on ordering some phở that I usually get. So it took some time for me to decide in what to order. The server suggested some dish but I don’t want to try it. Everyone already decided in what to order and she was waiting for my order and I guess she was in a hurry to get my order and again she suggested to order something that I don’t want to try and I eventually told her to get the order on the other table and just come back for me to get my order. I’m kinda pressured to order in a hurry because of that. I wasn’t happy about that. The feeling of being rushed! So I ordered spicy phở.
But after that event it was all good when the other member of our group saw a fly in their soup and told the server. The server said SORRY and gave them a new soup.
The phở was good but kinda lacking of flavor I guess just wanting that different flavor for my phở. Anyhow, phở is good, decent serving and my tummy was satisfied! Just that event in the beginning but other than that the place was okay.

I had the Phở Tai, and it was a bit bland. I enjoy phở with a bit more spice and flavor. The soup was pretty bland and didn’t taste like much when I ate it as a whole with the noodles and meat.

Had a wonderful meal here tonight. Really hit the spot. I had the grilled pompano, it was amazing. Great food. Great service. 5 stars. I will be back.

Very nice atmosphere, service, prices and delicious food. I actually ate my left overs and that’s rare! Kids loved the meatball soup, and I had their combo rice noodle special. Wow really really good! Don’t miss this place you will be missing out! Order a smoothie or Thai tea too

You are instantly greeted with a feeling of WOW! Where am I?!
It was busy for lunch but we were seated quickly. It is a mom and pop feel restaurant and that’s a good thing. They were already saying hello to us as we walked in and seated us in an area that, if no other tables were by you would have though a panda would walk up next to you. The décor is absolutely adorable! I love the bamboo feel and the little touches all around the dining room.
We tried the hot tea and Vietnamese coffee. They were both very delightful. All of the meals came out looking so absolutely fresh and totally clean. You won’t find that feeling at many other Vietnamese restaurants but that also hinders as you want some fat and gristle on your meat for that other bit of zest. Nevertheless, the food was very tasty and the phở broth was full and flavorful.
The ambiance along with the service and yummy food will bring me back here as soon as I’m on that side of town again.

Still looking for good phở in Tampa and this is not it.
Nice place. Not great. The phở needs a lot of help to taste even a little like real soup. Kinda tastes like they left out all the best parts.

I must say the smoothie is awesome but PHO isn’t that good. BBH (Bún Bò Hu) is’t great either. It must be the way they cut the beef. If your teeth isn’t that good, don’t try it. The beef was so big…

Thank you Unilocal!I was craving some Vietnamese phở and wanted to try out a new place. There are few other restaurants that serve Vietnamese near by, but based on the reviews, I picked this one.
As most local Asian restaurants in the area, it offers basic no frill décor, yet it was tasteful and clean. I was very happy to find Bobo Teas on the menu. Variety was outstanding! I settled on papaya and was not disappointed. Not sure why it had some whipped cream on it, sounds a little Americanized, but it was very tasty and even creamer when expected.
I ordered phở soup. To my surprise, they brought we small dinner salad that came with it. It was fresh, crisp and had home-​made ginger dressing. Very nice touch and was appreciated. My soup was good, can say that it stood out among local restaurants, but it was consistent and flavorful.
This place is a definite keeper. Looking forward to coming back and exploring other dishes.

Saigon Bay gets an Incomplete grade from me. I ordered my favorite Viet dish, bun bo nuong, took one bite of the meat and I had to spit it out. I don’t know what kind of mystery meat it was but it wasn’t like any kind of beef I’ve ever had. It had a strange texture and gaminess to it. I couldn’t eat it. My server (owner?) suggested I get something else but I just couldn’t. I paid for my drink and left to go elsewhere. That meal was a fail.

This is an excellent place for good and reasonably priced food. Beef phở is enough for three. The broken rice is good. Rolls are good. Excellent service!

I have to give credit where credit is due. This Saigon Bay Vietnamese Restarant met my best expectations for me trying it out for the first time. I had quail… A plus is the rating from me. The quail was fresh, tasty, exquisite, and the skin was golden brown and crispy. Just like I like my chicken but this quail was better than chicken. I also had a dish with grilled shrimp noodles and a vegetable mix. It was delicious also. I was very well pleased with how inviting and friendly the staff was. They were all very friendly and kind. They answered all questions that I had without hesitation and was courteous while doing so. Kudos to you Saigon Bay! I would definitely recommend this restaurant to others with only great things to say! Keep up the great work and much more success to you!

Tried to find a good vietnamese place to eat. We tried this place since it was near USF campus. The actual restaurant is nestled in the back corner of the complex it is in. The decoration is nice and it’s a fairly classy restaurant.
The service was awesome. They checked up on us quite a bit and I never had to ask them to refill my water.
I got the charbroiled pork chop with fried spring roll rice plate. It was just a typical vietnamese pork-​chop, honestly nothing special for me. Don’t get me wrong, it was definitely good and something I do recommend.
The one thing that turned me off to it was that it was pretty expensive for just a typical vietnamese place. I paid $ 10 total for this rice-​plate. I’ve had better pork-​chops for less. I’ll most likely try the phở next time and update this review when I do.