Saigon Noodles — Restaurant in Baton Rouge

I had a very mixed experience at this place. I enjoyed my food, but here’s what happened to take my review from 4 stars down to 2.

I am expecting, and came to this restaurant with my husband and 14 month old son really craving some pho. It took us a moment to notice, but our waitress was VERY SICK. You could hear her stuffy nose in her voice and when she was away from the table we had heard her coughing and sniffling. I understand someone not wanting to take off work because you need the money, but when you are serving food it’s not okay to come and handle people’s food and payment cards exposing them to your germs, and I also really judge her management for not sending her home for this reason. We ate there two days ago and now we are all sick as well.. this is not an experience to look for when you go out to eat somewhere.

It’s unfortunate because had we not had this experience and have the knowledge that they let their employees work sick and that’s a risk to take eating there, I would’ve wanted to go back because the food was good. I also want to make it clear so that nobody gets confused - we got sick from the waitress being sick, not from the food. If I were to rate this place one their food alone I’d give it 4-4.5 stars. Very unfortunate and disappointing experience to have. Those of you reading this who’ve had children can understand how difficult managing a sick 14 month old is a huge bummer. I’ll never go back there knowing that there’s a possibility that someone who works there is working and handling your food while sick. In my eyes when working in an industry handing others food while sick and contagious is a huge no-no. I would think the boss would’ve agreed there but evidentially not. Thanks for the good food, but it wasn’t worth making my family and I catch your...

This is our favorite pho in Baton Rouge after eating pho in New Orleans East and the West Bank for many years. Dang's is really good, but I find the broth is a touch too sweet and Saigon Noodles have been consistent in flavor over the many many times I've eaten here. The dining room is very small. Combination pho is excellent and the gan is always cooked to perfect texture. I have also had the squid appetizer which is excellent and the bun rieu which was also very very good... it's just hard to not order the pho when visiting because it is so on point... even on the hottest summer day. Getting pho to go here works great if you want to heat and eat later. Everything is packed up separately so if you heat the broth stovetop later and pour it boiling over the noodles and beef then close it for a few minutes, it loses zero quality... they do it right. I have never had the kimchi fries although the many great reviews makes me want to try it. It's just that the large bowl is enough food and getting a moderate appetizer to share over it is a lot and eating those loaded fries seems like overkill and probably won't hold up to eat later due to the nature of the dish. Great place and they have also had long term consistent waitstaff which says a lot for an...

The quality seems to have improved as the menu options decreased. Genuinely, the overall experience is different enough from Dang's, where I've been going for about 20 years now, that the two feel on par but with different atmospheres and slightly different price to quantity.

If you're looking for a place to take someone as a comfortable entry-level Vietnamese restaurant where the menu won't overwhelm and the items are fairly standard but tasty, this is a great choice. It also has a pretty good atmosphere for a first date though the seating depending on the traffic and time of day might be pretty high. If you're new to the food, try the rice noodle or rice bowls with grilled meat and the sugar cane shrimp which you can't get everywhere. Those and the summer rolls are my staples here and the price is decent for the quality and quantity of food.

Don't let the apparent portion sizes fool you; you'll think you're not getting much from the shape of the dishes but if you order the summer rolls as an appetizer you'll probably be well on your way to being painfully full by the time you finish an...