SAOLA Restaurant and Lounge — Restaurant in Cottonwood Heights

I have to say, I'm surprised by the high reviews. They are what brought me in here. I didn't have an awful experience, but I'll tell you why I didn't come back.

First off, to give the place some credit, it's absolutely beautiful. It's a great interior and exterior aesthetic. I however can't imagine a world where all of the seats are full. It's very large and I don't know if it has potential to ever fill them all.

Second, the food... oh man... it's just a little overpriced. It wasn't bad food. I've had better $6 pho from multiple competitors and paid $15 for it here. The presentation wasn't anything special, and the bamboo shoots were the least fresh of any pho restaurant I've been. My girlfriend had garlic noodles. She said she's had better noodles from Panda Express. I agreed; they were really similar, but Saola's costs $22 dollars. The shrimp in them were large, but no flavor absorbed into them. They were bland after bitten into.

And don't make the same mistake we did. Those are the cheapest items on the dinner menu. You can not have lunch items at dinner time. I came here wanting a Bahn Mi but was presented a menu with few items under $30.

An appetizer of 3 chicken wings is $9. This isn't a joke, that's actually real. Who orders 3 chicken wings? Who comes to restaurants in 3's anyway? None of the appetizers come in even numbers. It's a blatant cash grab to get you to buy an even number.

Lastly, our waiter was a really good dude. He really was. But he wasn't a great multi-tasker. He was only able to do one thing per table at one time.

This is 2 stars not because it isn't good. It's alright. We were full and the food wasn't bad. But you can go to any much less pretty Vietnamese place and get better food for a third of the price. I can name 3 of my favorite places off the top of my head.

Pho Saigon, Pho Bien Hua, Pho 33.... Just go to any of these places and tell me you're not getting better food for a better price. No, you don't get modern atmosphere, but you get soul and spirit that you can taste.

Saola has more than just pho though. But there's no way you could ever convince me to try it. If my 22 dollar noodles taste like Panda Express, how could I ever muster the courage to pay $50 for your steak? You should just sell the lunch items during dinner and give people more options.

Really though, it's a lovely designed restaurant. I just don't think this type of food needed a 'high-end' place to call home. You're better off turning such a lovely space into an actual steakhouse or a nightclub. That was single-handedly the most disappointing food I've ever had at such a...

Update: After our poor first experience, we gave Saola another try after speaking with the manager. This time around food was prompt and service was on point. No concerns at all, will be back in the future!

Went on Saturday night for an early Valentines date for a 6pm reservation. My girlfriend had previously been and spoke highly of the food and service BUT that was for a corporate event. After being seating, was around a 10-minute wait for anybody to come over to us with a drink order. After placing drink orders, there was no ask if we wanted to place an appetizer order or if we had any questions about the menu. After waiting and waiting, our drinks were finally brought to us around 25 minutes later if not longer. We ordered all our apps and entrees then and proceeded to wait for over an hour for our mains. I counted 5 empty tables that I could see so it wasn't totally full. After that long hour, my girlfriends close to $50 entree of the sea bass came out and my noodles did not come out for another 15 minutes while we sat there and waited. The food was pretty good but the service ruined the night for us when I've been wanting to try this spot for a long time. Our waitress was almost nonexistent , never asked how anything we order was once, never asked if we wanted more drinks, nor did she ever reassure us of any kitchen struggles throughout the night. The table next to us got their drinks and apps within 10 minutes of sitting down and I could overhear their server giving recommendations, answering questions, checking in on them ,etc.. After all said and done, the $125 bill came out and we were almost ashamed to pay it for the terrible service we endured. Server did not offer any sort of compensation off the bill or anything. I could not see any sort of management roaming around entire time to speak to on this matter. Very disappointed and hope to maybe go back one day and have a different experience. 1...

My wife and I have seen SAOLA for a while now and have been waiting for the dining room to be open. Now that it is, we were pleasantly surprised by our experience. There is a warm and inviting lounge area, and a hip and relaxing dining area with modern decor and furnishings.

The new menu is simple yet has quality offerings and enough tantalizing choices to make me keep telling the waiter “just one more minute”. Before we decided on entrées we went with the pork sheet roll appetizer. Apparently it was new to the menu because even the waiters were gushing over how tasty it looked. It was appropriately sized and priced, and had excellent textures and a good balance of flavors.

I chose the General’s Chicken and my wife went with the Filet Mignon Pho (with yam noodles since she can’t eat gluten. Side note, they are vegetarian and gluten-free friendly). We were both very pleasantly surprised with the layers of flavor. I enjoyed the forbidden rice and it’s subtle coconut flavor and the way it tamed the spicy/sweetness of the chicken. My wife’s Pho had amazing depth of flavor in the broth, and the filet mignon came out raw (on the side) and cooked lightly when placed in the steaming hot broth. The meat remained very tender and was a co-star of the dish. We enjoyed it despite it being nearly 100° outside. We can’t wait to try it again during the cool and cold months.

This is a great spot for those willing to pay more for better-than-average food. We found the flavors (and generous portions!) to be worth the price. Even though we don’t drink alcohol, it’s apparent they’ve put time and thought into their cocktails, and they have a solid collection of beers, wines and liquor with local highlights.

It’s refreshing to find an independently owned and run restaurant in our neighborhood, and is worthy of attracting a downtown crowd to the base of the Cottonwood Canyons. We look forward to...