Saigon Vietnamese & Chinese Cuisine — Restaurant in Illinois

I was really excited and looking forward to eating here again after years of being away from the area. Sadly, the nostalgic feelings quickly turned to total disappointment the moment I entered the door.

No one was at the front to greet or seat incoming guests. After waiting a bit, a young guy emerged carrying a bag of food. He wasn't initially there to greet anyone walking into the restaurant. Instead, his focus was cashing out a lady waiting at a nearby table for her togo order. After ringing her out, the guy turned his attention to me. I asked for a table for myself but he told me and the people behind me it was open seating. Off we went to go find us tables.

Entering the dining area, there was hardly any open tables and booths. Not that the place was packed, but the reason there was limited seating was because tables and booths were not bussed and cleaned. This went on the whole time I was there (15 min).

The atmosphere of the establishment was lackluster. No background music or television program played. The main sound came from a young child talking to his or her parents. A few others next to me were chatting. If neither of them were speaking, the place would have been dead silence.

I sat down first and the people behind me sat down at the last free table without diners or dirty clutter. As soon as they sat, the guy came and took their order. All the while I sat at my table thinking that's messed up - I got here first, I sat down first, I was ready to order first. Minutes go by and more patrons arrived. I watched in awe as the guy greets them at the door and sat them at a table. He took their order immediately as well. I sat there visibly watching as I continued being passed over without even a drink of water offered or a hello. The guy passed me multiple times taking orders, serving food, and seating people. Not once did he look my way or bothered to check on me. Other diners at various tables experienced a similar poor level of service, although not to my extreme. At least three different people at three different tables had to flag the guy down and ask for more water.

About 15 minutes after arriving, I stood up and quietly left.

That night is the last time I will ever consider Saigon again.

Good luck to those that stop by. I hope your experience won't be as...

This wonderful restaurant has been around for a long time, but off my beaten path, so I forget about it, but it's not to be missed anymore, as it's become a fave! It's located in a small plaza where few businesses remain, but they have plenty of customers and an attached gaming parlor with gambling machines in a separate room - it's nice that they separate it from the family seating (you've got to be 21 to enter).

The food is amazing. We have some favorite Chinese places, so we went straight for the Vietnamese foods and they didn't disappoint! For appetizers, we order #101, Vietnamese egg rolls - simple and delicious with some amazing sauce that marries the flavors together and #103 Vietnamese spring rolls, which we do vegetarian, so veggies wrapped in rice paper, served cold with great peanut flavored sauce. For entrees, we love #140 Vegetarian pan-seared RICE noodles - they are thick and dense noodles with the crispiness of the pan sear, topped with vegetables, tofu and a brown sauce we've recently been asking them to make it spicy and it hits the spot every time - perfect heat for the dish, not overwhelming and no lingering burn. We also ordered #117 Special Vermicelli that came with shrimp, pork, chicken, and veggies over super thin noodles, which my adult son described as "quite tasty" and he'd "definitely order it again."

We placed orders by phone and we are promptly greeted upon arrival and checked out in no time - staff is very friendly and takes time to answer questions, explain dishes and make future recommendations. I believe it was the owner that came out and interacted today, which emphasizes why these small restaurants thrive - they get to know the community they serve and make you feel welcome, sharing their cuisines and growing our palettes. Give them a shot, you won't be...

The food is AMAZING and deserves all of the stars. Unfortunately the rating is for the entire restaurant which includes rating the staff. Since visiting this restaurant I have seen different employees within a one year period. I guess they either do not pay well or do not train well or ask too much of the staff or they do not have enough staff. Most of the time I come in and all of the tables are full of dirty dishes and two employees running around handling take out orders on the phone, people picking up their orders, and the rest of the customers dinning in. The owners/cooks are in the back making the most delicious Vietnamese food. Imagine if they had the great taste and variety of food on top of good quality staff??? The last time I came in, an employee was complaining to a customer about how the owner doesn’t hire enough staff and how they are so unprofessional. She tried to guilt the customer into thinking she’s such a good employee because she cares too much. I guess no one told her it is unprofessional to discuss in house problems with customers. This night they actually had three employees. Unfortunately, one of them was brand new to the restaurant, on a Saturday night. She knew absolutely nothing about the food or how to wait on tables. As soon as I sat down she asked if I knew what I wanted without getting to look at the menu. I do hope that they improve because I do...