Pho Sai Gon — Restaurant in The Villages

Second time in 2 days. Last night, Friday, was a very busy night for them, too busy to honor reservations for 6 people after they made them with me 3 days prior. Was embarrassed, mainly because I made the reservation and now we had no where to dine. We did go to Gios and we did wait 20 minutes, and it was very worth the wait. Thank you Gios for saving me. Well Saturday, after working unexpectedly all day, hubby says let's try Pho Saigon again. Well how different 24 hours can make. The 2 of us walked in door, we were seated immediately, drinks served and order was given to a very nice waitress/hostess/cashierJack of all trades. (Same young lady that had our reservation). She was delightful, helped us pick a meal, since it was our first time eating the Vietnamese food. We had heard wonderful things about the food. We did not wait long when Tracey(owner) came out and was surprise to see us there. She was delighted that we were there. Later saw Brian (owner) walk through, guess these two do the cooking. I do not know the names of the items we ate, but the 4 things we picked were very good and very tasty.will do again. The last surprise came from the waitress. She had on her way to work purchased small chalk boards to place on tables when people call in for reservations so the others do not keep putting walk-ins in those places. Apparently, the team had not gotten that part down yet. What a keeper she is. A very hard working young single mom, supporting herself and young baby. She is the best, thank you to the moon and back. There was also a young man there who stopped by the table, he as well was very courteous and hard working. Brian and Tracey, know you work hard and food is great, but your young people are making the restaurant work, take care of them... Thank you all again. PS. I apologise for not remembering the 2 young people's names. But they are there all the time...

Our waitress for our table was friendly and doing her best but said it was her second day on the job, so when I asked if MSG was used in the food she did not have the answer and had to go ask. She came back and said yes, then I asked was there anything that msg was not used in and she again had to go ask someone else, a different woman came back to the table and abruptly asked " what's the question here" . And I asked her was there anything they did not use msg in, and very condescending she replied, " well, there's salt in everything" and treated my concern as if I were being petty and foolish , and after I felt the need that I had to explain the fact to this woman that I in fact do have an msg intolerance that brings me serious discomfort ( as she made me feel like I was lying about having an MSG intolerance) she finally offered up the suggestion that the vegan dishes were probably my safest choice and left it at that, ..learning to be patient and tolerant in the service industry is a key factor that u must have, it is understandable that people can be frustrating and demanding , but if someone is explaining that they have a problem with certain foods they are looking to u for help , guidance of ur menu, and solutions, Not a lack of concern , so being left with the feeling of uncertainty in what I would be ordering , the steamed rice was great, the fried tofu was just that, and I did eat some of the fried crab Rangoon which were outstanding, not trying to bash the place, it smelled delicious, I just didn't want to spend the rest of the night feeling like my chest was...

My wife and I visited for lunch at 1400, plenty of parking in the lot outside. Inside the restaurant there are comfortable booths for customers, three other booths were occupied this afternoon during our visit. Air conditioning is effective, noise level was low in the seating area we chose.

My wife, ever the adventurer, chose yet a different selection this time, the “# 19 Saigon Special with beef”. This was a generous portion of grilled beef strips, grilled shrimp, an individual egg roll, mixed greens salad, cucumber slice, a sunny-side-up fried egg, and steamed rice, with nuoc-cham on the side. She thought this was the most pleasing of all the meals she has eaten here. I also give it an “up vote”.

I decided to stick with my favorite, with a variation that includes an egg roll on top: The “# 18 Vermicelli noodles with egg roll and grilled pork”. Today this item was prepared in a superior fashion: There was more emphasis on the greens and herbs, bean sprouts, cucumbers and carrots, with a slightly reduced quantity of vermicelli noodles. I like this balance of ingredients better. The nuoc-cham was more on target today, as well, but I still asked for a plate of lime wedges which our server, Calvin, brought without delay.

I think both my wife and I were most pleased with the food today, there is simply no reason for anything but a top rating on today’s...