Alo Saigon — Restaurant in Westfield

On May 19, 2024 I went to Alo Saigon on Elm Street in Westfield with a bunch of my friends. All of them were Chinese and they loved this place but it was a first time for my family and myself, though we drive by it frequently and my oldest asked if it was the restaurant with the kid in the front window playing computers games. I didn't know what he was referring to but as we drove up and found free parking he confirmed that YES it was the place with the Asian kid in the front window! We went into the restaurant on a Sunday evening around dinner time to a very empty place. There was a couple behind us who I assumed wanted a quiet evening but alas, my part was not going to allow that. We were 5 in our family plus two families with 4 in each so 8 plus 5 is 13! Thirteen people and it was a simple fit. Everybody already had their menus when we walked in. There were a few recommendations thrown around and since I enjoy Vietnamese food I didn't care what I was going to get as long as it is hot and delish. The woman serving us was all business and with a heavy accent go everyone's orders. She was receptive to our youngest having an allergy and then decided to inform me that yes, the eggroll also has eggs. Mind blown! At least that makes sense, I had a McDonald's drive through person tell me they weren't sure if the white milk in the happy meal contained eggs. We lived dangerously that night.

Our oldest got the beef curry and our youngest (with a peanut and egg allergy) got the chicken noodle soup (Vietnamese style not American style or cheesy American English books type Chicken Noodle Soup!) My daughter enjoyed her Pho which for the uninitiated is a hot soup with floating noodles, veggies and slices of meat. It's delicious after you let it cool down a bit. Our waitress and for the looks of it was the boss, was all business and kept not wanting to spend any time with us at all. I ordered #18 which was the rare beef noodle soup. A friend of ours had already ordered but when he asked if they could change their order the waitress/owner informed him, minutes after they ordered, that their order was already in progress. Yeah, right I thought to myself. But then moments or minutes after we ordered some received their food. I was aghast. We just ordered, I'm sure we have a while to wait. Boom. Next thing I knew my food came which mysteriously looked like my wife's though we ordered something different. Finally, I made a comment to our waitress/boss that they are so amazing fast and she smiled! I did it! But after smiling just said nothing and went back into the kitchen. Oh well.

There was silence as we all slurped up the food which was all very good after our long day in Albany and on the road. Kids a young as three were pre-occupied with the good food and also enjoyed it, though they are used to Chinese food as they are all ethnically Chinese and used to "weird looking Asian food and chopsticks." Our family of 5 ordered a meal each and it came out to $67 even and we resisted the boba teas that everyone wanted since some of the kids didn't even finish their Pho or noodles. We came home with two small take out containers for the soup that we didn't finish.

Over all the location is great, the parking was great, the cleanliness and the bathroom door sticking was not great, the friendliness of the staff wasn't that great either except at the end when I asked about the boy at the window playing computer games and the waitress claimed it was the boss's son. The staff was all very sullen until when the cook came out of the kitchen with another order I told him with thumbs up, DELICIOUS! and a big wide grin came over his otherwise colorless face. At least I made a couple people...

I was running another errand in Westfield and thought I'd give Alo Saigon a try. I'm so glad I did! My order was small, just a #5, the vegetable summer rolls. I called in my order, and the friendly voice on the phone told me 15-20 minutes. Arriving a bit later than that, I was met again with likely the same friendly person. When I said I was just in town for something else trying the place out, she said it was great and she's not just saying that, she had been a customer before. As to the summer rolls, they were great! Packed with avocado (which I hadn't experienced in a summer roll before, flavorful tofu, rice noodles, lettuce and carrot, they were expertly rolled and were kept so in the to-go container with some plastic wrap. They came with two sauces: a light peanut sauce, and a tangy fish sauce that were both really good. For some they may be enough for lunch, they were that substantial (me, I'd need a couple more!), but I wasn't in search of lunch, just a snack, so all good. Looking forward to returning, whether I have to go to Westfield for something...

If you are Vegetarian or Vegan, NO! They label a portion of the menu as Vegetarian yet cook everything using Oyster sauce, or beef broth. They claim it is vegetarian but that is not vegetarian. There is room for improvement, however, they are not responsive and don't seem to care. They act polite, and there is a language barrier so you cannot communicate easily with the owner or kitchen staff, the waitstaff seem to try and the staff refuse to modify dishes to be truly vegetarian. The waitstaff are decent, though service can be slow as they do get busy, its not great, its decent. They do have attractive looking meals/dishes, which we liked until we realized they were not vegetarian. I can't really comment on most of the food as we haven't had much of it, on one occasion the supposed vegetarian dish we ordered smelled like fish. They could be more professional as well, staff should keep personal phone calls out of the dining room, and the owners kids shouldn't play with the ice in the...