Saigon Grill

Yelp reviews brought us here and with 100+ reviews how could it go wrong?

Came on a Saturday afternoon. The place was empty so hubby and I kind of panicked a little. The menu list was limited and hubby had a bad feeling but told him to give the place a chance. I mean it has 100+ reviews!

We sat, ordered our food and the food arrived and the waitress never gave us our glasses of water. The water came after the third time I asked. Also asked for some extra napkins she comes back w/ one piece of napkin for me, and another piece for my hubby. Serious?

Now for the food, it was okay. We had mongolian beef and pho soup. I liked how the mangolian beef tasted but it was more "Mangolian Veggies" than "Mangolian beef". It didn't look like your ordinary mangolian beef (w/ just green onions) but had lots of green bell peppers and onions. The pho soup rivals the ones you get at "argyle st" only there you get more soup options. Here there's only one kind of soup.

Now the portions were meant to be shared but it seemed to the waitress each dish was only meant for one person. So I had to ask for extra plates, cup of rice, etc. Blah blah blah. I don't know, maybe we just got used to other restaurants that it's just obvious what you need and they bring it to you w/o even needing to ask. I started to get frustrated when I had to come up to the counter each time for her to refill our glasses, to get extra napkins, the bill, etc. On top of that she calculated our bill wrong!

I think this place would've gotten another star from me or even a come back visit. But really the service just ruined all of that.

A friend of mine loves this place and invited me to join him.  The menu features both Chinese and Vietnamese food.  After eating there, I definitely agree with him.  The proprietor "Sonny" is a really friendly, warm, intelligent, welcoming guy.  We loved talking to him.  

Had the coffee -- it's strong like espresso and made with condensed milk; I really enjoyed it.  As a first course, we enjoyed the Vietnamese spring rolls and they were excellent -- really fresh, high-quality ingredients and I liked the peanut sauce; we only had one and it was huge.  

Next we shared the shrimp with candied walnut dish which is served with rice.  I highly recommend this dish; the shrimp were perfectly cooked and there were a generous amount of these.  The walnuts are sweet and the sauce had just a hint of sweetness.  This is Sonny's own version of this dish and he deserves much praise for how great this simple dish tastes.  

My friend had ordered the Singapore noodles with a hotness factor of 4; it had just a bit of heat and the Indian curry flavor came through subtly and was not overpowering.  The aroma was wonderful.  If someone really wants a lot of curry flavor, like some of the reviewers, or more heat, I'm sure Sonny would gladly accommodate them.  Personally, I liked the fact I could enjoy all the individual flavors of the ingredients rather than tasting nothing but the curry.  I love hot food so I might try a hotness factor of 5 next time but prefer that it's not so hot that it overpowers all the other flavors.  Again, all the ingredients were fresh and I loved the dish.  I had a hard time not finishing every last bite of both dishes but the portions were generous and we had them wrap up the remainder to savor at home another day.  

We also told them to save desert for us when we first placed our order (my friend said they sometimes run out): warm tapioca pudding with plantains sprinkled with peanuts and sesame.  I was afraid I wouldn't have room but I finished every last delicious bite.

This place is less than 20 minutes from my place so I'm sure I'll be back with friends and family.  I know my friend will be back again and will be glad to join him anytime.

Thm ngon!! Apparently that's "delicious" in Vietnamese and the right word to describe what's going on at this little gem in Jeff Park.

Wow, just wow. Let's start with the gracious and hilarious proprietor "Sonny". We were welcomed like family. On a first name basis with all the regular customers as they entered, he cares about what he is doing here and it really makes a difference.  

Everything, everything is made to order. I am very tolerant of noodle dishes, I have come to expect running into sort of a mushy sloppy section or unevenly cooked ingredients. Not the case here. Every bit of veg, every noodle, every everything was perfectly prepared with the desired amount of heat and smoke.

The Saigon Noodles are insane.

Sonny did everything right on my visit, definitely goes on my best of Jefferson Park list and is a must have when in Chicago!