(310) 312-2929

11611 Santa Monica Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90025 34.0447 -118.4544

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Neighborhoods: West Los Angeles, West LA

Last updated 6.20.11

Category:

Restaurants

Cuisine:

Vietnamese

ambiance
100.0% positive
  1. For me, the cozy charming inexpensive authentic ethnic restaurants are what really make L.A. a wonderful place to live.
  2. met up with some coworkers here and liked the decor.
  3. Le Saigon has an extremely cute and cozy atmosphere, and a great reputation, so we were really looking forward to a great Vietnamese meal.
food quality
91.78000450134277% positive
  1. was furious because he should have just said something to me, NOT TOUCH MY CHILD, then, the food they brought for us had no flavor, the soup seemed watered down and the steamed white rice was not fresh at all--I think they brought over an old batch beca
  2. cheap, yummy food, friendly service
  3. good food and good people running the place
  4. The food is horrible!
  5. Portions are a bit smaller than normal, but it's as authentic pho as you'll get on the west side.
  6. (It's a great place for a quick meal before a movie.)
  7. What I do know it that le saigon's food is simply delicious no matter which way you look at it.
  8. It's just good fresh food, which I enjoy -- and I'm leaving to go eat there right now!
  9. The fresh herbs and julienne vegetables are flavorful and usually pristine.
  10. My wife and I get the #7 with beef, which is vermicelli, perfectly fried imperial rolls, amazing barbecued beef, and all the lettuce, peanuts, etc. that round out a bun dish.
  11. have never turned my nose up at the venue or wait staff as I find that the best places for good authentic foods are usually in hole in the wall places.
  12. just appreciate good food.
  13. Unfortunately the only reason why this place is packed is due to the fact that the westside lacks decent Vietnamese cuisine.
  14. I've been coming here for the last 5 years and I've never had a bad meal.
  15. This place was not tasty at all and I have had my share of authentic home Vietnamese cook.
  16. Our beloved pho was a "cleaned-up" version as compared to what you can get at Koreatown pho places, and we really missed the meatballs, the more exotic meat choices, and the abundant fresh condiments.
  17. If you don't like a dish, that may be delightful for someone else, don't bash this place.
  18. Vietnamese cuisine is Chris' favorite, so we routinely cook it at home and love to try new places.
  19. The Bun is fabulous (I always order the pork +shrimp), with al dente vermacelli noodies with neat rows of fresh mint ribbons, shredded carrots, cucumber, and lettuce with a splash of fish sauce with marinated carrots and a crisp Vietnamese style fried egg
  20. The food is great.
  21. The spring rolls are also top notch, with fresh noodles, mint, carrots, and lettuce all rolled up in a rice paper wrapper.
  22. My chicken pho was tasty and the ingredients were fresh.
  23. However, I did look over at people sittin next to us and their rice dishes looked pretty good.
  24. That gives their rolls a nice crunch to compliment the meat.
  25. flavours. The Phô -a rice noodle beef broth dish seasoned with cilantro, green onions, lime, chile and basil and your choice of tender meat or tofu, is the specialty here- the best broth in town.
  26. This is a great place for a quick meal, as you can get in and out in about half an hour.
  27. Overall, if you want solid, fresh, and tasty Vietnamese food, this is your best bet on the Westside.
  28. Their bun with charbroiled beef and shrimp is amazing, as are the roll your own spring rolls, though if you decide to go with the latter, I recommend you roll your rolls first before you eat rather than roll as you go, because the rice wrap paper can try
  29. Their spring rolls are mostly fresh lettuce, herbs, carrots, rather than rice sticks like some of the places I've had in the valley and downtown.
  30. The food here is fantastic.
  31. The great thing about this place is that although they serve great Pho here, their menu is full of other authentic Vietnamese food items including my favorite, "Bun Thit Cha Gio" charbroiled beef with vermicelli noodles.
  32. Real Vietnamese food isn't for everyone, but this place is great.
  33. Good and inexpensive vietnamese food
  34. Excellent, fresh, inexpensive Vietnamese food.
  35. The food has always been great -- all these years.
  36. The Goi Cuon (spring rolls) and Thit Cuon (Pork rolls) are especially tasty.
  37. Good Vietnamese food is a gem to find, this place has great service, great food at a great price.
  38. Visit Vietnam sometime, you'll see that food served in America is just small sample of what great dishes Vietnamese has, but of course most places cater to the bland Americans who can't handle spicy dishes or meat prepared and served in a different way.
  39. The food is consistently fresh and tasty.
  40. Le Saigon has an extremely cute and cozy atmosphere, and a great reputation, so we were really looking forward to a great Vietnamese meal.
  41. Le Saigon is not great Vietnamese food.
  42. also recommend the rice paper dish where you roll your own spring rolls.
  43. The food is very tasty, especially for the price.
  44. The facade was cute, wait staff was extremely friendly and prompt but the food was a total shock of blandness.
  45. For me, the cozy charming inexpensive authentic ethnic restaurants are what really make L.A. a wonderful place to live.
  46. found it funny to overcharge for delicious, steamy, recycled bath water.
  47. truly love great Vietnamese food, and crave a great, inexpensive vermicelli bowl with pork and fried rolls.
  48. Pho with meatballs is a great meal at a steal.
  49. The customer service is great, the prices are low and the food is very good.
  50. Though the restaurant is small, the food is excellent and the service is great - a rarity in L.A. My favorite dish is bbq chicken, beef or
  51. It has great egg rolls that are served with a plate of lettuce and mint leaves on the side along with a special dipping sauce.
  52. Le Saigon is the only restaurant outside of Santa Ana/Monterey Park/Downtown that offers authentic and well-prepared Vietnamese dishes.
  53. This is the best Vietnamese cuisine in Los Angeles.
  54. great food
  55. the spring rolls with the little meatballs in them are insanely refreshing and delicious.
  56. While the service is friendly and efficient, you'd do better to get in the car and make the drive to San Gabriel or Westminster for some real Vietnamese food.
  57. People who order beef Pho and get meatballs, get over it, that's who we do it.
  58. I'm a very picky eater, and still I love the food here.
  59. The soup was warm and not hot.
  60. Quaint little cafe caters authentic and incredibly fresh food.
  61. also think the food is great.
  62. come from Orange County where there are a ton of places to eat great vietnamese food at a regular price.
  63. love the shrimp rice vermicelli soup and the delicious non-fried spring rolls they serve.
  64. The imperial rolls are just what is needed after a hard day - true comfort food - the dipping sauce with the lettuce and mint cut the crispy wrapper perfectly!
  65. There are too many places that serve quality food with friendly and accommodating service.
  66. went in for lunch with my 3 year old daughter and my brother since we love Vietnamese noodles, but the servers were very unfriendly and grabbed a spoon out of my daughter's hand--she wasn't even doing anything, but he probably thought she was going to t
  67. Not really what you can call authentic Vietnamese food but I like this better than the authentic places.
  68. would not recommend this place, as there are truly, much better, much more flavorful, more authentic, and inexpensive Vietnamese restaurants in LA.
  69. We've always particularly liked the flavor of the chicken pho -- I think the broth really is quite good, and the dish where you wrap the ingredients yourself is very good.
  70. The spring rolls were fresh, but the dipping sauce wasn't very exciting or especially flavorful, just sweet.
  71. DON'T recommend anything with chicken, unless you like all dark meat.
  72. This is justified by their GREAT, authentic vietnamese food.
  73. This restaurant probably has the best Vietnamese food you can find in the city of Los Angeles.
  74. All dishes are made with the best ingredients creating full fresh
  75. Since it was slow the service was excellent, fast and delicious.
menu variety
83.33000183105469% positive
  1. The great thing about this place is that although they serve great Pho here, their menu is full of other authentic Vietnamese food items including my favorite, "Bun Thit Cha Gio" charbroiled beef with vermicelli noodles.
  2. Our beloved pho was a "cleaned-up" version as compared to what you can get at Koreatown pho places, and we really missed the meatballs, the more exotic meat choices, and the abundant fresh condiments.
  3. am systematically trying everything on the menu and so far have LOVED everything.
overall
93.75% positive
  1. (It's a great place for a quick meal before a movie.)
  2. The great thing about this place is that although they serve great Pho here, their menu is full of other authentic Vietnamese food items including my favorite, "Bun Thit Cha Gio" charbroiled beef with vermicelli noodles.
  3. It's so sad that people say this is the best Vietnamese restaurant on the westside.
  4. This is a great place for a quick meal, as you can get in and out in about half an hour.
  5. It is good to get there early because this is a favorite neighborhood restaurant and it can get busy.
  6. It is a great local neighborhood restaurant to go to.
  7. This is my favorite restaurant in Los Angeles.
  8. good food and good people running the place
service
77.3799991607666% positive
  1. It's located on a block with a lot of other restaurants, so there's a nice lively feel (people walking on the sidewalks in LA!)
  2. The service has been great so far.
  3. Since it was slow the service was excellent, fast and delicious.
  4. Very bad service!
  5. When we asked the waiter why he did that, he just got annoyed and offered this weird fake apology where he looked at the ground and said he was sorry.
  6. Though the restaurant are quite busy during the dining time, the server were quite attentive, not as bad as previous mentioned.
  7. *Especially* the ones claiming that the service is poor and the staff is rude.
  8. have never turned my nose up at the venue or wait staff as I find that the best places for good authentic foods are usually in hole in the wall places.
  9. There are too many places that serve quality food with friendly and accommodating service.
  10. The customer service is great, the prices are low and the food is very good.
  11. went in for lunch with my 3 year old daughter and my brother since we love Vietnamese noodles, but the servers were very unfriendly and grabbed a spoon out of my daughter's hand--she wasn't even doing anything, but he probably thought she was going to t
  12. cheap, yummy food, friendly service
  13. We went to the Japanese Tappas Style restaurant next door instead -it was great and the wait staff was awesome!
  14. good food and good people running the place
  15. It's so sad that people say this is the best Vietnamese restaurant on the westside.
  16. The service was decent.
  17. The staff is great too - may be a bit 'rushy', but all those asian places tend to be.
  18. Our server every time weve been there is Frederick, one of the sons of this family-ran eatery and he remembers our orders from before and what extra sauces we like (I LOVE the Peanut Sauce on EVERYTHING!
  19. The waiter was rude to us when we told him our dietary needs and asked if it were possible to get one of the appetizers steamed instead of fried.
  20. Great service.
  21. The facade was cute, wait staff was extremely friendly and prompt but the food was a total shock of blandness.
  22. However, I did look over at people sittin next to us and their rice dishes looked pretty good.
  23. First, the service was horrible (the owner-waiter --who had the worst attitude i.e., he didn't care if you ate there or not -- wouldn't let me turn the table which was configured wrong in the first place).
  24. that owner-waiter(really pale) gave me a really dirty look.
  25. While the service is friendly and efficient, you'd do better to get in the car and make the drive to San Gabriel or Westminster for some real Vietnamese food.
  26. Though the restaurant is small, the food is excellent and the service is great - a rarity in L.A. My favorite dish is bbq chicken, beef or
  27. Good Vietnamese food is a gem to find, this place has great service, great food at a great price.
  28. The servers are great though.
value
92.30999946594238% positive
  1. The food is very tasty, especially for the price.
  2. Good Vietnamese food is a gem to find, this place has great service, great food at a great price.
  3. The flavors are wonderful, and the prices are just fantastic.
  4. truly love great Vietnamese food, and crave a great, inexpensive vermicelli bowl with pork and fried rolls.
  5. For me, the cozy charming inexpensive authentic ethnic restaurants are what really make L.A. a wonderful place to live.
  6. The price is great also.
  7. and the prices are extremely reasonable!
  8. The customer service is great, the prices are low and the food is very good.
  9. cheap, yummy food, friendly service
  10. would not recommend this place, as there are truly, much better, much more flavorful, more authentic, and inexpensive Vietnamese restaurants in LA.
  11. come from Orange County where there are a ton of places to eat great vietnamese food at a regular price.
  12. Excellent, fresh, inexpensive Vietnamese food.
  13. Good and inexpensive vietnamese food
wait time
100.0% positive
  1. Since it was slow the service was excellent, fast and delicious.
  2. (It's a great place for a quick meal before a movie.)
  3. This is a great place for a quick meal, as you can get in and out in about half an hour.
3 Star Rating: Average

10/03/10

Fun to roll your own food

by jeffwolterman at Citysearch

I love rolling my own food in the rice paper. Wish there was another place in LA I could do that.

The ambiance is blah and the waiters aren't that friendly, but the food keeps me coming back.

2 Star Rating: Below Average

03/01/10

Someday an authentic viet rest will make it here

by jennyl25 at Citysearch

that owner-waiter(really pale) gave me a really dirty look. took a look at my white boyfriend and looked back me with the ugliest snarl. lol He must feel like asian girls should not be able to date white men. Jerk

Food is just ok. bland yet fresh. The servers are great though.

5 Star Rating: Highly Recommended

01/21/10

Best pho in town

by PiperPass at Citysearch

Been going here for a while - after trying pretty much every other pho place in town. The staff is great too - may be a bit 'rushy', but all those asian places tend to be. Plus the staff always remembers what I order, which is always nice. Kudos!!

  • Pros: #3 and #17 with beef are off the hook
  • Cons: cash only
5 Star Rating: Highly Recommended

07/23/09

Best Pho in LA

by BBELA at Citysearch

Here we go. This is the stuff. This is the joint.

This is my favorite restaurant in Los Angeles.

I’ve been here at least 75 times over the past few years. I used to go at least once a week, I was almost in need of a Vietnamese intervention.

Now, I could live solely on Asian cuisine. Thai, Indian, Vietnamese, Korean and Japanese. In that order. Write that down. You’ll be tested.

I’ve only been to four Vietnamese restaurants in LA. I’ve not branched out, I admit. I just hate being disappointed. There is no Pho broth like Le Saigon’s.

You don’t want to be around me when I eat Pho. It’s a bit stomach turning. Let’s just say, I perspire. A lot. The table will soon be covered in damp napkins, like snow on a field. I get hot at the drop of a hat, as it is. I keep a fan blowing on my face all day at work. I sleep with a fan on me. Pho would not be my ideal meal to eat on a date.

What I ate yesterday was the make your own spring roll platter, if you will. You get all the meat, veggies, lettuce and herbs and the moistened rice paper and you roll your own. Nice. It always is enough for two meals.

However, usually I alternate between the Pho and the noodle dishes (Bun) when I go. The fresh herbs and julienne vegetables are flavorful and usually pristine.

I did see a microscopic wriggling worm on my mint leaf today. That did not stop me from continuing to consume at a rapid pace. I just discarded the leaf without a second thought.

Is that a deal breaker for you guys? Come on! It was so tiny. If we only knew all the woodland creatures that were hanging out in our salads!

FOR MORE HONEST REVIEWS, SEARCH ONLINE FOR:

BUN BOY EATS LA

  • Pros: Cheap, tasty
1 Star Rating: Poor

04/19/09

Worst Vietnamese restaurant

by maximilian at Citysearch

This is a review I posted on Yelp...

This was THE WORST vietnamese resteaurant i've EVER been to (and I've been to many). First, the service was horrible (the owner-waiter --who had the worst attitude i.e., he didn't care if you ate there or not -- wouldn't let me turn the table which was configured wrong in the first place). I have no idea why, especially because another waiter came and turned it for me. The food didn't get any better. I ordered the pork chop well done. Of course, it wasn't cooked enough, and when I sent it back, I got it back burned. (The meat tasted old, too.) I didn't want to send it back again because I was afraid what they would do to it (i wouldn't put it past them)...

This place is completely overrated. The food is horrible!!! So NOT worth the overcharged prices. It's so sad that people say this is the best Vietnamese restaurant on the westside. They are so deprived. You couldn't pay me to eat there. You would do so much better just driving a few miles into the valley.

Do not go to Le Saigon!! I would give it zero stars, but it would let me post w/o putting something down.

Someone needs to open a Vietnamese restaurant on the Westside.

  • Pros: Nothing
  • Cons: Food and service

The Details on Le Saigon

Place Categories:

  • great authentic vietnamese food
  • great customer service
  • great place
  • really good beef pho
  • great wait staff
  • great price
  • recommend rice paper dish
  • worst service
  • flavorful julienne vegetables
  • favorite local neighborhood restaurant
  • shock vietnamese food
  • decent vietnamese restaurants
  • favorite vietnamese cuisine
  • fresh lettuce
  • always particularly liked flavors
  • great vietnamese meal
  • flavorful fresh herbs
  • fresh ingredients
  • well-prepared vietnamese dishes
  • like dark meat
  • like look
  • abundant fresh condiments
  • fresh shredded carrots
  • especially tasty spring rolls
  • furious steamed white rice
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