We came here for Pho in Monrovia because of its high rating on Yelp. Was it good? Yes and no. Service was good and staff were polite. The pho on the other hand lacked the freshness that would deserve 5 stars. My pho was ordered with steamed chicken. It was below average. The chicken was super dry even after sitting in pho. Next time when craving pho, i'm trying the place across the street. It has a half star lesser rating but better reviews overall within the past year. read more

Saigon Avenue - Pho with steamed chicken pieces. Chicken pieces were extremely dry and hard to eat & swallow. - Vietnamese Near Me - Monrovia, California

The bahn mi was really good! Nice family business, I'm excited to try their other food!

If you are looking for an authentic Vietnamese restaurant, or simply a change from the usual, Saigon Avenue is your place! Not only is the food delicious, the drinks are refreshing and the service is above the rest. Recommended menu items are Stir Fried Bok Choy, Pho with steamed chicken and lemonade. The best way to describe our experience thus far with Saigon Cafe, is the feeling of being invited into a very warm and hospitable Vietnamese home. If you havent had the pleasure, I highly recommend it. read more

Saigon Avenue - Mango Lemonade - Vietnamese Near Me - Monrovia, California

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It's sad for me to say this but the quality of food here has gone way downhill since it opened a few years ago. I've been eating at Saigon Avenue ever since they opened and for a while the quality was excellent, extremely clean and flavorful pho broth, and great banh mi, spring rolls, and rice dishes. I don't know what happened but it was clear that something changed. The broth is no longer clean or flavorful, all the prices have increased drastically (A banh mi costs $12 dollars with less protein inside than before). I have lived in the 626 area ever since middle school and any local can tell you that the gold standard for pho in the area has always been Golden Deli. For a while I thought Saigon Ave was gonna be a worthy alternative but there's actually no reason for anyone to go here instead of Golden Deli. There's a drastic price difference (A banh mi costs $6.5 at Golden Deli), and more importantly a substantial quality difference. Golden Deli has always been consistent whereas Saigon Ave's quality has gone down every year it has been in business. One more thing that has always irked me is that Saigon Ave have created/spammed online delivery platforms with many many virtual restaurants that make it seem like it's an entirely different restaurant when it's just themselves. This isn't uncommon but what is uncommon is the sheer amount of restaurants they created. Roll & Wich, Dragon Bowl-Z, Pho Mama, It's Pho Girls, Vietnamese Vibes, Saigon Table, Veggilicious, Banh Banh, Rice Noodle Bowls, Send Noods, Me Pho Hungry, Veggy Street, and The Pho Empire are all the same restaurant. That's 13 restaurants. Again, this is not prohibited or anything, but I order a lot from delivery services and I have never seen anything like this. I understand that Covid has disproportionately impacted restaurants, but all restaurants are affected, not just Saigon Ave. And creating 13 restaurants so they get more visibility on delivery platforms is just way too misleading for me. read more

Saigon Avenue - Created 13 virtual restaurants - Vietnamese Near Me - Monrovia, California

This was one of the most disappointing meals I've had in a long time. The interior is incredibly meek and dated, but whatever, I look past it. We ordered the appetizer platter with egg rolls and fried shrimp. It came with a sweet and sour sauce that tasted like it was just poured out of a generic condiment bottle, the egg rolls were honestly disgusting. Crunchy with an off putting flavor. The fried shrimp completely lacked flavor. We also ordered a filet sandwich and a pork sandwich. The sandwiches were good, except for the fiery chilis that completely ruined it. I love spice, but this was unreal - my lips went numb and got full off drinking water. I love Vietnamese food and grew up in Alhambra/San Gabriel area with some of the best Vietnamese food I've ever had. This was just so disappointing and hate that I spent my hard earned money here. read more

They have excellent Banh Mi (sandwich), we usually order the filet mignon and grilled pork.

Golden Crispy Egg Roll (3/5) - Nothing special, tastes alright. Kind of not worth the price. Create your own Pho (4.5/5) - The broth is delicious, it tastes almost a little sweet. I ordered it with tendon and flank and they give you quite a lot. Ambiance - Pretty quiet on a side street of Old Town. It's kind of dark inside so if people aren't visible, you probably wouldn't know it's open. read more

Terrible service. Ordered two bahn mi sandwiches and three orders of spring rolls. Guy on the phone repeated the order precisely. When I get there to pick up the food, they insist that I ordered 3 sandwiches. When I tell them no, they tell me that they will have to throw all of my food out and start making the food again. What is this? Is this how you treat your customers? Never ordering from this place again. read more

Great Bahn Mi, great service. Order directly through them (not Yelp). It's cheaper for you and they make more money.

Consistent food and service, family owned local business We order regularly for office events. All the food is delicious and well made. Pho broth is clean with a sweeter tone. To go orders are packed well and generous portion sizes. Grilled pork trio or beef trio come with grilled shrimp, egg roll and choice of rice or rice vermicelli. Banh mi is pricier than other places. Well made bread and flavorful protein options, fresh produce. Support local businesses! Xo read more

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4.5 Stars with room to grow!! The chicken fried rice reminded me of grandpa's master chef fried rice. Dry and add an egg, two to three! The more the better! 5stars The veggie vermicelli is good, flavorful and it even has its own veggie sauce! This place caters to all, veggie options galore and friendly enough to allow customization. 3.75 stars The pho is gentle from the start, allowing you to customize at will. More homestyle than the local places around town. This is hard to rank, because it's not "bam" take me as I am style, it's subtle and says I'm good but adjust me the way you need. So I'm ok with that, 4stars. Bring the family, there are plenty of options and tables to boot. I'm coming back. read more

Whenever I need to get my Vietnamese fix this is where I go first. Family owned restaurant great food service always happy to see you. Ambience is a little rundown, but I don't really care. I usually take it to go anyways I hope they never go away. read more

Amazing food. I take my friends family to eat all the time. There was one time I found a tiny bug on my raw lettuce. Nonetheless, love the family owned restaurant read more

Love their vermicelli trio bowl- very tasty. Could be larger in portion though (slightly skimpy on the meat amount given). Good and fast service from the staff here. read more

Food was great. Especially Pho and shrimp spring rolls. Excellent service. Pleasant atmosphere. Will visit again.

The restaurant is in a good location on old town Monrovia. The restaurant is simple and quiet. The staff welcomed us and were flexible with our orders (like grilled pork over fried rice) The dishes were bursting with flavors! This is our go-to Vietnamese restaurant! read more

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With chain-franchise pizza dropped off at our door early for the kids and their friends, enjoying a Saturday evening of Fortnite, Mrs. Picante and I weren't feeling too hot on pawing through the pile of cardboard pie boxes for congealing cheese and skimpy ham 'n' pineapple toppings on a $7.77 pizza. At the same time, we surely couldn't leave this wily troop of pre-teens home alone, so a date night was out of the question... and the frozen bags of Trader Joe's heat-and-eat meals didn't seem too appealing either. I suppose I could have driven out into the evening and picked something up, but I wasn't feeling it-- can't someone just, like, drive a big bowl of pho to my house? Ahh, Yelp, you soothe and salve my sloth, and slake my laziness with your GrubHub partnership! A cursory search of the app brought Saigon up on the screen, and soon we were perusing the menu like a couple of twenty-somethings on a date in Old Town Monrovia... ok, like a couple of forty-somethings hiding in our bedroom from a gaggle of kids monopolizing the living room... We ordered the Pho Supreme ($9.99) and the Pho Rare Steak ($8.99) and an order of Shrimp rolls ($6.99). By the time tax, tip, and the $5.99 delivery fee was totaled, we were in over $40.... but Monrovia rents must be high, delivery convenience is worth every penny, and I didn't need to put shoes on. Worth it. Our food arrived earlier than promised, which was cool. Ample use of styrofoam containers meant our broth was still piping hot. I found our 99 Ranch cheap melamine bowls and soup spoons in the cabinet purchased years ago for this very purpose, and started opening containers. The broth was tasty, with good bone flavor, strong onion, but a little light on the anise and cinnamon for my taste. Not too salty either, but slightly cloudy-- maybe that's because the "rare steak" was dunked in the broth at the restaurant instead of at my kitchen table. This made the "rare steak" well-boiled steak... tough, dried out, and chewy... kind of a bummer. For ten bucks a bowl, these were also pretty small portions. Definitely not "Dac biet" big bowl style like on Valley Blvd. or Westminster. A generous portion of basil and sprouts came in the bag, but no little containers of Rooster or Hoisin. C'mon guys, you have containers for everything else... it's the little things that turn a four star delivery into a five star experience. Finally, the shrimp rolls in rice paper were tasty, but like the pho, two for $7 plus delivery fees felt steep. Overall, the food was great, delivery was fast, and this was a positive experience. But I wouldn't call it a deal... and for the occasional bout of excessive laziness coupled with a gustatory need for pho, that's ok. Another "review of the week" that won't be... but hey, I'm just here for the fun of it, kids... Saigon Avenue, next time, we're getting a sitter, and we'll see you at your place! read more

We get this almost every Friday since the pandemic started. This is probably one of the best Banh Mi Sandwiches I have ever had in my life. My friends all call it the "Jason Sandwich" because I order it every time. That being said, it is very pricey for a Banh Mi sandwich. Once pandemic is over, I do not know if I will keep ordering it. read more

Saigon Avenue - Filet Mignon Shaking Beef Sandwich - Vietnamese Near Me - Monrovia, California

Came here for dinner on a Saturday and found out it was during the Monrovia wine walk located near the Main Street. My kids were excited cause the monrovia fire station was across the street so the location was easy to find. When we walked it we were seated right away, the staff was friendly and very accommodating, the environment was really nice and very authentic. On to the food, my kids had the fried rice which they loved. The shrimp was nice and snappy. My wife had the veggie pho and she said the broth was great. I had the pork trio bun. The shrimp again was nice, the spring roll was crispy and the pork had a great lemon grass tastes. The only downside Was the vermicelli noodles was a little over cooked and soft. Overall the food was good. I think it's a good alternative if you can make it all the way to westminster. read more

Saigon Avenue - Vietnamese Near Me - Monrovia, California

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Still 5 stars! Tried the beef trio vermicelli bowl and the pork trio vermicelli bowl. Highly recommend but I did find the pork to be more tasty. Good quantity with salad, egg roll, and shrimp. Taro smoothie was amazing and you can never go wrong with Milk tea. Still takeout only though, no indoor dining unfortunately. read more

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I got my rice pork trio plate delivered to my work place recently. The food tastes good, but I really don't think it should cost me like $13 for it. That's why I took a star away. It's not worth the $13 bucks. That's not even including the tax. Seriously. With tax, it's like $15. Oh heck no! They gave me some pork, two egg rolls cut up into 4 pieces, and 3 shrimps for $13. It's overpriced and not worth it to me. I have eaten at plenty of Vietnamese restaurants, and I would never come back here for the prices. Go eat at Com Tam Kieu. You can get more food for $8 or $9. The only downside about Com Tam Kieu is that they only take cash. No credit cards. Anyways, I am helping y'all save money. Trust me. Don't eat here. It's really overpriced. read more

Saigon Avenue - Vietnamese Near Me - Monrovia, California

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I've said it before and I'll say it again: best Vietnamese food in Monrovia. Probably more than just Monrovia but I've been to all the Vietnamese places in Monrovia in the last 10 years so I can say for a fact this is the best. I've been trying to support small business during COVID, and I always love some vermicelli during summer. Especially If you're a vegetarian or vegan you need to try this place. They have an alternate vegetarian sauce instead of fish sauce(I've never been to another place that does this) and also do vegetarian banh mi. Unlike other places that do dry fried tofu, Saigon has fresh marinated tofu that's super tasty. read more

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My sister was in town and was craving some pho. I looked up places in the area and decided to drive over to Monrovia to try this place. We ordered the chicken banh mi, chicken pho, beef pho and the chicken vermicelli noodles. The broth for the pho was beef based and it was amazing. I could have literally just drank all of that on its own. However the meat (both chicken and beef) in every item that we ordered was just dry and tough to eat. That's why it has 4 stars instead of 5! I will be back though! read more

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I was craving pho on a cold weather today and decided to give this place a try. Found parking quicky on a public parking which was great. I entered and was greeted nicely. I was given a seat right away and ordered a small bowl of pho and thai ice tea. The broth was okay. Meat quality is great. The atmosphere was awesome as well. I would definitely come back again! read more

Saigon Avenue - Vietnamese Near Me - Monrovia, California

It's a shame because the older man who helped me here was so sweet. Like honestly, he had a contagious smile that could make anyone's day. The food, however, is the definition of mid, not to mention overpriced. It's terrible in value. As someone who used to live in Saigon, I did not enjoy the food and I found it inauthentic. First off, they don't have any traditional cold-cuts for the banh mi. Also, $12 is ridiculous. Any banh mi over $8 is, imho, a gentrified scam. I ordered the beef vermicelli noodle and it was okay. The noodles were kind of mushy, but the vegetables were fresh and the meat had flavor. Still, I'm a bit amazed that this tiny takeout window can charge $15+ for an entree. Unfortunately, I would not return to or recommend this place. There are many authentic Vietnamese joints better food for lower prices in the SGV. read more

Great little hole in the wall Vietnamese cafe. Once you open the door, you get a huge waft of Vietnamese home cooking. The strong smells of pho aromas and flavors coming from the kitchen makes you know that you came to the right spot! The nice part about this place is it offers more items than your typical "pho restaurant". They have your standard Pho options, but they have fun non-traditional items also, like ox tail and beef rib pho. They have vegan/vegetarian options as well. They do a good job of offering more Vietnamese specialties. For example, you can add an egg to their bahn mi sandwiches, and filet mignon as an option for the bahn mi. The food is authentic, and you get a lot of it for the price. I highly recommend the house special salad, with beef. It comes platter style to share. The price is a bit steep, but it's worth every bite! I also recommend the filet mignon bahn mi, add a fried egg. This is also a bit pricier, so you can go w/ the grilled beef or pork option. The bahn mi is filled to the brim with veggies (raw and grilled) and the egg is a nice touch, it rounds out the flavors nicely. Despite the prices being a bit steep, I would definitely recommend this spot to anyone looking for amazing Vietnamese food, and not your typical run of the mill pho restaurant. read more

Love the grill pork banh mi. Service is excellent and friendly. The restaurant is small but cozy. read more

Love the food but not the professionalism. Usually when you call for pick up, they tell you how much your total is. They didn't. Once I got there they just asked for my card and I trusted them. I understood why they never told me the price because after I was charged, I saw it was a lot more then I expected. When I asked for itemized receipt I saw they had increased prices then what was on the menu. But okay, people are falling on hard times now and increasing prices so I left it at that. I also tipped $5 and remember writing my total down as $51. I just saw my bank transaction and they charged me $54! I understand I might of miss added when I initially added up the tip (since I was little flustered) but I've worked in the restaurant business before and I KNOW even if the customer mis added up the tip, you're supposed to go with the total written above the signature. They didn't do that. I'm not going to ask for a few bucks back but I thought least I can do is share my experience. read more

I stopped by Saigon Avenue for lunch on a Sunday. It wasn't busy when we arrived but the crowd came later around 12:30pm. I ordered the Pho Rare Steak. The steak was not rare and was almost overcooked, so it was tough to chew. I thought the pho soup was super light in flavor, it didn't seem like it was cooked in bone broth. The bean sprouts and basil were really fresh though! For drinks, we all opted for water except one of my friends got the matcha latte. He liked it but said it was a bit too sweet. They are a mom and pop shop so they didn't have many servers so service was a little bit slow but they did their best attending to us by refilling our waters. read more

Saigon Avenue - Pho Rare Steak - Vietnamese Near Me - Monrovia, California

I haven't written a review in years, but my recent experience here compels me to write one. As a Vietnamese person myself, I have to say that this is perhaps the most overpriced and inauthentic Vietnamese restaurant in SGV. A glaring red flag is that they serve their spring rolls (gỏi cuốn) with watered down hoisin sauce instead of peanut sauce--and at a ridiculous price point of $8 / 2 rolls. The eggrolls I ordered were charred, and their salad was unflavorful and lacking in any traditional Vietnamese herbs. Having ordered here for my Vietnamese in-laws, the whole party was disappointed and embarrassed, to say the least. If you're in a pinch, I guess they're expedient and clean, but if you're looking for something authentic and worth your money, I'd look elsewhere. read more

Some of the best pho I've had in a while, I ordered the filet mignon pho and the broth was very tasteful and full of flavor. I ordered take out and the guy on the phone was very friendly, same as when I picked up they were very attentive and quick to help me. Would recommend this place if you're looking for some good pho! read more

I don't really write a review unless it's very off. We used to go to the pho place across the street but today decided to try this one. I don't mind old dirty greasy place but the food is way over price and not even authentic. I understand price are going up but 12 bucks for Banh mi and over 15bucks for entrees are expensive. The pho broth is nasty, salty and have a weird flavor, not to mention the portion is so small compared to all other Vietnamese restaurants we have been to. Husband is Vietnamese Chinese and we have been to so many pho places all over LA, this is by far the worst we had. Two stars just for the service and easy parking. read more

Great attentive service. Food was great and flavorful. Lots of meat in the Pho we ordered!

Good portions. Good flavor. Good service. Small shop with chill ambiance. What else could you want?

Food was delicious and service was great!!! Pho Ga was the best I've had in LA. Highly recommend the grilled beef rolls as well

What I Ordered - Classic Pork Trio with Rice ~$12.99 *Disclaimer: I live near tons of cheap and delicious Vietnamese Restaurants* Food is pretty good, but the portions are so small. They only include a few thinly sliced pieces of pork, 1 vegetarian egg roll and 3 small shrimps. For that price, you can get double/triple the portion elsewhere. However, if Monrovia is the furthest you will travel, come eat here. Parking is difficult on the weekends. Avoid coming during prime lunch hours...unless you don't mind circling around for parking. read more

Large portions, clean Vietnamese food, excellent service. Grilled pork spring roll - Alright these are mutant spring rolls the size of baby burritos. They are ginormous, stuffed with plenty of saucy pork. The 2 spring rolls could be a meal for 1 person. Highly recommend. Sandwiches - My boyfriend and I ordered the chicken and beef sandwiches. You won't see pate or cha lua (pork roll) like traditional banh mi, but the marinated chicken and beef are so tender and flavorful. The baguettes are soft and fresh, not the hard crunchy ones that cut the roof of your mouth. The portions are huge. My boyfriend and I ordered the spring rolls and 2 sandwiches and couldn't finish everything. I placed an order on their website and couldn't find the place to enter their $3 off coupon. The server went back to their website to see if there was a bug and kindly offered me a free drink. I greatly appreciated the effort to ensuring I had the best experience even though it was a to go order. I don't live near Monrovia, but if I'm ever in the area I definitely will come back to Saigon Avenue. read more

We ordered shrimp spring rolls and the pork Bahn mi. The spring rolls were big but did not come with a peanut sauce and tasted fishy... he said his Bahn mi sandwich meat tasted dry, almost like jerky. Pretty disappointed and probably won't be back. read more

Delicious!! The service was fast and friendly and the food was delicious! We will be back soon!

Came because of the high reviews and recently moved to neighborhood so hoping to find my new go to pho spot Got the rare beef pho and an order of crispy egg rolls. The meat comes precooked in pho broth and I had to skim a bunch of fat off top of soup. Overall was good 3/5 but a little too oily for my liking. I guess I'm use to places like Golden Deli and Pho super bowl (my old go to) Egg rolls were overcooked/burnt so all I could really taste was burnt flavor. Couldn't eat more than one which was disappointing. 2/5 Pickup was easy and the guy seemed friendly. However the final price was more than I calculated based on the menu out front but I just let it go and considered it tip. read more