Little Saigon Restaurant - Glendale

Vietnamese is one of my favorite cuisines. It's not very flashy, like Thai or sushi can be, but there are some solid dishes that I love. Pho goes without saying. It's one of my favorite soups. The Vietnamese version of egg rolls, when done right, are like crack for me. Ditto for fresh spring rolls. I also like the bun dishes with pork, both shredded and roasted. And of course banh mi. I used to be able to get them for $2 at a place near my last job in Dallas (technically Carrollton).

Unfortunately, Tara had a bad experience at Avina's old location once when she went without me and generally has a hard time finding something she will eat at most Vietnamese places. Usually I'll go by myself at lunch or if she's got other plans on a weekend day, I'll try to plan something. She was working on Saturday, so I decided to get me some good old VN food. I was torn between hitting Davang's and getting a banh mi or trying someplace new. Fellow blogger and Audi-phile Andy has had many positive posts about Little Saigon in Glendale. I've seen it the few times I've been in Old Town Glendale but have never been. Since I had nothing else planned, I decided to make the trek.

It's about a 20 mile trip one-way and when I got to the 19.7 mile mark, I realized my wallet was somewhere still at home. So I headed home, found it, and headed back. Luckily gas is cheap...

When I finally made it, I parked across the street and entered the restaurant. I was directed to sit anywhere, so I sat in the room with the main counter and kitchen. I looked over the menu. I had looked at it online before I left and knew they didn't have banh mi. I thought about getting an order of deep-fried egg rolls, but at six to an order, I wasn't sure if I could finish them all. Instead, I got fresh spring rolls (grilled pork, shrimp, rice noodles) and a rice vermicelli bowl with grilled pork and pieces of Viet egg roll. I stuck with water for a drink.

My spring rolls came out so fast I thought they'd been pre-made, but they were very fresh. The rice noodles were still warm. I really enjoyed them. They came with the usual peanut sauce and hit the spot.

My bun bowl came out in a few more minutes. Due to a server miscue, I got two of small bowls of sweet fish sauce (nuac mum, I believe), which is fine with me. I love the stuff. I tried one of the egg roll pieces and immediately wished I gotten them for an appetizer. Dipped in the fish sauce, they were perfect. The pieces of grilled pork were sweet, again something I love. It may have been the two helpings of fish sauce I dumped over it, but it was all nice and sweet. Exactly how I like my bowls.

Service was good. It was basically just me in the one room and I could hear another party or two in the other room. The owner(?) waited on me and checked in often by basically talking to me from behind the counter.

I really liked my meal and hope I can make it back in the near future.

Little Saigon is at 7016 N 57th Ave. It's just north of the Glendale Ave/57th Ave intersection, on the west side.