Little Saigon in Orange County is the largest Vietnamese community outside of Vietnam—over 3,500 Vietnamese-owned businesses spread across Westminster, Garden Grove, and Fountain Valley. You could spend a week here and barely scratch the surface. That's the problem. It's like going to Rome and thinking if you visit 5 churches a day in one year you'll be able to finish seeing all the Renaissance art.
I've been a few times. Driven down Bolsa Avenue, parked at the Asian Garden Mall, wandered past 300 shops selling everything from gold jewelry to herbal remedies, eaten pho at whichever place had the shortest line. It was fine even okay. It was tourism. I could see some people driving and having no idea where to stop, which is why I wrote this post.
Here's what I've learned: Little Saigon is fine for a casual visitor but it isn't easy for endless rewards. For the connected visitor it is an endless goldmine of delicious foods and experiences.
There are roughly 280 Vietnamese restaurants in this area alone. Everyone has an opinion on the best pho—Pho 79 (James Beard Award winner), Pho 45 (dark, savory broth, get the filet mignon), Pho Kimmy (best noodle-to-meat ratio). The best banh mi? Probably one of these three Top Baguette. Banh Mi Che Cali. Carrot & Daikon, which has a drive-thru. Lynda Sandwich, where the walls are covered in headshots of Asian pop stars and the xiu mai meatball sandwich is transcendent.
Beyond the staples: bun bo Hue at Hue Oi (spicy beef noodle soup from central Vietnam). Banh xeo at Van's (crispy rice flour pancakes stuffed with pork and shrimp, wrapped in lettuce, dipped in fish sauce). Nem nuong cuon at Brodard—pork spring rolls with a secret-recipe dipping sauce that people drive an hour for. Com tam (broken rice) at a hidden gem that's not on every menu but if you ask, you will get.
The point is: you can read lists. You can follow Yelp (barf) ratings. But the real Little Saigon—the place where your server's aunt makes the best bánh bèo you've ever tasted, where there's a back room at a strip mall restaurant serving dishes not on the English menu, where you learn that Tet isn't just a parade but a two-week energy that transforms the neighborhood—that version only opens up through relationships. I wouldn't even know that Asian food came in major varieties or Vietnamese food did. I remember the first time living in Seattle I befriended the gay owner of Tamarind Tree and discovered Cơm Gà cà ri ~ Curry chicken rice, can be served with a baguette. Of course this makes sense! France came to Vietnam, that's why the Bon Mi! and dipping bread in soup, wow! It's the best.
I'm not saying you need to marry into a Vietnamese family (though it wouldn't hurt). I'm saying: if you know someone from this community, ask them to take you. Buy them lunch. Let them order. Ask questions. The difference between a solo visit and a guided one is the difference between seeing a place and understanding it.
And if you don't know anyone? Little Saigon is a good reason to change that. The Vietnamese diaspora is one of the most significant and successful immigrant stories in American history—refugees who arrived with nothing in the 1970s and built a community that now anchors an entire region of Southern California. Getting to know that story, through the people who lived it, is worth more than any restaurant recommendation.
So go to Little Saigon. Eat the pho. Get the banh mi. But first, if you can, make a friend.
It's also worth mentioning to films about the California Vietnamese experience. Much like we have a lot of reestaurants we have a lot of nail salons? Why? because a movie star wanted to help refugees from the tragic Vietnamese war. Touch and Nailed it. See them.
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