Saigon Casa opens in Port Jefferson Station, Suffolk’s first Vietnamese eatery
Saigon Casa in Port Jefferson Station serves a variety of banh mi sandwiches and other Vietnamese specialties. Credit: Maria Reuge
Rejoice, pho lovers of Suffolk County: your noodle-soup ship has come in. Saigon Casa, the county’s first Vietnamese restaurant, has opened in the Route 347 location that was, until recently, Vortex Asian Bistro.
Jackie Nguyen, who owns the restaurant with her husband, Justin Trainh, and two other partners, operated a Vietnamese restaurant in Seattle, where the couple used to live. “On the West Coast Vietnamese food is so popular — when we moved back to Long Island we just had to open a restaurant,” she said.
Casa Saigon’s menu covers all the Vietnamese bases, among them rice-paper-wrapped gỏoi cuon (“summer rolls” filled with shrimp, sausage, beef or vegetables, $4.95 for two), banh mi (sandwiches of beef, pork, ham and more, $5.75 to $6.50), pho (rice-noodle soups with multiple combinations of beef round, brisket, tendon and tripe, $8.95 to $10.95), bun and over-rice dishes (topped with shrimp, pork, sausage, salted fish, lemongrass chicken, roti chicken, $8.95 to $9.95).
Saigon Casa opened on Sunday, and the response from the community has been overwhelming. The kitchen and dining room are trying to keep up with demand, but curious customers may want to give the restaurant a little time to catch up.
Saigon Casa is at 4747 Nesconset Hwy., Port Jefferson Station, 631-509-1000
