Saigon still Gone?

[Sharuf]

Are they back in business yet after the fire last summer? Did they fix their acoustics problem?

I'm talking about the Chinese place which unaccountably has the name of a VietNam city. It's located by the 99Ranch Asian shopping center where the borders of Richmond, El Cerrito and Albany collide.

The discussion below about dim sum in the east bay reminded me of this place where a friend and I pigged out memorably on dim sum one lunchtime.

[mandy Lu]

hey guys,
im the daughter of the owner of Saigon Seafood Harbor. just for a new update, the restruant will absolutely reopen(so dont worry) and also, my dad just went back to china to buy supplies for the remodeling and will continue to be constructed. he will be coming back on 7-1-08. it will take abt 3-4months time! so hang in there!^^

[gordon wing]

great news! thanks for the update.

[Robert Lauriston]

Is there anything left to remodel? I drove by the other week and thought the site had been cleared.

[Robert Lauriston]

If the owner's thinking of adding another story, it'll probably take a while to do the paperwork.

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Saigon Seafood Harbor Restaurant
3150 Pierce St, Richmond, CA 94804

[PeterL]

Accoustics is the least of their problems. The place burned down over a year ago. The place is now all boarded up and no sign of any activity at all. They do have another place down south (Milpitas? Fremont?).

As others have pointed out, Saigon is also the name of a fishing village near Hong Kong.

[wally]

The other place is in Sunnyvale

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Hong Kong Saigon Sea Food Harbor Restaurant
1135 N Lawrence Expy, Sunnyvale, CA

[santoku45]

Drove by today (July 11, 2007) and the place looked more desolate and forlorn than ever, the parking lot now overgrown with weeds and the facade weathered and worn. It really seems abandoned.

[Chandavkl]

I guess this would be consistent with the other posting indicating that the insurance company won't pay off.

[TerriL]

Just a brief update on Saigon . . .

I was at the Pacific East mall a cople days ago, where one of the store owners told me that as far as she knew, Saigon would still eventually reopen. According to her, the restaurant owner also owns the land, and would like to convert the old space into a 2-story building. No timeline yet. Does anyone else know anything?

[Melanie Wong]

When I was in the Sunnyvale location of HK Saigon a few months ago, the manager said they hoped to reopen Richmond in March. Well here we are in March, and it seems no visible progress.

[OldTimer]

We went by the new dim sum place in the mall, and it looked crowded after one o'clock. That is usually a good sign. Any reports on the food??? Frankly, I don't think it would take much to surpass Saigon...except for noise and rudeness where they shone.

[Melanie Wong]

Yimster et al have posted on a few meals at Asian Pearl.
http://www.chow.com/digest/1216

[TerriL]

Well, here's to March '08!

[Carnitas]

I drive by ther all the time. About a month after the fire there seemed to be some construction activity. But for at least 4 months now not a thing has happened. Even the paricle board covering the windows is starting to look old and tired.

[jillyju]

It's still closed. I have no info about when it's reopening, but judging by the look of the building, I'd guess it won't be soon.

[Melanie Wong]

A couple months ago I had dinner at the Sunnyvale location and asked there. The manager said they were hoping to reopen by March. That date may have slipped by now.

[Gary Soup]

Sharuf, I think it's been pointed out before that the "Saigon" in the restaurant's name does not refer to the Viet Nam city, but to Sai Kung, an area of Hong Kong noted for seafood.

Dunno if Saigon is still gone, or if it's Saiback.

[Peter Cherches]

There are a bunch of Fuzhou restaurants in NY that westernize the name as "Food Chow."

[usr.bin.eat]

Saigon (now HCM City) and Sai Kung are the same characters in Chinese (Xi Gong 西贡)

No signs of construction. The parking lot is taped off and it's still mostly boarded up.