Vietnamese seemed like an atypical choice for dinner in Tucson, but I couldn’t resist it when I peered through the windows at the brightly illuminated yellow bar and the cherry blossom tree inside.

Miss Saigon is a small chain of restaurants in Tucson, and I was soon seated at the most recent addition, opened in the city’s downtown in 2024. A Vietnamese-born husband and wife started their business in 2000. Having expanded to three locations now, the couple have since retired and their three sons are running the family enterprise.

The generous dining space features tables with chairs and banquets as well as bar seating in front of the terrifically lit yellow panel with irregular shelving. There’s plenty of real and faux foliage inside, and the highly polished marble floor reflects interesting lighting fixtures. The music selection is eclectic—everything from The Mamas & The Papas to Elton John to New Age instrumentals—but the menu is a solid selection of Vietnamese family recipes that will thrill your taste buds.

Try This: Slake your thirst with a refreshing limeade and enjoy a terrific appetizer of pork-paste spring rolls, with charbroiled pork ham, wrapped in rice paper with shredded lettuce, vermicelli noodles, and cilantro, and served with peanut sauce. For your entrée, go for the Bun Thit Nuong—marinated grilled pork slices served over vermicelli and greens and topped with crushed peanuts, scallions, herbs, and shredded carrot strips on a lettuce bed and accompanied by a fish sauce dressing. Treat yourself to dessert, too: crispy, golden-fried bananas wrapped in wonton skins, served with two scoops of creamy vanilla ice cream, and topped with a luscious honey syrup and crushed peanuts.

 

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