Brian Tran and Khoa Nguyen have long had aspirations to open a restaurant together. The two have known each other for over a decade, and first met while working in a restaurant together.
Over the years, they have followed each other from one restaurant to the next, always with one goal in the back of their minds — that they would one day run their own business.
That dream came true when Saigon Bistro in Sterling opened its doors earlier this year.
The city of Saigon has special meaning to both Tran and Nguyen. Tran’s mom and family left everything they had behind during the fall of Saigon at the end of the Vietnam War. They became refugees who were welcomed in to the United States.
Nguyen was born in Vietnam and his family also fled the turmoil in Vietnam for a better life in America.
There is a fairly large Vietnamese population in Northern Virginia, and both founders saw a gap in the market between the inexpensive, mom-and-pop establishments that may be intimidating to outsiders and lack the customer service due to cultural and language barriers — and the generic Asian-themed chain restaurants that lack charm and authenticity.
“We wanted to find the equilibrium between those two options by providing a clean, well-decorated establishment with great customer service while providing authentic Vietnamese food,” said Tran.
“A place where both Vietnamese natives as well as those from other backgrounds can enjoy an authentic dining experience. We want to expose our community to what Vietnamese food is supposed to taste like, and that it’s not limited to simply pho and fried rice.”
Saigon Bistro is a full-service sit-down restaurant that is located in the Sugarland Crossing shopping center in Sterling. You can also visit the Saigon Bistro website to see their full menu of authentic Vietnamese dishes.
(This is a sponsored story on behalf of Saigon Bistro.)
Contributing writer: Steve Dennen