Eating Wyoming: Casper's Pho Saigon Has Loyal Following For Its Vietnamese Food

CASPER — Customers say the little family restaurant on the corner of East 12th and South Beverly streets may be nearly 8,200 miles from Vietnam, but serves up some seriously legit pho, or rice noodle soup.

Just ask Anna Tran who, with companion Jim Thompson, were checking out Pho Saigon Vietnamese Restaurant for the first time on a recent afternoon.

“I usually don’t like to go out for pho. I think most restaurants don’t make it very well, and so far this is excellent. I say that truthfully,” said Tran, who recently moved to Casper. “I usually don’t like to order pho when I go out to Vietnamese restaurants.”

“And she was born in Vietnam,” Thompson interjected. “Her parents only speak Vietnamese, that’s what they cook at home a lot. She is very familiar with this.”

The small, 10-table eatery in the Beverly Plaza offers traditional Vietnamese fare from a family that arrived in Wyoming from Vietnam in 2003.

Manager Hieu Le, the only family member who speaks English, said staff includes his father, mother and his wife, Thuy.

They’ve been serving up their family recipes since Jan. 1, 2014, Le said.

Pho Specialty

The specialty is the pho, pronounced as fuh, soup with bone broth, rice noodles and thin slices of meat. It’s garnished with spices, fresh herbs, onions, while bean sprouts, lime, hot peppers and various hot sauces that can be added for taste.

Le and most others in the culinary industry believe the dish began in Saigon, but its true origin isn’t known for sure.

Pho Saigon offers six varieties of the soup that, depending on the selection, includes either rare steak, meatballs, chicken, shrimp or a combination. The soup is served in a big bowl steamy hot with plenty of long rice noodles. A large spoon, chopsticks and fork are the utensils needed to conquer it.

Kisa King, visiting Casper from Oklahoma, uses chopsticks.

She said whenever she visits the Oil City she always goes to the restaurant.

“It’s the best food, it has the best flavor,” she said. “Other places I’ve tried in Oklahoma are no match for it. My favorite is … the meatball pho and the spring rolls.”

The spring rolls come in rice paper with lettuce, shrimp, and “a really good peanut sauce,” she said.

Her companion, Daniel Groom, characterized the food as “good” and “something different than burgers and quesadillas.”

Le said in addition to the menu, which lists the restaurant’s dishes in Vietnamese names, he created a companion photo book that shows each dish, so people know exactly what they are ordering.

Egg Rolls, Rice Noodle Bowls And More

In addition to the pho, the restaurant offers egg rolls, a selection of rice noodle bowls with different meat and vegetable selections such as bun tom, a dish that includes noodles, shrimp, vegetables and a lime chili fish sauce.

There are also five lo mein dishes with stir-fried noodles, vegetables, and one’s selection of meat. The menu also includes five different rice platters such as com suon dai han, rice and barbecued beef with vegetables in their version.

Laramie’s Nate Holloway was visiting Casper with his girlfriend, Emma Plett, and ordered some takeout.

“I usually go for lo mein, it’s a stir-fried soft noodle with veggies and whatever meat you like,” he said. “This is actually the first Vietnamese restaurant I came to when I was younger and lived in town.”

In addition to the food, the drink menu includes a variety of milk teas and tasty fruit flavored ice teas.

Le said from time to time the restaurant will offer specials that he advertises on Facebook.

Cowboy State Daily’s visit included a big bowl of pho with chicken and some peach iced tea.

Core Following

After 10 years in business, Le said the restaurant has developed a relationship with a core group of customers. A family atmosphere is the goal.

“They have supported us. And sometimes we take care of them, too,” he said. “It’s not about the money we want from customer, we want them to have a good time here and know that it’s a place that feels like home.”

The restaurant interior includes colorful plastic plants that resemble the plants and fruit that can be found in Southeast Asia. On the walls are distinctive poster-sized paintings Le has created in his off time. He also has several hand-crafted clay figurines he makes for sale.

“When I am not working, that is my hobby,” he said. “I didn’t take any art classes, that is just me and me alone.”

The family was able to make their way to Casper thanks to an aunt who married a World War II veteran stationed in Vietnam during that war. She came to the country in the early 1950s.

In Vietnam, Le said his family moved from place to place until they, like many other immigrants, came to America for a better life.

“Over there the poverty is really bad. You eat what you make,” he said.

Le said his mother and father generally run the restaurant’s kitchen and his wife helps as a waitress. He fills in and does whatever is needed. They make enough for a living, but not enough quite yet to hire help.

They just continue to trust the restaurant for their future.

Pho Saigon is open Monday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.

“It’s all about having a good time, have a good meal, you come happy and you leave happy,” Le said.

Contact Dale Killingbeck at dale@cowboystatedaily.com

Dale Killingbeck can be reached at dale@cowboystatedaily.com.