Saigon Sisters' Inspired Vietnamese Street Food Makes Its Home In Chicago's West Loop

Saigon Sisters , the inspired Vietnamese street food kiosk that has gained a strong following at the Chicago French Market, expands its horizons with the opening of a full restaurant at 567 W. Lake Street (at Clinton) in Chicago's Fulton River District/West Loop neighborhood. The new location, Saigon Sisters Restaurant, is open for lunch and dinner, just a few blocks north of the original Chicago French Market location.

Saigon Sisters is the brainchild of sisters Mary Nguyen Aregoni and Theresa Nguyen. They were born in Laos, lived in Vietnam and Thailand as children and came to the United States with their family in 1976. "Our passion is to bring the delicious street foods we grew up with to Chicago, offering creative, contemporary interpretations but using authentic Southeast Asian ingredients," said Mary. "Saigon Sisters Restaurant is a contemporary casual restaurant where our guests can enjoy deliciously fresh, quickly prepared food at lunch and can come back to relax and enjoy a frequently changing menu of interesting small and large plates at dinnertime."

Helmed by a young, dynamic culinary team led by executive chef Matt Eversman, Saigon Sisters offers many of the delicious Pho (noodle), B�nh M� (sandwich) and Goi Cuon (spring roll) selections that are so popular in its Chicago French Market location, but with a completely separate dinner menu.

"We raise the bar at dinnertime with a more inventive menu," said Mary. "We offer contemporary twists on classic dishes, inspired by our childhood."

Eversman, who built his r�sum� at Charlie Trotter's and May Street Market, works closely with sous chef John Boisse and cook Erik Chizeck to create a hip, unpretentious dinner menu with contemporary twists on classic flavors. "This is a departure for me, and it's an exciting one," said Eversman. "I personally love the food and eating style of Southeast Asia and so it's very rewarding for me to blend my French cooking technique with these wonderful Asian flavors. We strive to make our food creative and modern."

The Nguyen sisters bring a strong family food tradition to their restaurants. They were greatly inspired by their mother and grandmother, who were successful entrepreneurs in Vietnam and grew an open-market grocery into a large food market operation that was the main supplier to nearby embassies.

"We were immersed in a food environment with roots that went beyond Vietnam into neighboring Laos, Cambodia and Thailand and which also had a heavy French influence," said Mary. "With Saigon Sisters we're striving to offer recipes with a modern twist that reflect this international dynamic." The sisters have also been inspired by Korean-American restaurateur David Chang and his highly lauded Momofuku restaurants in New York City, serving as a unique joining of traditional and modern.

Dinner menu choices include traditional dishes, such as Betel Leaf Beef Salad, grilled beef in betel leaf, crispy egg roll, shrimp, rice vermicelli and Viet herb salad ($12); and Open Face Steamed Buns, either pork belly with hoisin glaze, caramel chicken or Wagyu beef in coconut milk and kaffir ($7).

Try meat dishes, like House Made Charcuterie, chef's choice of three items ($14); Caramel Chicken Wings, crispy drummettes and wings in caramel sauce, lemongrass, ginger and red chilies ($8); Lamb Luc Lac, lamb tenderloin seared in XO sauce, watercress, red onions and broken rice ($18); Braised Short Ribs, beef braised in tomato sauce, lemongrass, star anise, pickled okra, carrots and pearl onions ($19); and Op La, over easy eggs, Chinese sausage, cured ham, Viet pork, pork belly, caramelized onions and Maggi ($14).

Fish and seafood options include Lobster Fritter on Sugar Ca