Little Saigon fire & aftermath

[Wiener]

Has anyone heard any news that this restaurant had a fire last night or this morning? Would be a terrible loss. I don't know how to confirm this being in Manhattan right now.

thanks

[Jason Perlow]

Oh my. I hope not. Pho Van Tuan is good and its cheap, but its not as good as Little Saigon.

[tommy]

they're closed on monday, so calling won't help either.

[Wiener]

There is a blurb on NEWS12.com so there might be some truth to this. Living in Nutley, I went here often. If it is true, what a bummmer all around.

Edited September 29, 2003 by Wiener (log)

[Jason Perlow]

http://www.news12.com/NJ/topstories/article?id=91349

Shit. That sucks. I really, really liked that restaurant.

[tommy]

that would suck. here's a link.

[=Mark]

Saw it on the ABC Noon News. Place burned to the ground along with that whole strip of stores.

[tommy]

Saw it on the ABC Noon News.  Place burned to the ground along with that whole strip of stores.

yup. it's a big fucking hole. this is horrible.

[RockADS21]

Saw it on the ABC Noon News.  Place burned to the ground along with that whole strip of stores.

did the strip of stores include the Chinese restaurant/buffet as well? which coincidentally began as a small takeout place where the Little Saigon took over...I will try to get more of the story from my parents who live in town as well as a few friends that I have that work for the town...

[Wiener]

That place was = my SUBWAY diet. We would walk there from the other end of town, have an excellent meal, and then walk back. I was losing weight doing this. Makes me mad.

Edited September 29, 2003 by Wiener (log)

[tommy]

in a cruel twist of fate, that horrible chinese place survived. that's not to say i wanted it to burn, but if i had to choose 3 places to go, Little Saigon wouldn't be one of them.

it looks like the 2 stores to the left of LS are gone. and from the report on Ch12, you can see right through LS.

[Nutley Resident]

Sadly, three stores are now gone in Nutley: Little Saigon, a Nail Salon, and the Vitamin/Health Food store. In fact, there is nothing more than a huge hole in the group from excavating the site today.

The Green Jade (restaurant only) next door is now closed. There is a great deal of smoke damage and the outside wall closest to the fire location is badly burned. It will probably have to be checked for structural integrity before they allow patrons back in for business. The take-out side is still open.

This fire started in the neighborhood of 11:00 PM on Sunday, 9/28/03 and was finally bought under control by 7:00 AM on Monday morning. Many neighboring towns provided mutual aid in this dangerous fire.

Fortunately, there were no injuries nor lives lost.

[Rachel Perlow]

What a shame. We really liked this place too. I hope they were well insured and can rebuild.

[menton1]

What a shame. We really liked this place too. I hope they were well insured and can rebuild.

The problem with insurance is that most of the time retail fires are automatically listed as "suspicious" and collecting can take a VERY long time.

[KenTnguyen]

I used to go there at least once a week...I cant believe what happened. We walked by there to survey the damage and there is ABSOLUTELY nothing left except a big hole in the ground. Its gonna take at least a year to rebuild....In the meantime, I think they have to search for a new spot if they want to continue to business. They have the best food..HANDS DOWN! I am suffering from severe withdraw not having the Little Saigon food. If anyone hear of anything about anything, please let me know....

P.S Those poor lil chubby waiters are out of a job now. Anyone hiring??

[jffrywad]

It was a sad day indeed when I came home from a mini-vacation and drove up to get a nice bowl of PHO on a cold day. Only to see the big dark hole in the ground. I only hope that they will rebuild. And wouldn't it be nice if they took over the place where the vitamins shop was for more seating.

[menton1]

Only a 20 minute drive to Englewood, where you can go to Saigon Republic, a much-acclaimed place on Eg. I have personally been there many times and the food is well above average, it is great every time.

Saigon Republic

58 West Palisade Avenue

Englewood

201-877-4777

Call first, they get very busy, even on weeknights!

[tommy]

a friend of mine recently spoke with the owner. from what i hear, he wants to re-open ASAP. i also hear that he's running into some snags with the building owner, but that's second-hand info. cross your fingers.

[Nutley Resident]

Tommy, I read an article in the Nutley Sun about a week or two ago and the article indicated that two merchants, the Nail Salon as well as Little Siagon, are planning to reopen at that location with a walk-way from the municipal parking lot at the rear to Franklin Avenue. There were no further details offered in the front page story.

[gsabino]

I just wondered if anyone has heard anything about the beloved Little Saigon? Has it reopened?

[Rachel Perlow]

We drove by there the other day and it is still an empty hole.

[tommy]

i'm still under the impression that Little Saigon is not going to sprout from that hole, but rather from somewhere else altogether.