Saigon Alley Kitchen + Bar is now open at 3687 Fifth Avenue, taking over the longtime restaurant property most recently occupied by Breakfast Republic and, before that, Two Seven Eight and The Tractor Room. The new concept comes from the family behind Pho Ca Dao Vietnamese Kitchen, which has grown from a single restaurant into a familiar local Vietnamese dining brand over the past 25 years.
SanDiegoVille first reported on plans for Saigon Alley in June, when signage and liquor licensing revealed that Pho Ca Dao ownership was preparing something substantially different from its existing restaurants. Rather than opening another traditional Pho Ca Dao location, owner Duke Huynh and his family have created a more contemporary restaurant and nightlife-oriented concept built around Vietnamese flavors, additional Asian influences and a full bar.
Saigon Alley incorporates many of the dishes and flavors associated with Pho Ca Dao while expanding beyond the formula that has fueled the family's growth throughout San Diego County. The restaurant is designed as a place for both dinner and drinks, with a beverage program featuring cocktails, spirits, beer and wine. The opening represents another evolution for a restaurant family whose history in San Diego dates to 2001.
Pho Ca Dao was founded by the Huynh family with a focus on traditional Vietnamese cooking and eventually expanded to communities including Mira Mesa, Mission Valley, Rancho Bernardo, Poway and Escondido. The restaurants became particularly known for their expansive selection of pho, including versions prepared with rare steak, brisket, tendon, tripe, meatballs, chicken, seafood and oxtail.
The broader menu has grown to include Vietnamese staples such as spring rolls, egg rolls, bánh mì, broken rice plates, vermicelli bowls, fried rice and specialty noodle soups, along with Vietnamese coffee, teas and fruit-based drinks. Saigon Alley gives the family an opportunity to take that foundation in a different direction.
The Hillcrest restaurant combines familiar Vietnamese dishes with additional Asian-fusion offerings in a more bar-focused environment, positioning it as a departure from the generally casual neighborhood format of Pho Ca Dao's existing locations. Its arrival also fills another chapter in the unusually long restaurant history of the Fifth Avenue property.
For years, the space was home to The Tractor Room, which opened in 2006 and became one of Hillcrest's best-known restaurants during San Diego's early craft-cocktail era. The restaurant was created by Johnny Rivera and operated alongside his nearby Hash House A Go Go before closing in 2017. The property subsequently became Two Seven Eight before Rise & Shine Hospitality Group transformed it into another branch of Breakfast Republic in 2021. That restaurant eventually closed as the locally based breakfast chain began reducing its footprint. Saigon Alley now brings an entirely different style of dining to the highly visible Fifth Avenue location.
The opening also places Pho Ca Dao ownership in one of San Diego's densest dining and nightlife neighborhoods. While Hillcrest has long supported an eclectic collection of restaurants, bars and international cuisines, Vietnamese restaurants have historically been more concentrated in areas including City Heights, Linda Vista, Mira Mesa and the Convoy District.
For the Huynh family, Saigon Alley represents both an expansion into central San Diego and an opportunity to introduce a concept that can operate independently from the Pho Ca Dao name while drawing on more than two decades of experience behind it.
It also arrives during a milestone year for the family business. Pho Ca Dao was founded in 2001, meaning the opening of Saigon Alley coincides with approximately 25 years since the restaurant family's beginnings in San Diego.
Saigon Alley Kitchen + Bar is now open at 3687 Fifth Avenue in San Diego's Hillcrest neighborhood. For more information, visit saigonalleyeats.com.
Originally published on August 23, 2026.
