Open daily, 7 am-7 pm.

Near the point at which busy South Jackson Street meets busy Rainier Avenue South under a jungle of the most trying traffic lights in Seattle, there's a small Vietnamese deli that is always crowded because the food it serves is always good and cheap. Many who are familiar with Saigon Deli often first praise the place for its very low prices. They stress that nothing it has to offer goes for more than $4, and the average price of items displayed on the red and white board that hangs above its front counter is $2. But the low prices are secondary and common to all the delis in this part of town. What must first be noted is that the food in Saigon Deli never fails to satisfy the senses.

The women who prepare the sandwiches dress to impress, and I've never seen any of the men working the register wear a dirty shirt. Yet there is food everywhere. From back in the kitchen to the entrance, there seems to be something you can pick up, eat, and mess your shirt with. On a table in front of the counter are rows of cold foods wrapped in plastic (my favorite being the twin shrimp/pork rolls packed with a small container of peanut sauce, $1.75). And beyond this table are hot foods protected by a glass shield (my favorite of which is the catfish that sits in a thick tomato-red sauce, $2 in a small container, $4 in a big container). And beyond the hot foods is a white cutting board where the best sandwiches ($1.75) in Little Saigon are assembled.

The catfish is delicate, heavily peppered, and marvelously messy. However, the man who usually attends to my order of this dish has never spoiled his white shirt, despite the speed of his service. His impeccable shirts correspond with the freshness of the food. At Saigon Deli, everything seems to have been prepared just before you walked in from the heavy traffic of South Jackson Street.