What is open for late night food in Saigon?
Saigon never fully closes for food. After midnight: hủ tiếu xe đẩy (push-cart noodle soups) work the streets of District 1 and District 3. Cháo đêm (porridge) stalls open after 10pm near Bùi Viện and Đề Thám. 24/7 cơm tấm on Đinh Tiên Hoàng. Budget 40,000–80,000 VND per bowl after midnight.
Saigon’s food scene doesn’t stop at midnight — it reorganizes. The sit-down restaurants close. The push-carts come out. The city’s nocturnal workers, party crowds, and insomniacs all need to eat, and Saigon has built an infrastructure around this.
Hủ tiếu xe đẩy (push-cart noodle vendors)
The quintessential Saigon late-night experience. A metal cart with a gas burner, pots of simmering pork broth, rice noodles, and various toppings is pushed through residential streets from 9pm to 4am. The vendor rings a small bell or taps a rhythm with wooden sticks to signal their approach.
What you get: clear pork bone broth, rice noodles (khô for dry/sauceless, nước for soupy), sliced pork, shrimp, quail eggs, crispy shallots, and a plate of fresh herbs and bean sprouts.
Where to find them: rather than a fixed address, walk the streets of District 3 (around Cao Thắng, Điện Biên Phủ) or District 1 (Nguyễn Thị Minh Khai, Trần Cao Vân) between 10pm–2am. You’ll hear the signal before you see the cart.
Price: 45,000–65,000 VND per bowl.
Fixed late-night spots
Cháo Đêm Bà Năm — 48 Bùi Viện, District 1
Cháo (rice porridge) stall that opens at 10pm when the street gets busy. Three varieties: gà (chicken), bò (beef), and hải sản (seafood). The gà is thickest and most satisfying at 1am.
Hours: 10pm–3am.
Price: 45,000–60,000 VND.
Cơm Tấm 24/7 — 18 Đinh Tiên Hoàng, District 1
The around-the-clock cơm tấm option for when you need something more substantial after midnight. Not the best cơm tấm in Saigon, but consistent and always open.
Price: 50,000–70,000 VND.
Hủ Tiếu Nam Vang 68 — 68 Nguyễn Trãi, District 1
Closes at 2pm normally, but has a late-night reopening from 9pm to 1am most nights. The broth is house-made and not cut from the night shift — same quality as the daytime version.
Price: 55,000–75,000 VND.
Xôi Chiên Phồng — push-cart vendors from 7pm on Nguyễn Thị Minh Khai (District 1)
Crispy puffed sticky rice squares — a Saigon snack that appears on carts in the evening. The vendor presses sticky rice into thin rounds and deep-fries them until they balloon. Served with tương (sweet soybean sauce). An excellent 11pm snack.
Price: 20,000–30,000 VND per portion.
Phan Xích Long food street (Phú Nhuận)
The local alternative to the tourist-facing Bùi Viện scene. Phan Xích Long Street in Phú Nhuận District has a cluster of bánh tráng trộn (rice paper salad) carts, ốc stalls, and noodle vendors that run until midnight on weekdays and 1–2am on weekends. Saigon families and young locals eat here, not backpackers.
Transport: 15–20 minutes by Grab from District 1 center.
Convenience stores
Circle K, FamilyMart, and 7-Eleven have significant presence in Saigon — open 24/7 with ready food including rice boxes, instant noodles, bánh mì, and hot drinks. Quality is adequate, not remarkable. Use as a fallback when nothing else is open.