David Lee arrived in the US in 1980 with his five sisters and first settled in El Paso, TX at the age of 12. His mother died in a refugee camp in Vietnam and his father remained in Vietnam. David then moved to LA then to Boulder, Colorado where he graduated from high school and began working in a Chinese restaurant part-time work in the kitchen and serving tables. David then moved back to LA and studied architecture before going to work for a general contractor as a draftsman and working his way up to second in command.
In 1993 David got married and in 1996 the family moved to Atlanta where he started his own construction company. After September 11th David and his wife believed it was prudent for his to stop traveling and start a restaurant, something that his family had done previously in Vietnam
before the war. They opened in the first Saigon Café in January, 2002.
The concept of the Saigon Café was created to give customers a traditional Vietnamese experience, to make them feel that they are eating street food in Vietnam in a comfortable setting. The results from the first restaurant were much more than David expected and developed another four restaurants in four years.
Thai and Chinese items were added to the menu in a response to customer requests for more complementary Asian cuisine choices. Saigon Basil is a fast casual version of Saigon Café with a smaller menu of Vietnamese and Thai dishes. David built Saigon Gourmet to have an upscale feel and menu with a variety of Vietnamese, Thai, Malaysian and Chinese dishes.