Bánh Mì of Southern California

Popular Baguette Express of San Gabriel Valley has opened a new location in San Diego! It is called, “CALI BAGUETTE EXPRESS” located at 5125 El Cajon Blvd. on the corner of 52nd and El Cajon. Phone (619)286-8888. Their Dac Biet is yummy, and only $2.99

I have tried Cho Cu, Tip Top, Saigon, B.M.C. Cali, and others, but I prefer the Dac Biet sandwich at Uyen Thy Bistro in Westminster. They get their bread from elsewhere, but their Meats are the BEST!!! It’s of finer quality and tastes better than the others. If you know where Phuoc Loc Tho and ABC supermarket is, its in the same vicinity. The address is
9039 Bolsa Ave
Westminster, CA 92683

behind the 7-eleven.

Favorite SGV Banh Mi comes from Baguette Express, San Gabriel. The superfresh baguette has a light, crispy crust and fluffy inside. They are generous with sandwich fillings and provide all the appropriate veggies– pickled daikon and carrots, fresh cucumber, cilantro, jalapenos. Sometimes they go a little overboard with the salt and pepper (maybe MSG?). Overall, Baguette Express is reliable and charges a fair price for their sandwiches.

Gingergrass in Silverlake is my current favorite. Conveniently located across the street from LA’s best wine store, Silverlake Wine, this laid back Vietnamese restaurant serves great Banh mi and other classic dishes.

Gingergrass.com
2396 Glendale Blvd • Silver Lake, CA 90039
(Southeast corner of Brier Ave & Glendale Blvd.)
Major Cross Street: Silver Lake Blvd.

We’ve never heard of that combo. Plus it’s in a billiard joint, reason enough to try it out. Tip Top is one of our favorite spots to get banh mi as well. They’ve improved a lot since the ownership has changed. It seems like they are on their third set of owners, and this last one has figured things out. We were almost thinking the location was jinxed, but now they are thriving and pumping out good banh mi. Thanks for posting. T & D.

There’s a really good spam & egg banh mi (not a traditional filling) at a Vietnamese billiard hall (Thanh Tam Billiards on Euclid/Westminister). Not very many know about it yet, but it’s a different and tasty banh mi that all my friends and I go to get. A lot of people don’t play pool there, they just go for the spam and egg banh mi. Tip Top Sandwiches also has good banh mi too, since they changed owners a while back. Their bread is soft on the inside and crusty on the outside, and their fillings are good.

We now we seek the opinion of bánh mì junkies from all around. Where is your favorite bánh mì place?

Share your favorite place so that if any of us are far away from home, we can satisfy our yearnings for a good sandwich in any part of the country. Difference of opinions will arise, but remember that we are all bound by one common thread- the search and appreciation of a good bánh mì sandwich. So please, house rules are to post only your favorite. Lets just discuss the positives and where the recommended eateries are. Do not post any negative comments about any bánh mì place, because we would rather spend our precious time eating than reading any negative, non-constructive posts. No haters, only bánh mì lovers.