One of THE BEST Vietnamese Banh Mi shops that I've been to.
Hands down may be one of the best Vietnamese quick food stops that I've been to if I consider everything there.
Their hours are absolutely insane, seeing that they're open early in the morning and decently into the evening, every day of the week. Truly hardworking staff. Speaking of the staff, I want to say that the couple that run this sandwich shop are the sweetest, kindest mom & pop out there. Felt like I was part of the family and they were super attentive to fulfilling our order and checking us out.
Back to how I think this might be one of the best Viet food shops out there, it's because there is an INSANE amount of variety in the food and snacks that they have here. Do you need balut? You can order dozens of them (and we saw someone do that). They have pre-packed plates of food for banh cuon (rice rolls), banh bot loc (Viet tapioca dumplings, something you don't see as often elsewhere), spring rolls (a nice variety of them), banh beo (water fern cakes- both the savory and sweet kinds), rice dishes (both savory and sweet), Viet desserts like the dessert soup, banh da lon (steamed pandan cake), banh bo (steamed rice cake), and much, much more.
It was so good, I actually went back here twice during my short trip in Bay Area and even took some food on the road as well.
Their banh mi are, once again, some of the best that I've ever had. We had a friend visiting from NY who also agreed with this sentiment. As you can see, Kim's Sandwiches deserves national praise! The banh mi is nice and fresh, the inside is soft, outside is perfectly crispy without being too dry. They mayo is delicious and they PACK their sandwiches to the brim so you are 100% getting your money's worth and more. All of us got the Banh Mi Thap Cam, aka the combination banh mi that comes with a plethora of delicious meats and fillings. This is the one to get if you want to a little bit of everything or if you aren't too sure what to order. Thap Cam means mixed in Viet, so your banh mi comes with delicious pate, cha (the pork meat loaf), some meat ball, sliced ham, peppercorn ham, and you can always have them add the veggies and peppers in or have them set to the side. Each bite is a diverse variety of flavors and never exactly the same. Encompasses everything that you can want in an ideal banh mi!
For snacks and to go foods, we got some banh cuon, banh bot lot, banh gio (Viet pork & rice dumplings), banh bo, a crispy rice taco with dry dehydrated meat, and if I were local I would def make this my usual spot to go to.
If you're in SJ, or even visiting for Fanime like I was, and are craving a yummy, filling banh mi (or just to have other Viet snacks), stop by Kim's Sandwiches! I didn't get a chance to get a drink here too, so I'm definitely going to do that next time too. read more