According to The Tanner Food Group, a a food consultancy focused on international trade, industry preparedness and regulatory activities, there are now nearly 8,000 Vietnamese restaurants stateside. Food Scientist Michael Murdy, founder of robustkitchen.com attributes the popularity of Vietnamese food to the “wide range of flavors and textures associated,” specifying that “the combination of sour, sweet, savory, and spicy flavors, as well as the use of fresh herbs and vegetables, makes Vietnamese food particularly attractive to people.”
From among the nearly 8,000 Vietnamese restaurants on this side of the pond, it’s a good bet many of their menus are graced with banh mi, the sandwich melding French and Vietnamese flavors and techniques. I first encountered the banh mi during one of many trips to the Santa Clara-San Jose area courtesy of Intel. With a significant Vietnamese population, the area was teeming with restaurants, most generally serving pho and other wondrous delights from Vietnam. At the time (mid 1990s), the San Jose area was starting to see Vietnamese bakeries opening up mostly in areas frequented by Asian populations. Among them was Lee’s Sandwiches, maybe the first to showcase the banh mi.
Lee’s Sandwiches has suffixed its corporate name with “International” and now offers European sandwiches in addition to Asian sandwiches. Over the years, Lee’s has expanded beyond California’s golden borders, including two locations in the Phoenix area. I visited the first of Lee’s satellites, a Chandler store in 2005 (thank you again, Intel). Just a year later, Albuquerque saw the launch of Coda Bakery, which specialized in banh mi and Vietnamese pastries. Coincidentally, Coda Bakery was first called “Lee’s Bakery” before changing its name to “Banh Mi Coda” and eventually Coda Bakery. In 2025, Coda Bakery was named a semi-finalist in the James Beard Foundation’s “Outstanding Bakery” category which spans the fruited plain. Commonly regarded as the “Academy Awards of the culinary industry,” James Beard awards denote the highest standards of excellence.
You might think the success of Coda Bakery would inspire an avalanche of Vietnamese bakeries across the Duke City. It hasn’t worked out that way. In 2013, the Duke City saw the launch of the city’s second banh mi shop when Sai Gon Sandwich opened in Franklin Plaza, a timeworn shopping center on the northeast corner of Juan Tabo and Central. Sai Gon Sandwich closed in 2020. Albuquerque’s third Vietnamese bakery specializing in banh mi is Leona Banh Mi which opened its doors in 2016 and is still going strong. In 2025, the cleverly christened Banh Me & You entered the Vietnamese sandwich wars.
If you haven’t yet experienced a banh mi and are wondering what the big deal is about what is essentially a smallish sandwich, the antithesis of those overstuffed behemoths crammed with ingredients, here’s a Banh Mi 101 primer. Banh mi is a Vietnamese sandwich that combines a French baguette with fillings such as pickled vegetables, meats, and fresh herbs. Typical fillings include grilled pork, pâté, pickled carrots, cucumber, cilantro, and mayonnaise. The popularity of banh mi’s stems from its balance of fresh and savory flavors, and its portability as a satisfying, affordable meal (though not as affordable as in Vietnam where you can still get a banh mi for about a dollar).
Banh Me & You is ensconced in Montgomery Plaza east of the Lovelace Women’s Hospital. It resides in the former space once occupied by the second instantiation of Tako Ten. The south-facing eatery is next door to Jimmy John’s, a national chain which also specializes in sandwiches (albeit not the banh mi). We were curious to see which of the two sandwich shops Duke City diners would visit. During our brief visit to Banh Me & You, we were heartened to see savvy diners spurning Jimmy John’s. Whether out of curiosity or familiar with the superior deliciousness of the banh mi, those diners seemed preternaturally drawn to the Banh Me’s pastry case.
Just below an overhead menu are two pastry cases brimming with delicious baked goods. Unlike some other Asian nations, Vietnam is renowned for its desserts. Much of that can be traced back to the French colonial period in Vietnam, the pregenitor for the baguettes in which banh mi are constructed. The pastry cases are like beautifully baked art, a melange of colors, shapes and textures with the common element being deliciousness. It’s a challenge to study the banh mi menu when sweet temptations beckon.
Someone somewhere has probably figured out the best banh mi and beverage pairing. It could well be something on Banh Me & You’s Drinks menu. On that menu you’ll find fruit teas, milk teas, “fizzies,” coconut teas, matcha latte and aviso tea. My Kim liked the passion fruit tea with boba which she described as refreshing and delicious. My choice was a tropical fizzie. Only the requisite tiny umbrella was lacking on this beverage constructed with slices of strawberrries, pineapple and oranges. It’s not as good as my favorite adult beverage (water), but it’s quite refreshing.
There are eight banh mi on the menu, two of them “coming soon.” The baguette canvases for the banh mi are baked in-house as are all baked goods. Literally, a wall of ovens and fridges line one wall in the kitchen. One of my very favorite banh mi showcases two other French contributions to Vietnam’s culinary repertoire. That’s the Banh Mi Paté Jamon, a cold-cut sandwich constucted with paté, jambon (pork loin), jalapeños, mayonnaise, cucumber, pickled daikon and carrots and cilantro. The baguette is characteristically light and airy with a crispy exterior and fluffy interior. It’s the perfect canvas for a near perfect sandwich. The paté (a meat spread made by grinding meat and fat until it is the consistency of paste) is superb! Without paté, a cold cut banh mi is incomplete.
My Kim’s favorite banh mi (and one of her favorite sandwiches) is the grilled pork banh mi (grilled pork, jalapeños, mayonnaise, cucumber, pickled daikon and carrots and cilantro). Vietnamese grilled pork has an inimitable flavor that not even American barbecue can match. It’s got a wonderful balance of sweet and savory notes that don’t compete for the rapt attention of your taste buds as much as they please them both. A balance of hot and cold ingredients is another highlight of this banh mi with the cold veggies ameliorating the flavor of the grilled pork.
Displayed within the pastry case are diet-devastating desserts that would tempt Job himself. For me, it’s nigh impossible to resist chocolate croissants (pain au chocolat), one of the nicest gifts the French left for Vietnam. Pain au chocolat are not crescent shaped like traditional croissants and in fact, are called “chocolatines” in France. That’s a matter of semantics. What matters most is just how wonderful they taste. Constructed of the same layered dough as croissants and stuffed with chocolate, pain au chocolate are a wonderful blend of sweet and savory flavors in a delightful pastry.
Change the spelling by one letter (omitting the second “o”) and you’ve got macarons, not to be confused with macaroons. Southern Living explains differences: “A macaron is a sandwich-like cookie that’s filled with jam, ganache, or buttercream. A macaroon is a drop cookie made using shredded coconut.” My Kim doesn’t like macaroons, but she loves macarons. She’s got a new favorite, the cinnamon roll macarons at Banh Me & You. They’re reminiscent of cinnamon rolls only in terms of flavor. Texturally, these gems are cloud-like, soft and delicate.
When you can’t visit Albuquerque’s James Beard nominated Coda Bakery, it’s refreshing to know there’s a new alternative serving the Northeast Heights. Banh Me & You is a wonderful addition to Albuquerque’s culinary scene.
Banh Me & You
5011 Montgomery, N.E.
Albuquerque, New Mexico
(505)
Website | Facebook Page
LATEST VISIT: 12 March 2025
# OF VISITS: 1
RATING: N/R
COST: $$
BEST BET:Banh Mi Pate Jamon (Cold Cut), Grilled Pork Banh Mi, Cinnamon Roll Macarons, Chocolate Croissants,
REVIEW #1460
I tried it last week and didn’t care for it. The mystery meat on the special was so coarse and gristly, that I pulled it out and fed it to my dogs. I hate biting into hard rubbery bits in my processed meat. I gag just thinking about it, but some my enjoy chunky meat. I don’t. The pate on the sandwich was pretty good though, but was very thinly spread and it needed more. I’ll drive over to Bahn Mi Coda any day.