14 Spots For Vietnamese Banh Mi In CT & A Little Banh Mi History

James Gribbon January 16, 2025

One morning this summer I woke up to see a note I’d scrawled, apparently in my sleep: “The banh mi is the entire world in one sandwich.” As far as dream-thoughts go, this was in the top 1% of my most coherent, although it’s not, strictly speaking, true. The “entire world” encompasses places like Paraguay and Iceland, and I’ve thankfully yet to see anyone dare put the fermented shark Icelanders call harkarl on any sandwich. The bánh mì is a global sandwich, then, with the flavors and history of Europe, Asia, and America in every bite.

Below you’ll find 14 of our favorite spots for BANH MI in Connecticut.

(If we missed your favorite Banh Mi hang please let us know.)

The story of the bánh mì has roots in the longstanding colony of French Indochina, including present day Vietnam. Wherever any culture goes, their food follows, blending with local flavors and traditions to become part of the overall human mosaic. Pot-au-feu (steaming pot), a soup or stew made from meats and vegetables in a bone marrow broth, is a staple in every corner of France. Locals adapted this bone broth pot using available ingredients – lemongrass, Thai basil, beef tendons, and more – and feu became phở.

If pho is the automatic thought when one thinks of Vietnamese food, the baguette surely tops the list with French. A typical snack food, casse-croûte, includes a baguette with sides of ham, cheese, butter, and pâté, which the locals called bánh tay (“Western food,” loosely). Again, it was adapted: beef, pork, or a Vietnamese sausage called chua la, went onto the bread, making the snack portable. Aromatic herbs and pickled vegetables made for a hit of acidic crunch, and sliced chili peppers (long descended and evolved from those introduced from the Americas) introduced some decidedly non-French heat. The bánh tay had become the bánh mì, a beauty of cultural exchange. Other cultures have adapted their own French legacies similarly, like Tunisian casse-croûte, this time made with tuna, cucumbers, egg, capers, and harissa on the ubiquitous baguette.

The bánh mì came to the United States in the 1960s and ‘70s with asylum seekers from Vietnam, who largely settled in coastal cities around the country, like Los Angeles and Houston. Pho Saigon and Pho Na Trang – staples of the cuisine in Bridgeport and Fairfield – are named for the ancestral southern city and province of the family who owns the two locations. For the French, baguettes and pot-au-feu were comfort food, far from home. Bánh mì and phở are similar comfort food in America, yes, but also a way to make a living in a new homeland for thousands of newly self-made restaurateurs.

The sandwich itself hits every desired high point you care to mention. It is at once meaty and bready, salty and sweet, acidic, aromatic, and spicy. It can be made with meat or without, and hits of umami can be delivered with fish, hoisin, and soy sauces. A bánh mì is both eye-opening and familiar, every time. The crushing weight of geological forces sometimes creates diamonds, just as a long story of hardship resulted in this gem. It is my favorite sandwich, and I think about it quite a lot, even sometimes in my sleep.

CT SPOTS FOR BANH MI

Banh Meee

What started as a Vietnamese food truck, has expanded to a retail location in Hartford. These guys have a EXTENSIVE Banh Mi menu with sandwiches including: Spicy Crispy Chicken Sandwich, Banh Mi Flank Steak and the "Butt Meee,” with a thick cut of slow cooked pork butt.

126 Ann Uccello St, Hartford,

www.banhmeee.com/index.html

Kawa Ni

Elevated, decadent pork belly, crunchy tsukemono, and vinegary Japanese Kewpie mayo make this one memorable.

19A Bridge Square, Westport

www.kawaniwestport.com

At The Corner

Chef Carlos Perez has created a TOFU BANH MI with crispy fried tofu, sliced cucumber, pickled carrots, daikon, onions & cilantro on a toasted baguette with spicy sriracha aioli & umami drizzle.

3 West St, Litchfield

www.athecorner.com

KT Bakery

Starts with KT Bakery’s legendary Frech Bread, filled with house made sweet savory pork sausage flavored with fish sauce & garlic rich chicken livers pate tangy garlic aioli crisp pickle carrot & daikon cucumber cilantro and jalapeños

552 New Park Avenue , West Hartford,

www.instagram.com/k_t_bakery

Pho Hong Thom

Beef or pork banh mi at this authentic little eatery.

48 Wood Ave., Bridgeport

www.facebook.com/PhoHongThom/

TD Vietnam Palace

The restaurant is next door now, but for a long time this was the best Vietnamese I’d ever had inside a former railroad caboose.

2505 Main St., Stratford

www.tdvietnampalacect.com

Mama Pho

Beef, pork, chicken, or vegetarian-friendly tofu on excellent rolls.