History

Buford Highway became Atlanta's Vietnamese restaurant corridor through the 1980s as the Vietnamese refugee community settled along the strip. Quoc Huong Banh Mi opened in the 1990s and Lee's Bakery has produced the canonical Atlanta banh mi for over twenty years. The sandwich is the cheap-eats classic at $5 to $8, with the classic dac biet (combination) ordered most often. The bread is made same-day on the strip; it is the make-or-break ingredient.

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Common allergens: Gluten, Egg, Soy

Make it at home

Yield 4Hands-on 30 minTotal 3 hrDifficulty Easy

Ingredients

  • 4 small Vietnamese-style baguettes (or shorter French rolls with a very crackly thin crust)
  • For the pickled vegetables: 1 medium daikon julienned
  • 2 carrots julienned
  • 60ml rice vinegar
  • 60ml water
  • 60g sugar
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 200g good pork pate or chicken liver pate, at room temperature
  • 4 tablespoons Kewpie or homemade mayonnaise
  • 400g cha lua (Vietnamese pork roll, sold at Asian grocers), or use grilled lemongrass pork or roast pork
  • 1 small cucumber, sliced into long thin spears
  • 1 large bunch cilantro, picked
  • 2 fresh jalapenos, thinly sliced
  • Maggi seasoning sauce (essential Vietnamese touch)
  • Soy sauce, black pepper

Method

  1. Make the pickle: whisk vinegar, water, sugar and salt in a bowl until dissolved. Add daikon and carrot. Press down so they submerge. Pickle 1 to 2 hours at room temperature.
  2. Split each baguette lengthways without cutting all the way through. Lightly toast under the grill for 30 seconds; the crust should crackle but the inside stay soft.
  3. Spread the bottom half generously with pate, then spread mayonnaise on the top half.
  4. Layer cha lua slices along the bottom, slightly overlapping.
  5. Top with drained pickled daikon and carrot, cucumber spears, plenty of cilantro and jalapeno slices.
  6. Shake several drops of Maggi seasoning and soy sauce over. Grind black pepper.
  7. Close the sandwich, press firmly. Wrap each in paper for the canonical Buford Highway format.
  8. Eat within an hour; the bread softens as the pickles soak.

Tip from the editors. The bread is everything. Real banh mi bread is light, airy, with a thin crackling crust. If you cannot find Vietnamese baguettes, ciabatta rolls substitute.

Where to eat buford highway bánh mì

Buford Highway bánh mì in Atlanta

Lee's Bakery ★ 4.6

$ VietnameseBuford Highway

Lee's Bakery on Atlanta's Buford Highway runs the city's most-argued banh mi: BBQ pork combo for $6, coconut bubble tea, generous portions. Family-friendly.

TryVietnamese banh mi sandwich

TipOrder the BBQ pork combo with a coconut bubble tea. Cash works fastest at the counter.

Directions

Quoc Huong Banh Mi Fast Food ★ 4.5

$ VegetarianBuford Highway

Quoc Huong Banh Mi on Atlanta's Buford Highway sells ten varieties at $5 each: grilled pork, combo, vegetarian, all on house-baked airy baguette.

TryVietnamese banh mi, 10 varieties

TipCash only and closed Thursdays. The grilled pork is the most-ordered; the combo loads on three meats.

Directions

Buford Highway Farmers Market ★ 4.5

$ MarketBuford Highway

Buford Highway Farmers Market in Doraville, Atlanta runs an international grocery the size of a Walmart with 15 food-court stalls: Korean, Vietnamese.

TipThe grocery is the destination; the food court is the unsung sub-attraction. Open daily; Saturday mornings are busiest.

Directions

Snackboxe Bistro ★ 4.4

$$ LaotianDuluth

Snackboxe Bistro re-opened in Duluth in 2024 as Atlanta's only full-menu Laotian kitchen: larb gai, khao soi and sticky rice from owner Thip Athakhanh.

OrderLarb gai with sticky rice and khao soi.

Why locals goAfter closing the original Doraville room in 2024, owner Thip Athakhanh re-opened in Duluth in a strip mall; only Atlanta-area Laotian kitchen serving full Lao menus.

TipOrder the larb and the khao soi; share a sticky rice basket. Beer-and-wine only, no liquor.

Directions

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