Cheap Eats: Lo Bánh Mì Viet Hot Bread

Once upon a time I lived just outside of the Asian District in Oklahoma City where for a few years I had my pick of terrific bánh mì spots. One sold a quick $5 sandwich, packaged up for easy takeaway. Another offered a souped-up $10 sandwich that was a little larger. Both were generous with the pâté, delicious, and staples of my mid-20s diet. 

Recently I found myself with a mega hankering for the real stuff. Rather than drive downtown for Lone Wolf—I love you Lone Wolf, but you are a gringo fusion restaurant—I opted to save a little cash and drive east. 

My destination? Lo Bánh Mì Viet Hot Bread. Located at 31st and 129th E. Ave. in the same strip mall as fellow local foodie destinations Seoul Bistro and La Tropical, this humble mom and pop has the goods. Six varieties of sandwich await you, as well as a generous mix of teas, slushes, smoothies, and cold coffees. 

I gotta say the French were really on to something with the baguette. Imperialism? Not so much, but the Vietnamese must have had good taste to realize that they could make a killer sandwich out the colonizer’s staple bread.

A proper bánh mì is crispy on the outside and soft on the inside, in order to sop up the savory mixture of pâté, grilled pork (as I prefer mine), and veggies. And every once in a while you get a bite with a sudden cut of jalapeño juice. There is an element of surprise in a good bánh mì. 

Sandwiches at Viet Hot Bread range in cost from $6.35 to $7.15, and you get one for free when you buy four, so you can make yourself the most popular person in the office when you make the group sandwich run.

And for pure flavor, this spot just can’t be beat. The money you save on the no-frills dining experience can just go toward the next sandwich.