Sandwich Hag — Restaurant in Dallas

UPDATE: They don't call it sandwich "hag" for nothing do they? Honestly, they could have avoided the 1-star review by not putting me on blast on Instagram/FB and implying that I'm racist for saying their food is overpriced(which it is). I guess I hit a nerve. I was being kind so let me explain; I ordered what the person at the window recommended, "how the chef eats it," according to them. The báNh mì (no side) was $18.75(not $12.75) which I happily paid for along with an additional $40ish worth of stuff. So to say that the food is expensive really just means that it wasn’t THAT great.

I try really hard not to compare restaurants that I try but I'd be perfectly happy paying $20 for báNh mì at QB(lucky for me it's 1/5th of that). What I had here just wasn't on the same level despite using the same delicious bread apparently.

Also, “too authentic,” which is to say that, “not everyone likes that stuff.” Nobody is "Asian/white-splaining" anything or saying that the food is or isn’t authentic. The owner took one look at me and made all kinds of assumptions. 🙄

According to the Yelp/Google reviews I'm not even the only person saying that the food isn't stellar, or that it's expensive so I wonder what made MY review stick out. What ever could it be?! Maybe the raisin casserole on my breath?

I may not be Vietnamese but like many of your patrons I do know how to eat. If you can't handle an honest review maybe consider a different profession.

Good luck!

ORIGINAL REVIEW (4-stars):

We came here after quite a few people recommended it. It was good but very expensive for what you're getting. With that said, I liked the idea of the French baguette for dipping in the curry. The bahn mi didn't have liver paté which was disappointing to me but I understand that may be a little too authentic for some people. Overall, it didn't wow me but was still...

The food is good. But they don't take cash, which is super annoying. No indoor seating, which is often a problem. And wait times can sometimes be very long. Also there always seems to be trash scattered around the ground around the place, so sometimes you're sitting surrounded by random bits of trash. So bugs can be a problem.

Besides the food, their music selection is very good. Also the service is friendly. I just hope they can get these wrinkles ironed out.

Response to the owner: thanks for taking the time to reply. I understand your reasoning behind the cash policy, and obviously it doesn't impact your food. It's just inconvenient when every other establishment in the area and almost all that I've ever been to take cash. Somehow these other places make it work. And some people don't have plastic, so it's kind of exclusionary. Again, this says nothing about your food, and this is just my personal opinion.

Re the trash, I hope this does get better. It's a super easy fix (except of course that given the neighborhood, and that the trash is really not from y'all in the first place, I'm sure it'll be a pain to clean every day). My review definitely goes up if this gets consistently better.

Re the wait, I understand there are busy times. It's usually not a bad wait even during busy times. Not a bad problem here.

And to be clear: THE FOOD IS GREAT. I definitely recommend people eat here. And the concept is great. I won't ever agree with every single decision made by management at any establishment, so my criticism there might be someone else's praise. And I fully expect my review to be edited in the direction of...

Ok we ordered 3 bahn mi, vietnamese sausage, lemongrass pork and ginger chicken. The vietnamese sausage was definitely the best, I love that sausage. The bread on all of them was near perfection. However I take issue with the ratio of ingredients that I believe to be incorrect based on other bahn mi I've had at Quoc Bao and Saigon Deli. First off there is only one sprig of cilantro as if it's a garnish but there should be 4 or 5 cilantro stems because it's important for flavor and texture. Way too much carrot, we had to remove about 30% of it. Virtually no jalapeno and seemingly no pate. It should have a generous serving of pate and jalapeno to work with each other. Maybe this sandwich is done differently depending on the region, but if so the other region does it much better. Side note; the lemongrass pork as way too salty but the chicken was delicious. I must also mention the price here is double that of the aforementioned businesses, but this location is much more convenient for me. The owner is super nice and accommodating but the menu says no substitutions so I don't think I could ask for different ratios of food even if I wanted to. The meat fillings are generously portioned, difficult to eat the sandwich it's so big. The outside seating is small but really nice and it's dog friendly. I really like the place overall. Oh yea my wife had the vietnamese coconut coffee and it was delicious and very potent, and we also got fruit teas that were very good but a little too...