Lokal Sandwich Shop — Restaurant in Los Angeles

I actually live right around the corner from Lokal but never went since it changed names since I'm not a big banh mi/sandwich person but I needed to arrange catering for the office and saw they had catering trays and wanted to give them a try.

I'm glad I did. I stopped by the actual store but they gave me a phone number to call for catering orders so I called and Sanie helped me with my order. It was super efficient. I told her I needed a sandwich platter and which sandwiches. She asked if I wanted the sandwiches halved and individually wrapped and asked what sides I wanted. Then she sent me a summary of the order for me to confirm and then sent the invoice and payment link. When I went to pick up the next day, it was all ready to go.

I ordered the KBBQ banh mi, the old skool banh mi, the pork bbq banh mi, the grilled chicken banh mi and the chimichurri steak. The steak sandwiches disappeared immediately. Personally, I had the grilled chicken banh mi and it was good, though spicy, but very good. The bread was crisp and the banh mi refreshing with the pickled veg.

I can see why I always see people going in and out of the store now and will definitely be going back since it's so close...

Great experience and delicious food!!! I had a large order to place for a production crew last week, I called a day in advance to confirm hours of operation. Spoke to Sunny who was delighted and eager to place my order in advance I mentioned I would call back once I was ready. I preferred to place the order over the phone so as to ensure I could make special dietary restriction requests and ask specific questions. I was pleasantly assisted by Paula who was patient and efficient in taking my order and answering any questions or requests. When I arrived the following day 10 min prior to scheduled pick up time my order was ready, packaged and I was assisted in carrying out. I was beyond impressed and grateful for how smooth everything turned out. **Extra love for her taking the time to label each order with the person's name. As a PA on set this is a huge bow of appreciation 🙌 made my job so much easier and organized. And finally most importantly everyone genuinely enjoyed their meals I had the Jungle sandwich with a fried egg and Thai tea it was delicious!! I can't wait to check them out again....

I come here for the banh mi.

I don't know where they source these, but the baguettes themselves sit at the moral center if the universe. They ascend to that heavenly sweet spot of crispiness and lightness, yet manage to steadfastly hold the line against the seeping corruption of it's oft saucy contents. Where many other banh mi purveyors settle for either spinless white bread masquerading as baguettes, doomed to soggy blandness, or bread so hard and world-weary that would perhaps be better serve society as breadcrumbs or door stops.

As for sandwich contents, they should satisfy everyone, and range from fusion takes such as al-pastor and kbbq, to OG classics like fried egg with ham and pate or headcheese, pate, and pork loaf. Don't overthink the latter, it's delicious. They have a vegetarian option, which I want to try at some point...maybe after my doctor tells me to stop eating pate and headcheese.

My only critique would be that, for me personally, they're a bit heavy handed with...