Lee's Sandwiches — Restaurant in Rosemead

Lee's is the default standard big banh mi chain in California and parts of Texas. It's good, but if you're really into this kind of sandwich you'll probably want to branch out and try other places. If you live in California and have never heard of Lee's, you probably don't know what banh mi is either. It's sandwiches comprised of Vietnamese style fillings on French style bread. Yes, it's part of the country's legacy of colonization. It also tastes damned good. The fresh baguettes are especially noteworthy, are continually made hot throughout the day, and can be purchased separately.

Unlike other banh mi places, they also serve sandwiches with more classic American sandwich fillings (which they, ironically, call "euro style", even though some of the Vietnamese toppings, like mayonnaise, pate, and head cheese are arguably more European). They have excellent egg, meat, and processed American cheese on baguette or croissant breakfast sandwiches, and decent breakfast deals. The coffee and pate chaud (processed meat filling in flaky pastry dough served hot) breakfast combo is especially affordable.

This location also has a selection of French-Vietnamese grocery goods and snacks (pate, laughing cow brand French cheese, etc), as well as a variety of drink options beyond the standard sweet Vietnamese coffee drinks.

Oh, and this location has a drive thru window. Just like McDonald's. But with...

I use their app to place my pick up orders. I've ordered from this location twice with varying results. Their app is confusing because the menu items & customization are based on location, even though they're menu staples. The one in Alhambra allows me to put op la on a sandwich but this location doesn't but for no reason. I was able to order a blended frapp once from here. Today, it wasn't even an option to pick. My drink is shown with whipped cream, but my drink did not come with it. If it's supposed to be an add on, why have a picture of it as if it comes with it? I ordered my sandwich with NO jalapeno because I have stomach problems that make it very painful to eat spicy food. They filled my sandwich to the brim with jalapenos. I had a second sandwich that was a breakfast sandwich that was supposed doesn't even have jalapenos on the description but for some reason, it's spicy. Between their app making no sense & the people working there doing as they please, it's very disheartening to get food from here, which is a shame because their food is amazing when they get it right.

UPDATE: Absolutely disappointed. Still hit & miss with all the same problems. I write in my modifications, which are options that I check & pay extra for as well, that I'm not getting. From now on, I'm going to spend my money at Bánh Mì Chè Cali. The coffee was good today but there have been times where it tastes weaker than it's...

Lot’s of options for bahn mi in SGV, but Lee’s is the OG that started it all for me and first to get me to try it. I’ve been to many others, but for price, speed and convenience, Lee’s does it for me. Only had 30 mins for lunch today and didn’t feel like McDonald’s and Lee’s hit the spot! Special combination, extra jalapeños and some egg rolls! Love the drive thru too! ——/

The OG of bahn mi! If you catch them with fresh bread, their sandwiches are up there with the best. I love Banh Mi My Tho and some other spots near by, but if you don’t have a lot of time, Lee’s is quick and has a drive through.

Todays drive thru line was 6 deep, but parking lot was empty so I decided to go inside. It was fairly empty inside and got my food quickly, but seemed like they were focused on the drive thru. Makes sense because the inside is huge and can handle a big crowd, but the drive thru line will overflow to the street after 7-8 cars. Service was good, but basic. No frills, which is fine. Don’t always need small talk or chatter.

Admittedly, the food at Lee’s can be hit and miss, but lucked out today with fresh bread and a great sandwich. The egg rolls were a little cold, so hit and miss here again. Not sure if this is new or not, but noticed the combos and Reid the Asian one which came with a bag of chips and iced coffee.

I got a lot of food for about $15, which is saying a lot these days. I...