Okay, it’s a terrible pic taken using my BB. I don’t go to the gym with my camera usually, my bad, but WTF? Per my usual Wed/Fri routine of hitting up the gym, I decided I wanted a banh mi from the cart afterwards. I was ready to try the sardine one, and I only brought $5 with me (hey, I travel light when I go to the gym, ok?!), so I was like UH OH when I noticed all the prices had been wiped off, and a new price affixed to the top. (Luckily, I have this habit of shoving change into my coat pocket, and because it was snowing earlier today, I wore my coat to the gym, and scrounged up $1 in change.)
$6 for all the sandwiches, which effectively lowers the price of the eel sandwich by $1, and raises the price of 5 of the other sandwiches. They got rid of the sardine baguette (probably sounds too weird for most people, though it sounded intriguing to me!) and the shrimp cocktail, which, at $3 for 6 pieces, sounded like an amazing deal though I don’t know how big the shrimp were.
In place of the shrimp cocktail, they offer seaweed salad for $3 now. They also offer Vietnamese coffee for $3 as well.
From top of the menu (it’s easier to see on my BlackBerry for some reason), it now reads:
(All $6)
Special Baguette
Grilled Chicken Baguette with Onion
Shredded Chicken Baguette with Onion
Vietnamese Meatball Baguette
Vegetarian Baguette
Tuna Fish Baguette
Pan Fried Beef Baguette with Onion
Pork Roll & Eggs Baguette
Shrimp Baguette
Roasted Eel Baguette
Spring Roll $4
Summer Roll $4
Seaweed Salad $3
Vietnamese Coffee $3
Compare this to the menu just last week:
So maybe now the eel baguette isn’t so badly priced (maybe, but I still say the eel overwhelms the awesome pickled veggies and isn’t as good of a sandwich protein as I’d like it to be), but the other sandwiches? Completely RIDICULOUS!!! They’ve been open for about a month now so I think it’s way too soon for them to be jacking their prices like so.
Also, though it’s not on the menu, the guy running the cart (the older man I mentioned in my original post) offered me tofu as an option when I said I wasn’t eating meat. I opted for just vegetables because I’ve been eating too much tofu lately, but I thought I’d put it out there if any of you don’t mind paying $6 for a banh mi (and I don’t know if this affects authenticity at all since I’ve never gotten banh mi from anywhere else – which will change once I’m eating meat again – but the people working the cart are Cantonese).
While my vegetarian sandwich today was once again very yummy, I don’t know if I can justify spending $6 on a relatively small sandwich that probably won’t fill a person up for lunch. (I eat a huge Fuji apple about an hour before the gym, and combined with the banh mi, it’s a decent meal for someone trying to lose weight.)
I really want them to succeed so more like them will open up all over the city, but I’m not sure about at these prices.
Thoughts?
Jessica@Foodmayhem says
I’m pretty surprised about price hikes now, when the general public is sensitive about spending right now.
Rochelle says
I think $6 is reasonable for the eel – but for just veggies? No way.
SkippyMom says
The only reason I can see for a $1 raise in prices so soon after opening is they underestimated their food costs and now are trying to catch up and break even.
The cynic in me says they see how popular they are and a $1 price hike is worth it too their customers to eat at their convenience. If they sell 200 sandwiches a day – that is another $200 right?
The sandwiches do look yummy [I WOULD EAT THEM, I SWEAR LOL ;D ] and would fill me up, but for $6 they aren’t as big as a something from, say, SUBWAY and SUBWAY sandwiches are pretty good and use fresh ingredients. Is that a fair comparison? I was avoiding truly fast food like McD/Wendy’s b/c that stuff is crap. I hold SUBWAY in a little higher regard 🙂
Ambitious says
Where is this cart?! Price hikes are rough. 🙁
Go to Pho Bac in Elmhurst and get a pork Bahn Mi for $3.50. It’s as big as a footlong! 🙂
Anonymous says
Banh Mi sandwiches are a thousand times better than Subway sandwiches. Not in the same league. The meats are made fresh too. Go to Chinatown to Bánh Mì Saigon Bakery’s at 138 Mott Street where you can get a Banh Mi for $3.75. There is a jewelry store in the front and sandwiches in the back. Come early they will stop making them when they run out of baguettes. Dont try for dinner. Lunch item only because the bread will not last. Too popular. The people who own the cart know how much people are willing to pay for Banh Mi’s and that is why they raised their price. It is the area. It is an area where people are used to inflated prices and they know it. Trying to make some money is all.