Sandwich News
Dallas' Banh Shop unveils 3 new street-side restaurants around DFW
Banh Shop wok bowls and banh mi.
There's a big comeback for Banh Shop, a Dallas-based restaurant concept centered on the delectable Vietnamese sandwich called the banh mi.
Initially founded in 2014, Banh Shop has three new locations coming soon including one that'll open in Fort Worth in mid-October.
The locations are as follows:
- Fort Worth, at 3051 S. University Dr., across from TCU
- Las Colinas 7601 N. McArthur Blvd. #105
- Dallas, Shops at Park Lane, across from NorthPark
Spokesperson Mark Brezinski says that all three will open within the next six months, starting with TCU. Las Colinas will open by the end of 2023, and Dallas in early spring 2024.
But he cautions not to call it a comeback. "We've still been opening locations, but at airports - just not street side," he says.
The banh mi is a Vietnamese sandwich featuring a crusty but light French baguette with an array of ingredients: pickled carrots, daikon, jalapeno, cucumber, cilantro, mayo, a smear of pate, and a protein, with the original featuring marinated pork, although tofu is a common alternative.
Its lightness and combination of sharp, fresh flavors has given it great crossover potential, and all kinds of restaurants now have a banh mi on their menus.
Banh Shop was originally developed by Brezinski with Braden and Yasmin Wages, the husband-and-wife owners of Malai Kitchen, for Yum! Brands (Taco Bell, KFC, and Pizza Hut).
They opened the first location near SMU in September 2014, followed by their first airport location at DFW Airport. The SMU location closed in 2017, but there are now four airport locations including two in Canada, and plans for more. All of those locations are run by SSP, a company that specializes in airport concessions.
Reviving the street locations is ACE, LLC a franchisee of Yum Emerging Brands part II, AKA YEBII, which is the franchisor of the concept, for both airports and street-side locations.
Part of the not-comeback includes a refreshed menu.
"The banh mi is still the heart of the concept, with new sandwiches we've been testing," Brezinski says, “but with still a strong 50/50 emphasis on our popular wok bowls.”
Their menu includes the Fried Rice Bowl with wok-seared white rice, egg, broccoli, scallions, bean sprouts, and cherry tomatoes tossed in garlic soy sauce with choice of protein; pad Thai, the classic noodle dish; Vietnamese-style chicken soup; and eight sandwiches including a tofu version of banh mi, and a turkey sandwich on a baguette.
This seems like a good time to mention that their pork meatball banh mi was called "the best meatball sandwich in America" by Restaurant Hospitality Magazine in 2015.
They're also adding a bar.
"It's still remaining fast-casual but we're expanding the drink opportunities with some wonderful items, including Vietnamese coffee, Thai tea with boba, and matcha latte," he says. "The key thing will be the freshness and vibrancy of the food."
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