He opened the first Ba Le bakery in San Jose in 1982, then brought the business to Chicago in 1988 — this Uptown shop on Broadway became the company's headquarters, and it's still run today by his youngest daughter, Thuy, carrying the family recipe forward into a third generation of ownership. The menu runs about 17 sandwiches deep, including vegan and vegetarian versions, all served on crusty, delicately crisp house-baked French bread piled with pickled daikon, carrot, onion, cilantro, and jalapeño. The barbecued pork with lemongrass is the most-ordered option, but the Ba Le Special — pâté, mayo, ham, headcheese, and pork roll stacked together — is the one that shows what this kitchen can really do. Everything on the menu runs under $11, which is a genuinely good price for bread this good.
The business describes its own food as “a Michelin Star dining experience” on its website — more a confident tagline than a literal Michelin Guide listing, but the sandwiches have earned real, independent praise across local food coverage for decades regardless. Foursquare has it at 8.9 out of 10. Open daily 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. No discount special tracked here, but a 35-plus-year family bánh mì institution, still run by the founder's daughter, doesn't need one.
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