Kim and Dao started Lotus Banh Mi as UIC students, testing recipes on coworkers and neighbors before opening their first shop on campus right after graduation, and grew it into a Chicagoland mini-chain of scratch-cooked Vietnamese counters. Kim, who studied nutrition, built a menu meant to be wholesome as well as craveable, and Dao, a civil engineer, built the operation to move fast. The banh mi are the namesake, from the Belly Classic with pâté, pork roll and pork belly to honey grilled pork, ginger chicken, a sunny-side beef with a fried egg and a crispy tofu Veggiecado, all with house mayo and pickled daikon and carrot from about $11.
The pho is built on a homemade broth in beef, chicken or a tofu version on bone broth, and there are coconut curry rice bowls, honey-lemongrass pork bowls, noodle salads, crispy pork eggrolls and fresh spring rolls with pineapple peanut sauce. It's open every day from 10:30am to 8pm, so it works for lunch, an early dinner or a pho run on the weekend.
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