Banh Mi Near Me on East 6th Street: Banh Mi Zon Since 2009

Banh Mi Zon opens at 11 am every day at 443 E 6th St, New York, NY 10009, a narrow storefront between First Avenue and Avenue A that has been making Saigon-style sandwiches since November 2009. Every banh mi on its own ordering site costs between $13.00 and $14.25, and each one gets mayo, cucumber, pickled carrot and daikon, sweet garlic soy sauce and cilantro sprigs. Typing banh mi near me between Union Square and Tompkins Square Park? This is the long-running specialist on the block.

The quickest train is the L to First Avenue, which Time Out lists as the station for this address. Come up at First Avenue and 14th Street, walk eight short blocks south and turn left onto East 6th Street. The shop sits on the stretch toward Avenue A, so if you reach the Avenue A corner you have gone a few doors too far. The M15 bus also runs up First Avenue past the block.

From the south, the F at Second Avenue puts you on Houston Street, about a ten-minute walk north through the East Village. Driving is a poor plan here: East 6th Street is a narrow one-way side street lined with residential buildings and curbside parking, and there is no lot attached to the shop. Wanderlog's review summary describes the business as mostly takeout with a small indoor dining area, so plan to eat on a stoop or in the park.

The Village Voice reported on November 11, 2009 that a new shop selling authentic Vietnamese sandwiches was opening the next day in a space on East 6th Street that had held a vegan, green-lifestyle boutique. Its competition at the time was Nicky's Vietnamese Sandwiches on East 2nd Street and Baoguette on St. Marks Place. A month later, the neighborhood blog EV Grieve was already joking about a sandwich duel when a Cuban place started building out at the Avenue A corner.

The shop's own site explains the name: zon means crispy and delicious, and the kitchen masters and owners come from Saigon, which is why the sandwiches follow the Saigon style most common in the United States. The site stresses details over gimmicks, naming earthy liver pâté, crisp pickled daikon and carrot and fresh cilantro as the point of the sandwich. Time Out's early listing noted walls hung with the owner's own photographs of Vietnam, something to look at while the bread toasts.

The house sandwich is the Zon: pâté, Vietnamese ham, Vietnamese salami and shredded pork jerky, listed at $13.25 on the shop's own ordering site. The Infatuation's Matt Tervooren called it the shop's best sandwich, crediting the slightly pressed bread that keeps every bite the same, a rich, grainy pâté he said could pass as a dinner-party appetizer, and the cha bong, or meat floss, which adds a chewy, porky layer against the crunch of the pickles.

The other sandwich reviewers keep naming is the Coconut Curry Beef Sandwich at $14.25, shredded steak braised in coconut curry and topped with fried shallots. A Grubhub reviewer named Pink wrote that the curry beef sandwich is so delish. The Grilled Chopped Chicken Sandwich at $13.50 uses garlic and lemongrass marinated chicken thighs that are grilled and chopped, and the Grilled Pork Patties Sandwich at $13.00 uses Vietnamese peppercorn pork sausage patties glazed in a sweet barbecue sauce.

Two choices are less common on other banh mi menus in the city. The Sardine Sandwich at $13.25 uses canned sardines preserved in a light tomato sauce and finished with fried shallots, the most old-fashioned filling on the board. The Grilled Catfish Sandwich at $13.75 uses lemongrass marinated catfish fillets, also with fried shallots. Wanderlog's summary of reviews notes that the pork sausages and the lemongrass chicken are both made in-house, which shows in the grilled options.

Vegans are handled properly rather than as an afterthought. The Vegan Sandwich at $13.75 layers sauteed shiitake and woodear mushrooms with slices of fried tofu and swaps the mayo for peanut sauce, and vegan pâté is sold as a $1.50 side. A reviewer on the shop's site, Delphine E., wrote that her vegan banh mi was perfect for lunch. The same mushroom and tofu mix appears in a vegan bun bowl and a vegan rice plate, both listed at $14.25.

Sides make the sandwich your own. Spicy jalapeño costs $0.50, hot sauce and peanut sauce are $1.00 each, a fried egg is $4.00 and an extra container of pickled carrot and daikon is $4.00. The drinks are short and Vietnamese: hot Vietnamese coffee with condensed milk at $3.75, the iced version at $5.00, iced fresh limeade and iced lychee green tea at $5.00 each, and a lychee smoothie blended with mint and condensed milk at $6.00.

For a fuller lunch, the appetizer list has two-piece summer rolls with lettuce, rice noodles, pickled vegetables, chives, mint and bean sprouts, sold with peanut hoisin sauce. The shrimp version is $11.00 and the barbecue pork patty version is $10.00. Green papaya salad with poached tiger shrimp, fried shallots, toasted peanuts and mint is $12.00. Bun bowls and rice plates run the same proteins over warm rice noodles or white rice with homemade fish sauce.

The shop's own site lists business hours of 11 am to 8:30 pm Monday to Saturday and 11 am to 8 pm Sunday, but carryout on Monday stops at 7 pm. Skip a Monday dinner run after 7 pm for that reason. The better window is the late-morning opening stretch, when the bread is fresh and the small room is quiet.

An honest judgement: skip delivery for the Zon itself. The sandwich's appeal, as The Infatuation describes it, is the pressed, crisp baguette against soft pâté and floss, and a ride across town in a closed bag softens that crust. Order it at the counter and eat it within ten minutes, or have the curry beef or a bun bowl delivered instead, since saucy fillings travel better than a crisp roll does.

Groups need lead time. The menu says any order of more than 30 sandwiches needs at least 24 hours to prepare, and items on the catering menu must be ordered at least two days in advance, with a $300 minimum spend for catering delivery. If the counter is swamped or the kitchen has stopped for the night, Plan B is Xe May Sandwich Shop on St. Marks Place, a few minutes' walk north-west, whose website lists hours until 9 pm daily.

Carry the sandwich one block north to Tompkins Square Park, the 10.5-acre square bounded by East 7th Street, Avenue A, Avenue B and East 10th Street. The park opened in 1834, is named for Vice President Daniel D. Tompkins and stays open from 6 am to 1 am. In its southern plaza stands the elm known as the Hare Krishna Tree, where A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada chanted in 1966, marked by a Parks Department plaque.

Walk the other way on East 6th Street and the block between First and Second avenues is the stretch known as Curry Row, lined with Indian restaurants. For a second stop on another night, Ho Foods on East 7th Street serves Taiwanese breakfast by day and beef noodle soup at night, with dinner hours from 5 pm and Tuesdays closed, according to its own site. A banh mi at lunch and noodles at dinner make an easy East Village day.

Banh Mi Zon, 443 E 6th St, New York, NY 10009, between First Avenue and Avenue A in the East Village. Hours on the shop's ordering site: Monday to Saturday 11 am to 8:30 pm, Sunday 11 am to 8 pm, Monday carryout until 7 pm. Banh mi $13.00 to $14.25. Nearest subway: L at First Avenue. Mostly takeout with a small dining area. Orders of over 30 sandwiches need 24 hours.