Banh Mi Near Me on Clement Street: Cafe Bunn Mi's Cash-Only Duck

Cafe Bunn Mi takes cash only, and the sandwich most people carry out of 417 Clement St, San Francisco, CA 94118 is a banh mi built around a thick fried duck cutlet. The Inner Richmond cafe opens at 10 am Monday through Friday and at 9 am on Saturday and Sunday, and it closes at 8 pm every day. Bring bills, because no card reader sits on the counter. For banh mi near me on the city's west side, start here.

The cafe sits in the 400 block of Clement Street, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues, in the neighborhood 7x7 says is nicknamed the city's New Chinatown for its Chinese markets and dim sum. It shares the block with Toy Boat by Jane, the colorful, kid-friendly dessert cafe that serves everything from ice cream to wraps. Across Sixth Avenue, Green Apple Books has occupied the corner of Clement Street and Sixth Avenue since Richard Savoy founded it in 1967.

Clement runs between two of Muni's main west-side corridors. The 38 Geary, which starts at Salesforce Transit Center downtown and runs out Geary Boulevard to the Richmond, stops a block south of the cafe, and the 38R Rapid runs the same corridor. The 1 California, which ends at Geary and 33rd Avenue, runs a block north on California Street, so a sandwich run works from the Financial District without a car.

Cafe Bunn Mi has been on this block for at least a decade. Time Out was already writing about the Clement Street room in 2016, describing a cheery cafe with walls painted orangey-red and service that is fast and friendly. That color scheme is still the easiest way to spot the place from the sidewalk.

Its Google listing frames it as a casual spot offering a modern take on Vietnamese dishes, and the kitchen reaches well beyond the bread: 7x7 sends people in for crab pho, so the narrow room works for a sit-down bowl at dinner as well as a grab-and-go roll at lunch. The name is a play on bánh mì, but the regulars treat it as a neighborhood Vietnamese kitchen first.

The Infatuation has kept Cafe Bunn Mi on its list of the best banh mi in San Francisco, a guide updated in June 2026, alongside Saigon Sandwich in the Tenderloin and Dinosaurs in the Castro. Senior editor Lani Conway first reviewed it in 2021 as a place that is always there when a quick lunch or picnic takeout is needed, and the 2026 entry still points readers straight to the duck. On Google the shop holds a 4.3 rating across more than 600 reviews.

The crispy duck banh mi is the reason most first-timers walk in. The Infatuation describes an extra-thick duck cutlet that is fried and then smothered in a creamy house-made aioli and a heap of coleslaw, and it calls the sandwich phenomenal. It also warns that this one gets messy, so grab an extra napkin or two before you sit down. The original 2021 review called it the sandwich that gets its writers through any day.

Every banh mi here is dressed the same way underneath the protein. Time Out lists onions, pickled carrots, daikon, cilantro, cucumbers, jalapenos and the cafe's homemade aioli. Jalapenos are part of the standard build, so ask the counter to leave them off if heat is a problem for anyone in your group.

After the duck, the 2026 Infatuation guide points to grilled pork, lemongrass steak and five-spice chicken as the core fillings, and the original review singled out the lemongrass steak as a great sandwich to pair with a Vietnamese iced coffee. Those same marinated meats also come over rice as plates, which is the order to make if someone at your table would rather skip the bread.

If you are staying to eat, look past the sandwiches. 7x7's May 2026 Inner Richmond guide sends readers here for a big bowl of crab pho as well as the duck banh mi, so a table of two can split one of each: the crisp roll for texture, the hot broth for a foggy Clement Street afternoon.

Drinks are where the cafe leans most Vietnamese. The Infatuation pairs the lemongrass steak roll with a Vietnamese iced coffee, strong and sweet over ice, which is the right partner for a salty, herb-heavy roll and an easy thing to carry toward the park.

Bring cash. Google's listing and 7x7's guide both flag Cafe Bunn Mi as cash only, and Wanderlog's summary of Google reviews repeats the warning that cards are not accepted. Google also shows an order-online button for pickup and delivery, but at the counter itself, paper money is the only way to pay, so stop for cash before you get off the 38.

Timing matters more on weekdays than weekends. The doors open at 10 am Monday through Friday, so a 9 am breakfast banh mi only works on Saturday and Sunday, when the cafe opens an hour earlier. Google data shows most visitors spend about 15 minutes inside, and the quieter window is mid-afternoon, between the lunch rush and the dinner pho orders.

One honest skip: if you want a sweet, condensed-milk-heavy coffee, the hot Vietnamese coffee may not be your drink. Reviews summarized on Wanderlog note that some customers found it too bitter and missing the condensed milk they expected, while others liked it. Order the iced version with a sandwich instead, or go with a shake. And do not come before 10 am on a weekday expecting breakfast, since the doors stay shut until then.

The easiest after-lunch stop is across Sixth Avenue at Green Apple Books, 7x7's pick for new and vintage titles on Clement. The store opened in 1967 in a pre-1906 building, absorbed its neighbor Revolver Records in 1996 and by 2005 held more than 250,000 titles. Across Sixth Avenue on the same block, Kamei Restaurant Supply stocks inexpensive tableware and kitchen tools, and Aroma Tea Shop on Sixth Avenue sells loose-leaf tea chosen by its staff.

The Infatuation also lists Cafe Bunn Mi among its spots to grab picnic food near Golden Gate Park, and the walk is straightforward. Head south down Sixth Avenue across Geary Boulevard and keep going until you reach Fulton Street and the park's northern edge. The de Young Museum and the California Academy of Sciences sit in the Music Concourse just inside, so a sandwich on the lawn can come before an afternoon of exhibits.

Plan B for a long line or a cashless wallet: the same 2026 Infatuation guide lists Ilana Coffee further out on Clement Street in the Outer Richmond, a counter-service cafe whose glossy BBQ pork banh mi it praises, and Banh Mi A Mui on Geary Boulevard in Laurel Heights, the former Sing Sing, with a five-sandwich menu led by the special combo. Either is a short ride on the 38 Geary.

Cafe Bunn Mi, 417 Clement St, San Francisco, CA 94118, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues in the Inner Richmond. Hours: Monday to Friday 10 am to 8 pm, Saturday and Sunday 9 am to 8 pm. Cash only. Indoor seating, counter ordering. Muni 38 Geary one block south, 1 California one block north.