K Sandwiches - What a Difference 2 Months Makes

Way back in July, I posted on the impending opening of K Sandwiches. On August 25th, this shop on the corner of Mesa College and Linda Vista road finally opened. Driving by, I could not believe the amount of people standing in line for Banh Mi. My Buddy Jack, mentioned something like a 30 minute wait, for Banh Mi!?! So we waited a week, and finally made our way there during the first week of September.

With it's bright facade, and menu offerings, 'K' seems to have alot in common with the Lee's Sandwiches chain that is slowly making it's way all across the Western United States. Hmmm....

On this day, the front of the restaurant was packed. But even though there were many customers, there seemed to be even more Employees! Most of which were standing(leaning), giggling, and generally loafing teenagers. I even saw one of the Girls write down a telephone number on a napkin, and hand it to a Young Man buying a sandwich, with the words "Call Me" scrawled along the top. What was even more surprising, was that she immediately turned around, and without putting on gloves, started to make sandwiches.....

I placed our order, and we had time to check out everything while we waited. Along with the sandwich menu; K serves up Boba-type drinks/tea, bakes their own baquettes and croissants, and also has hot table dishes for purchase.

We ordered 3 sandwiches in total. The first we tried was the BBQ Chicken ($1.99):

The chicken in the sandwich was very tasty, though the rest of the sandwich disappointed me. The crust of the bread was slightly crusty, but not crusty enough for me. There was a very small amount of Ca-rot(pickled veggies), that consisted only of radish, and no carrots? The cilantro was mostly stems, which can be annoying when you eat it. The thin julienned slices of green chilies were nice and hot, though all crowded to the middle of the sandwich.

The Deluxe (Dac Biet-$2.45)

consisted of  3 meats; basically what looked like a sausage, ham, and the Viet "pate". Again the same monotonic "garnishes"(but there was one piece of carrot in there), but this time the cilantro was piled on one side of the sandwich. Ditto for the bread.

The third sandwich we ordered was the BBQ Pork ($1.99):

The pork was very tasty, both slightly sweet, salty, and teriyaki-ish in taste, though there were too many pieces of tough connective tissue, that were really inedible. Again, the "one-note" pickled vegetables. In the end, it seemed that though the sandwiches were a bargain; the result was mediocre. It didn't help that both the Missus and I got somewhat ill after eating here. I attribute that to the lack of hygenic supervision, and inexperienced Teens putting together the sandwiches. If Lee's/K are trying to be the McDonalds of Vietnamese Food, they sure are on their way....

One really great thing about 'K', is that they open at 6am in the morning. Banh Mi, for breakfast anyone? So this past week, I decided to drop by 'K', and grab a sandwich. Things were alot calmer then on my previous visit, and the cashier and the person making the sandwich were quite professional and competent.

I ordered the Vegetarian ($1.99):

The bread was nice and crusty, much better then on my previous visit. And look, you can make out some carrots, even! The shreds of fried tofu were fairly tasty, though everything was piled to one side of the sandwich. The cilantro was mostly leaves, and the peppers were nice and hot. Not bad for 2 bucks.

In fact, I visited 'K' again this week, and picked up "breakfast" for a couple of people, and again got the Dac Biet:

There seemed to be alot more meat then before, as well as alot more pickles. It was pretty good, though I enjoy, Bale and Cafe Dore' more. But for the price, you can't complain. Also, I just found out that extra "pickles" can be requested at no charge. I also measured the sandwich, and it came in at almost exactly 10 inches. That's a pretty long sandwich! The service and food were much better during these last two visits. Two months sure can make a big difference!

K Sandwiches
7604 Linda Vista Rd
San Diego, CA 92111
Mon-Sat 6am-9pm
Sun 8am-8pm

Comments

[JS]

How funny. We both have reviews of K Sandwiches today.

Are you following me around?

[elmomonster]

A Lee's clone eh? Doesn't sound too bad. More banh mi is better than too few, I always say.

[milgwimper]

Kirk,

Hmmm Jo and I had just had Bahn Mi yesterday for lunch. The second visit pictures looks better. I am not impressed with Lee Sandwhiches. I will have to keep my eyes peeled for K sanwhiches. Thanks

[clare eats]

OOoh Bahn Mi!!!!

mmmmmm it is lunch time,

ACK now I have a craving!!!

[Kirk]

Hi JS - Wow, let me check...wow, that's funny, I pre-scheduled this to post on Sunday - what are the odds. I should ask you the same, didn't we have a little Chowhound post on 09/12?

http://www.chowhound.com/california/boards/california/messages/25579.html
hehehe - wait I need my commission! LOL!

Hi elmo - Forgot to mention, no mayo on the Banh Mi type sandwiches. There were some "rumors" that this place was put on the "fast-track" when it was thought that Lee's was going to open in San Diego! More intrigue...

Hi Mills - If you had Lee's, I think you've had K's.

Hi Clare - Oh-uh Banh Mi attack, you'll need to take care of that ASAP.

[ed]

Hey that last dac biet looks pretty tasty - a lot of meats. I could sure use a banh me joint closer than 180 miles.

[Kirk]

Hi Ed - Maybe we need to replace that 180 miles to San Diego sign with 180 miles to Banh Mi!!!!

[Rachel]

Wow banh mi here for around $2 are unheard of. They start at $3.5 :( Hope Aus isn't going the way of europe in the way of expensive food. And the banh mi here are all about 6-8 inches long only *sigh* I think I would be happy even with K or Lees here (cowra). Some banh mi is better than none. Also we don't have that many different kinds. We only have pork, chicken of veg only and the veg has no tofu things only the pickels, cucumber, lettuce. I really need to move to the US. My tastebuds are demanding it.

LOL I need a sign too as to how many kms to Banh Mi :)
Hehe I liked how you put the photo of the ruler in for evidence. Its kinda like CSI ;)

Sounds like you've got a pretty cool job. Very important too it sounds like. Do you enjoy it?

[Rachel]

Wow banh mi here for around $2 are unheard of. They start at $3.5 :( Hope Aus isn't going the way of europe in the way of expensive food. And the banh mi here are all about 6-8 inches long only *sigh* I think I would be happy even with K or Lees here (cowra). Some banh mi is better than none. Also we don't have that many different kinds. We only have pork, chicken of veg only and the veg has no tofu things only the pickels, cucumber, lettuce. I really need to move to the US. My tastebuds are demanding it.

LOL I need a sign too as to how many kms to Banh Mi :)
Hehe I liked how you put the photo of the ruler in for evidence. Its kinda like CSI ;)

Sounds like you've got a pretty cool job. Very important too it sounds like. Do you enjoy it?

[Kirk]

Hi Rachel - Most Banh Mi are around $2.50(US - I'm going to start having to post like Reid from now on). So let's see how Km to Banh Mi from Sydney? Most Banh Mi here are about the same length as in your neck of the woods. I was just wondering how long it really was. My work is fine, not really important, I've been doing this "type" of work either as a prgorammer or Consultant for about 16 years now.

[Candice]

Hi Kirk - maybe I'll have to give K Sandwiches another chance. I was there about a month ago and was disappointed in the quality of the bread. I bought a loaf to take home and it was mealy and mushy. I wasn't impressed with the filling either - although I didn't expect much for $2!

[Kirk]

Hi Candice - Can't really hurt to try it again. So long you don't have to go out of your way. After all, in this day and age, you could spend more for gas then your sandwich.

[Annie]

did you ever get sick again after the first visit?? food poisoning is a big no-no for me!

[Kirk]

Hi Annie - It wasn't food poisoning, no emesis, no nausea, just the other thing....you know, right? LOL!

[Rachel]

Lots of Banh mi in Sydney kirk, sory about the double post. Not sure what happened. Just no banh mi in rural Cowra (306 kms from sydney) but you start to see a distinct lack of banh mi anywhere form 40 kms out of sydney :(

[Jack]

Sounds like my second visit...very much improved over the first. I didn't know about the 6am opening - that's good to know.

[Kirk]

Hi Rachel - Don't worry about it. I'll fix it when I have a chance. So 266 Km to Banh Mi....

Hey Jack - Banh Mi, it's not just for breakfast anymore! :o)

[Pam]

Hey Kirk,

I love that you have the blue plastic ruler with the tape around the middle measuring the bahn mi! Classic!

[Kirk]

Hi Pam - I was looking for a pocket-protector and a compass, but couldn't find one!

[Reid]

Hi Kirk,

I had my favorite lemongrass chicken bahn mi at Ba-Le today. These options look a bit more interesting though. I think I'm going to try something new the next time I'm at Ba-Le. It's nice to know that places like this are getting better as serving their customers.

[Kirk]

Hi Reid - On your next trip to the Mainland, maybe you should give Lee's a try....they're trying to become the McDonalds, or L&L ;o) of Viet Food, and there are varying opinions of how "good" they are.

[EmYeuAnh]

I luv banh mi so much and when i started going to Ksandwich i lyk, eat it everyday!! banh mi rox!~ too bad i hate boba tea. lol.

Trang

[Kirk]

Hi EmYeuAnh - Glad you enjoy 'K'.

[Vi]

I personally know the owners and from what they told me they had people from Lee's train them on how to make the bread since they knew the owners of Lee's. And at first they were originally going to be a chain store of Lee's but decided against it. So that would account for all the similarities between the two.

[Kirk]

Hi Vi - Thanks for the info - I've been asking about the connection, and who the Owners of K were, but never got any good answers.