Bale Returns to Linda Vista

**** Bale has closed (yet again)

Well it took them awhile but Bale has returned to Linda Vista for a third time, this time in the space formerly occupied by Toan Ky, LV Sandwiches, and Le's.....sheesh, this location doesn't have that great of a track record, huh? Anyway, the place reopened on August 25th, a few days later the mercury was telling me that a banh mi might not be a bad idea.

Man, the place was just besieged by older Vietnamese women.....who were giving the two young ladies total hell. A lot had to do with the sign in the front.

Apparently, folks read the sign that said "Buy 1 Sandwich Get One Free...." and stopped there without reading the "coffee or Thai tea" part of the sign. In some ways I don't blame them. They could have written the sign a bit better. Anyway, when I stepped up to the counter the girls asked me if I understood the sign and I said yes. They could not understand why folks were just reading the first couple of words......I explained that many times we see what we want. Also, they were catching hell in Vietnamese, so obviously English was not the primary language here. The young ladies could not for the life of them understand...meanwhile, a woman stepped in front of me and gave the girls a piece of her mind! Yikes! I mentioned that perhaps they could let the manager or the owner take care of the irate customers....the two girls looked at me like I had lost my mind! Well then, what can I say????

Anyway, the prices looked pretty good, sandwiches ranged from $2.95 to $3.45. I decided to just get the Dac Biet (the special - $3.45):

 

 

A bit different from my previous experiences with Bale in San Diego, this place used the longer baguette instead of the standard issue banh mi. This meant less bread, more crust, which, though not as good as Cali Baguettte Express, was flakey enough for me. Bale has a long history of toasting the bread to death, not so in this case either. The pickled vegetables were on the bland side, but there was a good amount of pate smeared on the sandwich and just the right amount of mayo. Proportion matters and I found the thin slices of protein to be sufficient. Not bad at all.....

That Thursday I was at the Linda Vista Farmer's Market and did some shopping at Thuan Phat. It was pretty hot so I thought I'd grab another banh mi. I guess convenience is playing on the side of Bale here. It being about 4pm, the place was fairly empty. This time I went for defatted pork sausage - Cha Lua ("Pork Bologna on the menu - $2.95):

 

This time the bread was a little old for my taste...kind of chewy and not as crusty. Also, a bit too much mayo and hardly any pickled vegetables....which, based on the blandness wasn't really missed too much. Nice pate, which was about all of the flavor, except for the cilantro and jalapenos which were pretty hot this time around. Not good, not terrible......

I did take a look at the sit down menu......but I think I'll do that when the weather gets a bit cooler.....

Anyway, this past week, I had to run and buy some rice. Not really for us, but for Da' Boyz who eat rice with every meal....we hardly consume rice anymore. There's something wrong in the world when my dogs are consuming Three Ladies or Buddha brand jasmine rice!

On this visit, I noticed that the new deal was "Buy 2 Sandwiches, get 1 Free"....I felt much better for the poor young ladies....this time it was pretty cut and dried. Then I stepped in and took a look at the prices for sandwiches.....

What the heck? All sandwiches had gone up by about 10-12% in two weeks? All the $2.95 sandwiches were now $3.39. The $3.45 sandwiches were now $3.69. The BBQ Beef had been $2.95 and was now $3.69......this time, I don't blame customers for getting a bit upset. It is "only" 20 to 40 cents or so.....but it just doesn't seem right to raise prices so quickly....2 weeks?

Speaking of upset, I ordered a Dac Biet and got this instead.....

Whatever, at least it was same priced sandwich.

Tell you what though....I'm not going back for a while.

Bale Restaurant and Deli
6925 Linda Vista Road
San Diego, CA 92111

 

Comments

[Food detective]

You must try Teo's Sandwich in Santa Ana! It's across from a "coffee" place. More on that later.

[kat]

:(

[caninecologne]

bummer about that place.

[Kirk]

LOL TFD......I think I know where you're going with this one....

Hi Kat - Yes, kind of sad...

Hi CC - The location is great.....what's going on, at least what I've seen, not so great.

[Janfrederick]

So you are going to bail on Bale? Sounds like the rest of San Diego will too. Time for another name change. Perhaps "Green Bowl" is up for grabs. ;)

[Kirk]

LOL Jan......maybe for the time being.

[alnc]

I was in Linda Vista yesterday and stopped by Bale. Lousy sandwich--dry, sparse piece of nothingness. Sorry I didn't read this sooner.

[MrZ]

As my dad would say, that location has bad fung shui.

[Kirk]

Hi alnc - Yeah, the first sandwich was not bad.....but the next two were just not very good.

Hi MrZ - I think your Dad may be right....