Lee’s Sandwiches

Better than Best Baguette!
We used to go to them in Tempe, AZ. Yes it is a chain but independently owned. We were so excited they were opening by us.
Their bread is always fresh. You can buy it by the loaf, fresh every 30 mins.
Their puff pastry with the pork is to die for.
All of their sandwiches are delicious. Their pâté is delicious. Their pickled veggies/​peppers are tangy and crunchy.
I also love their American club sandwich. They don’t over stuff it with anything. It is the right portion of meat, cheese, and veggies.

20April16 @ 11:30am.
Banh Mi — one pork, one chicken.
Nice place inside but we took it to go.
Lots of interesting food stuff in the cases.
both sandwiches were quite good.
prices reasonable.
we will return.

I used to like this place when I visited Los Angeles and Las Vegas. But the Portland and Beaverton locations are not living up to the name. You ask them questions and they give you a little attitude like you’re bothering them. Also, there was only 1 person that ordered in front of me that ordered only 2 sandwiches. When I went to order I was told 10 minutes after I paid for my order of 2 sandwiches. But ended up being 20 minutes! I was like, are you serious?! Last straw. We got our food. This time it was rock solid and barely got any meat. And the avocado smoothie I ordered tasted like protein shake. Didn’t taste anything like avocado. I might give them one more chance. 3 strike rule. This is strike 2!
I never make reviews, but this was just the last straw from this establishment.

The Thai Ice tea is the most disgusting drink I have ever had. It tastes like a shit!

The only thing that anyone should get here is their frozen coffee concentrate. ³⁄₁₀ $. If you get a cup of ice coffee, the serving of coffee in your cup is MAYBE ¼ cup. The rest of your cup is all ice.
Banh mi is better at best baguette. Steam bun crumbled in my hands and the meat filling was mushy.
Macaroons all had a durian hint to them and were not good at all.

Lee’s Sandwiches must be pretty popular for lunch because they were already out of a couple of things I wanted to order by the time I got there at about 2:30 in the afternoon. I figure that maybe their lunchtime crowd had depleted them. I like croissants so I ordered a sandwich on a croissant but, dang, they were out of croissants. No sweat, I know that their baguettes are freshly baked inhouse so I ordered a banh mi sandwich with grilled pork instead. Next I ordered a Coca Cola fountain drink but they were out of Coke too. What?! So I had to «settle» for a bottle of Pepsi instead. When I got my banh mi, the first thing I did was pick the jalapeño out of it.. .in my «confusion» when I couldn’t order a croissant, I forgot to tell them to leave the jalapeño out of my banh mi. OK, with the grilled pork and all the remaining ingredients, it was very tasty. Also the baguette it was on was good and crunchy on the outside and chewy on the inside. With the combination of flavors and textures, I would have to say this was a well executed banh mi. Except for the lack of an ice cold Coke (the «real» thing), my lunch was pretty satisfying.

Good sandwiches, pastries, and so love their Thai iced tea. Very friendly and prompt service as well. Only wish they offered more bubble tea. That would make it perfect to me.:)

They make sandwiches here, fresh bread, smoothies, coffee and cookies. They could use some comfortable chairs, more like lounging chairs.

A co-​worker told me about this place and how he used to visit one in Los Angeles. He had said it was the best place to eat and had the best sandwiches he ever had.
We later found at that there was a location in Portland, and that he was planning to visit the city soon and we decided to make it our destination that day to fulfill his needs for past memories and my introduction to Lee’s Sandwiches.
I had mixed emotions when it came to this place. I had some pluses and some disappointments.
I had the club while there and it was good flavors, but as reviewers stated the bread was hard and did rough up the roof of my mouth. But good flavors. I had two other sandwiches made to take home for the family and to try some of it later. First was the Lee’s Combination which was okay and the grilled chicken won’t be on my list of sandwiches if I were to go back.
My co-​worker had the grilled pork. He liked it, but mentioned that the amount of meat was less than he remembered.
Now on to the beverages. After hearing raves about the iced coffee, I got the mocha. Again just like other reviews, I pretty much paid $ 4+ for a cup of ice. Then I braved to to get a pineapple italian soda to go and the first cup I got had a dead insect in it and they remade it for me. It was delicious, although a bit spendy.
The customer service was non-​existent and made me feel as if I was intruding when asking a question or for extra packet of mustard. The owners are such tight-​wads. They have nothing out for customers to get. Even napkins and straws you have to ask for everything that normal eateries have out for customers.
It’s strange that with so many of the same complaints and poor ratings that they would change to better their products and to make customers satisfied with their choices.

Try the Patachou — a savory pastrie. They make them fresh, we saw them being made in the window and tried the pork. It was wonderfully buttery but with a dimsum-​esch quality to the meat. Like a shu-​mai in puff pastry dough. $ 2.00 each, very filling!
Additionally, I had the sticky rice bowl, which has a quail egg, Chinese sausage and tofu. It was excellent and a super value at less than $ 3.00
The little eggrolls are passable, as is the grilled pork (both in bahnmi and the vermicelli bowl)
This has become a great alternative to Best Baguette due to it being a bit cleaner and comfortable. But w/​o the drive through that makes BB so stinking easy…
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The bahmi, is meaty and not bad for $ 4 I didn’t like the meat as much as some places that grill the pork with lemon grass or fresh to order. They do bake their own bread which is good, but a little different than BB
points for value, service, taste, comfort

Though I am from California and visit often, I have never been to a Lee’s. I had taken note of people carrying bags of the distinctive baguettes to loved ones at airports, however, and wondered. Finally, it arrived and I was able to see for myself.
I am likely spoiled by An Xuyen’s remarkable pastry display and competitive prices. The available pastries and extras here are just mediocre at best. In the evening, it is just dismal. They have their own brand of lap cheung (sausage), which I find curious, but not enough to try. I mean. Why mess with success? The tried and true are awesome, cheap and chock full of red dye, sodium and nitrates already. Do I really need the corporate version?
The banh mi themselves didn’t offer anything to me other places didn’t. I wasn’t wowed by fast food competitive prices. The sandwich itself was forgettable and drowning in Lee’s™ mayonnaise that you could purchase separately in little cups in the fridge. Just in case that’s your jam (or sauce), I guess.
What I WAS courted with were these weirdly addictive and cheap baguettes. When I stumbled upon them warm, I was truly lucky. I have since gone out of my way just to purchase hot from the oven crisp-​on-​the-​outside-​soft-​in-​the-​center nutritionally void corporate baguettes for ridiculously cheap.
Thanks Lee’s. That’ll do.

Came here from California, a land FULL of Lee’s Sandwiches. My friend that lives in Portland wanted to stop by this place because they had buy a sandwich and get a coffee for free.
While walking inside, my friend’s first complaint was that it was too hot and that there was no air conditioning. My friends ordered sandwiches and it had A LOT of butter. The butter tasted good, nonetheless. My other friend ordered the spring rolls, 2 for $ 3.99. The spring rolls took wayyyy too long to make. My friends all finished their sandwiches before my friend got his spring rolls.
Overall, not bad. I never eat Lee’s back at home but having it here was better than I remembered.

Ok sooo I am coming from the bay area where Lee’s is like a staple. This is a pretty new one and oh my gosh! It’s the nicest Lee’s sandwich EVER.
everything is brand new, really clean, and not very Vietnamese. They even have «European» Sandwiches on the menu! WHa?
They have the regular Lee’s stuff with sandiwches: pâté, pickled veggies (daikon and carrot), aioli mayo, jalapeño, etc. The sandwich was of decent size, but it was kind of expensive for a Viet sandwich. There wasn’t that much meat but it wasn’t the least amount I’ve had before.
They have other types of Viet desserts and plates like spring rolls and noodles there as well, I unfortunately didn’t get to try but maybe I’ll go back and try!

I came here just for the coffee and it was as great as the concentrated stuff I buy I Costco lol… Didn’t buy their sandwiches cause the cousin told me they weren’t good.

PROS
In almost every category do I prefer this Vietnamese bakery specialty over any other. The Café Sua Da is not iced down like at so many places. The savory pastries are not too flaky, and the sandwiches are scrumptious. They offer a nice selection in their take home section, go for the box of egg rolls for $ 14.
CONS
The Beignets (3 for $ 1) were weak. And the breakfast egg and cheese on croissant was terrible, very fast food-​like.
Best Baguette does have the Drive-​thru so that’s where they one-​up Lee’s. Friendly service and clean environment

A chain for bahn mis? I can’t say that I’d heard of Lee’s prior to walking in but they have stores in California, Colorado and Texas to name a few states. Bahn mis have always been in one off stores with just Vietnamese families usually running the business. I’ve been to An Xuyen, Bihn Mihn a few other local places and love the food out of all of them. So how does a company with 55 stores compare? Surprisingly pretty good.
House made mayo? Check. House made pickled carrots and daikon? Check. A 12″ French bread roll? Check. I was quite surprised, pleasantly at that. You even have the option of getting regular sandwiches like turkey or roast beef (they refer to those as European sandwiches) There’s even a mini grocery store of sorts where you can purchase Vietnamese sausages, coffee, the house made mayo, desserts, bread and other ethnic items.
As for my bbq pork sandwich? It was really good. All of the above mentioned items, plus cilantro, jalapenos, salt, pepper and a splash of soy sauce. The last being different from other bahn mis I have had in PDX. The roll was a bit sturdier than some of the one off places and nice and crispy. There was plenty of pork and lots of crunchy veggies. The price was very much in line for this type of food and and the fried banana I got to accompany was really tasty as well. The two together was barely $ 5.
I keep finding new food up and down 82^nd. If you folks living in inner Portland or over on the west side haven’t found your way out to here, you should. You’re missing out on some great Asian cuisine.
Enjoy.

Their sandwiches are pretty bomb for just less than $ 4. I wish the ones in Chicago would be less expensive.
Grilled Pork — I wish I gotten this one instead. My boyfriend had this one and he killed that sandwich. It was pretty good from that one bite I had a chance to take.
Lee’s Combination Special — It was good but nothing compared to the grilled pork. I always get the combination specials when I get banh mi and this one was pretty meaty, which is not a bad thing.
Pork & Shrimp Eggrolls — These were pretty bomb, just like how momma makes them.
The service was quick and friendly.
The baguette is pretty different from what I’m used to trying. It’s harder in texture compared to the banh mi’s in Chicago but I guess that’s what makes them unique. It was an intriguing experience.

Still wonderful at most of the food and the great service. Wonderful pastries, Thai tea, and all of the lake. Only complaint was that the Banh Mi was lacking a bit on the fixings. I feel like a bit more vegetables and cilantro on the inside would be a little bit better than what I got. It definitely wasn’t the same as last time. Still willing to give this place more chances though!

I love Lees!!! I drove 3 hours to portland from Seattle just for their amazingly to die for original ice coffee! This location is very modernize, clean and very easy to find.

Do not banh mi
until I’ve had me
Liver on bread
and a sammich from Lee’s
They spread the liver thick
so you can masticate it quick
Many hued pastels greet you
But the pork will defeat you
Paul McCartney covers blare
From a casio keyboard there
Wings are juicy, warm and breaded
As the Rasta’s locks are long and dreaded
Rocking rolls for your mouth
Rockin rolls for your rolls
Rolls 4 yo mutha’ rolls 4 yo trolls
pâté in a can, will steal your soul