Balo Vietnamese Eatery

So I would have taken some great pictures but everything went in our Bellies so fast!
This is a small eatery across from the passport offices. Super fast friendly service. And thee best salads and sandwiches. The menu is simple straightforward and everything is great!
No phó soup but I promise you won’t miss it try something new.

Nothing not to like here. Sandwiches are good sized. Not too big, not too small, and jam packed with flavor.
Service was fast and with a smile.
I need to go back and try a few more sandwiches because some of the flavors look fantastic. 5spice chicken? Coconut curry chicken? As the Governator said, I’ll be back.

Open 11:30 to 3:30, this is a great quick and fresh lunch spot. Balo’s lemongrass pork vermicelli noodle bowl is delish and light, and the curry coconut chicken banh mi is spicy! Just wish there was more meat to fill me up. But for the way reasonable prices, simple menu, and fresh ingredients, I will come back.
Call ahead if you’re ordering to go and it’ll be about a 10 min wait.

Excellent grilled chicken Banh Mi sandwich. Roll had just the right level of crunch. Chicken was perfectly cooked and all ingredients were fresh.
Service was fast and friendly. Most people ordering got their sandwich to go, but there was about 5 small tables in the event you wanted to eat there.

Sometimes you want more than just a sandwich. Luckily, they do. Which is what I have to remind myself when I come here.
I often make the mistake of getting the sandwiches, which are yummy. They’re a bit lighter on the meat compared to other spots in the neighborhood, though my non-​meat eating pals say there’s no similar issue with them.
The vermicelli bowls are my main takeaways from here. Totally enough of everything to satisfy and it’s super fresh.

This Vietnamese shop have the best pork vermicelli bowl. Compared to other places, this one is Always fresh. Even though the place is very small, the food is delicious. I like how the women all wear SF Giants caps. They are hip. The Only bad thing is that they are closed by 3:00pm.

As other reviewers suggested, the portion is by no means comparable to Saigon and the price is a bit higher. However, it does carry more variety of Banh Mi and also has a place to sit.
My friend and I ordered the coconut curry chicken and shaking beef sandwiches. Both were pretty good but neither of us got full.

Went by lunch time. Ordered pork and Five spice Chicken both without jalapeño. I like their bread is not hard as SS. Decent food but portion is small otherwise nice place for quick lunch.

A coworker suggested I tried this place as an alternate to Saigon Sandwich. The place has a few tables so you can actually eat in and it’s somewhat pleasant and clean for the area. I ordered the Five spice chicken to go.
The sandwich was ok at $ 4.50. There is no shortage of meat, but half of it had too much jalapeño so I was left with burning mouth close to the end. The seasoning on the chicken was pretty tasty but it didn’t really blow me away. Bread was good but smaller than SS.
I suppose I would like this place better if the other place is not a block away. I would guess if you want to have more options for your sandwich and/​or if you want to eat in, check this place out. Otherwise, walk the extra block and pay less for much better banh mi.

The pork vermicelli is really good, they have really good spring rolls as well, they can get crowded at lunch time but they are quick to get you out the door fast. Price wise is typical to the area about $ 10 dollars with a drink. I haven’t tried their sandwiches yet but they look good, I will next time I comeback which should be sometime next week.

Rumors were right. This place is good. I ordered balo special sandwich and i was not dissapointed at all. I want more! Better than Lee’s sandwich… the only difference is that they don’t serve sardines sandwich here lol. This will be my lunch again tomorrow definitely!

A co-​worker and I came here to pick up some food. I was craving a Banh Mi and this place looked good, by Unilocal standards.
We walked it and it definitely looked clean. There were a few small tables in the back, but this place looks like a place to just take your food to-​go.
There are several types of Banh Mi’s and I got the Shaking Beef. The pictures up on the menu had me salivating before we even left the restaurant.
As someone mentioned here before, the meat was definitely lacking! The bread was definitely crisp and crunchy, but that left the top roof of my mouth raw. I even turned the sandwich upside down to bite the bottom of the sandwich, but it still hurt. The meat didn’t taste like any shaking beef I’ve had before, it was tasteless.
My co-​worker got the beef noodle bowl and hers looked really good. The dish itself looked to be a good portion, but according to her, the meat serving was also very small.

5÷26÷14 Lunch
Any sandwich with chicken here is a winner. The pork ones are okay, not as good as Saigon Sandwich down the street. If you have to order pork, get the Grilled Lemongrass Pork and not the BBQ Pork.
The Coconut Chicken ($ 4.50) is so delicious. Shreds of chicken were cooked in coconut sauce and filled the crispy baguette to the brim with pickled carrots, daikons and all the goodies that come with a Vietnamese sandwich. Five-​Spice Chicken ($ 4.25) is the bomb. Tender shreds of chicken simmered and marinated in five-​spice, with carrots, pâté, mayo, cilantro and jalapeño. It’s the right amount of condiment so the sandwich is still crunchy and crispy.
Balo is only open on weekdays, and only for lunch. They must have a snappy lunch business. It’s all family and they are very friendly. Mom and grandma are peeling carrots and pickling daikons as they prepare food, which explains why everything is so fresh. Next time to try is Shaking Beef.

It’s two or three stars if you eat in, so take it to go and bump it up to four, OK?
The line and people waiting for their orders can be intimidating, but just make your selection, tell the woman, and think about how little money you’re spending on delicious food.
This is a great jury-​duty lunch option.

NOTE TO SELF:
Next time you are craving some Spring Rolls, just fork out the extra $ 1.45 for decent spring rolls that contain whole prawns and fresh ingredients.
1 star seems to be brutal, most especially the folks at this place are always super-​nice. However, I am pissed! I am still hungry right now and I do not have enough time to get an extra lunch before my meeting. And I am still freaking hungry.
For $ 5, Balo’s spring rolls are anorexic with 1 skinny shrimp each sliced thin in half in each roll. You get 3 skinny rolls with a little bit of noodles, lettuce and bitter sprouts that are past their prime.
C’mon, folks. I used to be a fan. I totally understand that part about having to make a profit and to cut cost but I have seen how your prices have gone up while quality has suffered over the years.
I love how Balo is clean, fast and convenient. However, there are so many places out there on Larkin where I can get decent lunch for a little more change — Mangosteen, Turtle Tower, and Phở 2000 among the few.

I love the Balo rolls. For $ 5, this is a nutritious meal full of greens, cilantro, apples, mango, noodles and meat. The dipping sauce is delicious. The two rolls come with a pork roll and a shrimp roll. They’re always fresh. It’s quick. The service is friendly. For $ 5, it’s a healthy, filling lunch. Sandwich and rolls is a bit too much food, even for a big appetite.
I’ve tried the sandwiches a few times. They’re good. I’ve only tried the two chicken options, and I’d like to try the Shaking Beef and the Combo soon. It’s not my favorite Banh Mi, but it’s one of the better for the neighborhood.
Overall, clean, quick service. Good value. Not a bad place to sit and eat, although I usually go over to the Federal Building public space. BTW — If you check in on Unilocal,you get a free soda.

I wanted to get a light bite, and mix it up from the usual Saigon Sandwiches, so I stopped by Balo nearby.
I ordered the Shaking Beef Bahn Mi (~$ 5) — the flavors and quality seem better than Saigon, I noticed a strong garlic flavor and grilled onions. Somehow, I left hungrier than I came in… it needed more meat, more crunch, more mayo, more of everything really. Of course, it’s still far better than Lee’s.
Because their ingredients and flavors seem higher quality, I would probably return for a noodle bowl or combination spring rolls ($ 5). But if you’re looking for a good bahn mi, I would stick with Saigon Sandwiches.
Note: They have Square and now take credit cards.

Sorry Saigon Sandwiches, I cheated on you, twice.
The first time, I was lazy to walk one more block. It was my first time passing by since its opening. And I got sucked in by the Giants cap-​wearing employees and offerings of dirty chips and lollipops.
The Balo combo banh mi was pretty much a pork combo. I thought the pork and the overall sandwich was dry. Also, I like my bread toasted. For about $ 5, I didn’t think it was that great.
The 2^nd time, my friend wanted to try it out. I had the shaking beef banh mi. Darn it, it was good. The beef was sliced instead of cubed, making it easier to eat in a sandwich. It was saucy and tasty. I would come back just for this.
Still, like my bread toasted though!

Last week I went in for my tofu vermicelli bowl (heh heh. I love it) and remembered to ask for no cilantro. While I mentioned it to a friend that works in my building, she told me of a new mango apple salad.
HOLD UP.
Mango apple salad? SAY WHAT?! That’s like 2 of my favorite fruits. And in a Viet salad? Okay, I need to try this.
We made an attempt to grab lunch at Balo together but I ended up packing leftovers from dinner, woopsie. She still went out and got the mango apple salad and let me try it. I found myself asking her for more and more.
Well!
Today we went to Balo and I got my own dang mango apple salad! It’s seasonal, so if you’re in the area give it a shot before it disappears off the menu. For $ 6 you get a takeout box (the big clear ones, not the Chinese boxes) of sliced mangoes, green apple, carrots, green and red bell peppers, mint, basil, hot mint, and sliced pork and shrimp with a container of lime fish sauce. If you want extra sauce, it’s an additional 51 cents.
The mango apple salad is very light and refreshing! The tangy lime fish sauce pairs so well with all the other flavor elements of sweet, spicy, earthy. I can see why they offer additional fish sauce for 51 cents. It’s pretty damn good. I am a big fan of their fish sauce. Just one was enough for me but I can foresee myself ordering extra sauce in the future.

Nobody likes a skinny b*tch.
You know, the size 00 beezie that can go to a buffet, polish off plate after plate of crab, lobster, fried chicken, ribs, fried rice, chow fun, dim sum then two trays of dessert and leave without a pouch. I, on the other hand, have my triple muffin top spilling out of my spanx like hot lava after one plate of… sushi. UGH.
Just as no one like a skinny b*tch, no one likes a skinny sandwich either. Well, I sure as hell don’t. I don’t know if it’s because Balo is in the TL or if they were having an «off day» but my Shaking Beef Banh Mi ($ 5) looked straight cracked out.
Although the bread was crunchy and light, there was literally 5 anorexic strips of beef in my banh mi. One bite from each half caused me to pull out all the strips then I was left with bread and minimal veggies. Overall a bland banh mi, the «shaking» beef was lacking that savory sweet garlicky lemon pepperiness and the pickled veggies could have used more of an acidic punch.
According to my haters, I’m a b*tch on Unilocal (my apologies that you don’t get my sarcasm) so I’m going to show you just how nice I can be. I’ll give Balo a generous 3 stars in hopes that they get their banh mi in a 12 step program and feed it a burger or two.
OTHER NOTES:
*Gluten-​Free and MSG-​Free
*8 Banh Mis on the menu ($ 4-​$ 5):
*Bun (Cold Vermicelli Noodles) and Goi Cuon (Spring Rolls) also available
*Super clean with several tables for sitting
*CASH ONLY