lee's sandwiches

lee's sandwiches serve up a mighty fine franco-vietnamese sandwich. rarely is there a day that i drive through okc’s asian district and not see a ton of cars in the parking lot of the ever-popular restaurant lee’s sandwiches.

sure, there are other sandwich places within view (one that is the biggest chain in the world and features a formerly fat man named jared as their spokesman) of lee’s, but their parking lots aren’t nearly as full.

to me, that’s always a good sign. clearly lee’s sandwiches – a vietnamese fast-food chain - has a good reputation. i’d been once before and found it to be pretty good. and since i was in the neighborhood doing a story on the chinese new year (year of the goat) celebrations, lee’s seemed like a quick place to grab a banh mi sandwich, a sort of franco-vietnamese sandwich feaured on a baguette.

for me, having given up meat for lent, i went for the “number 12” vegetarian sandwich. complete with fried tofu, vermicelli, bean curd, yam, carrot, house pickle, jalapeno, cilantro, salt & pepper, and soy sauce, i took one bite and smiled. by the time i was dune, crunching through the lightly-toastedbaguetteand all the goodness inside, i thought it was the best vegetarian sandwich i’d ever had. and while i had a special brothy soup (with other vegetable ingredients to add as needed), it was the sandwich that was the focus of my delicious lee's meal. i should add that lee's is very generous with their portions. you definitely get what you pay for.

the interior is well-lit and clean. the staff is friendly and helpful and there is plenty of seating and even a few seats outside.

the san jose, california-based chain, with shops in california, of course, along with oklahoma, nevada, oregon, texas and arizona, has proven very successful here in okc, with its sizable asian population and non-asians who have happily discovered the tasty fare that lee’s has to offer.

in line, you pass by packaged goodies from foreign and domestic sources – candy and cookies, etc. – and coolers full of healthy and less-healthy beverages and soft drinks. essentially, the options are many.

and despite being an out-of-state chain, lee’s takes community – and the idea of “think globally, act locally” - very seriously. they regularly raise funds for victims of hurricanes and typhoons, either in north america or in asia.

for more information go to www.leesandwiches.com or visit the oklahoma city location at 3300 n. classen blvd.

great variety of yummy food, and great prices.. why did it take us so long to stop here? now that we have found it, we are going twice a week for the sandwiches (either onbaguetteor croissant, both wonderful) and are going to work our way through the menu. today i had the pate chaud--a meat pie surrounded with flaky pastry crust. less than $2.00 each, they are very satisfying. the only thing so far i haven't really liked is the crab rangoon--its hard to find ones that aren't sweet, except in a couple of chinese restaurants here in the city. i like them savory, and lee's are slightly sweet, although not as sweet as some i've had. always check out the cheap specials!

good. since saigonbaguetteclosed i have been going to lee's. it is good, but not the best i have tasted. the avocado shake was rather wimpy. i think they were being stingy with the avocado for this shake. i am sure they have something there that i will love, so will keep trying their different dishes.

great vietbaguettesandwich. i grew up with the original lee's down the street in california. my family would grab some pork sandwiches before every fishing trip great memories! seeing a lee's in this city brings me delight. lunches, croissants, iced coffee is just great. enjoy!

bestbaguettein town. it's crusty, chewy, tasty. i know my baguettes, and this pretty good.

traded banh mis with my mother, who liked my experimental selection as much as i liked her choice of bbq pork. the oklahoma gullet might see a skinny, insubstantial thing, but it's a filling and flavorful sandwich. i'd like more zip and crunch from the veggies, but as long as i can snag a freshbaguetteor two to take home, i'm happy.

this place probably looks less "threatening" for the non-asian diner than the itty bitty saigonbaguettedown the street, but i'm letting you know to skip it. bread was very hard and meats didn't have any flavor. veggies (carrots in particular) were cut way too large and from the dirty taste, not peeled.

i ordered a daily special of beef stew and a baguette. the bread was really, really good, and it was huge. the stew… not so much. it was in a thick gravy. the taste was an herb i didn’t recognize. raegan said it was coriander. i did not like it. the stew consisted of big chunks of carrots and beef. the beef was tough and tasteless, stringy, and had a lot of fat. i tossed it after having about 1/3 of it. it takes a lot for me to toss food. thebaguettecame home with us, so we can have it with dinner.

mmm. everything is good and cheap, you can do a 3 course feast for $10. thebaguetteis perfect and it's super fun to watch the machine going in the morning. yum gelato and they make good effort to cut down on the language barrier.

tasty bang for your buck. a fast food take on that franco-vietnamese classic, the bánh mỳ (baguette sandwich).

great selection of vietnamese sweet and savory dishes, too.

very reasonable prices.

now, imho, there are other bánh mỳ places in town that have better quality baguettes to offer. the machine-made ones at lee's lack the flakiness of baguettes at other places in town, not to mention those in other cities and abroad.

still, what do you expect for $2.00 to $3.00 plus tax? this place, while not perfect, is an incredibly cheap place to fill up on good quality food.

by the way, you'll need to ask to have your jalapeños, your cilantro and white radishes and carrots removed from your sandwich if you don't like them, as they're standard on all bánh mỳ. trust me, though -- leave them be. they're incredibly good.


-----19 mar, 2010-----

vietnamese tradition meets fast food. a fast food chain take on the classic bánh mì (vietnamesebaguettesandwich), with other goodies on hand.

i'll be candid -- there are better bánh mì shops in town. i especially like saigonbaguetteand -- even better yet -- the lunch counter at super cao nguyễn. still, lee's has good quality sandwiches and, better yet, a wide array of vietnamese pastries and ice creams.

lee's is also a good place to take those unfamiliar with vietnamese food, as it's colorful, exceedingly clean and (of course) equipped with a state of the art, glassed in, automatedbaguettemaking operation that's actually fun to watch in action.

stopped by on a whim, and i'm so glad i did! they serve the tastiest breakfast sandwiches i've ever had! i normally hate breakfast sandwiches because they're so greasy, but the ham, egg and cheese on abaguettewas perfect. after reading the other reviews, i think i may go back for lunch to try some of the more exotic options. great prices and the entire shop is sparkling clean.

fresh fast & cheap. get the pork with extra pork on a crustybaguettewith viet veggies & a thai tea smoothie with tapioca and you're good to go!

cheap tasty sandwiches!. you can get a really decent sandwich for cheap at lee's! i couldn't believe my turkey, ham, and cheese (with mayo, lettuce, and tomato) on a fresh 10"baguettewas only $3.45! as my date commented upon first bite, thebaguettehas a great crusty crunch, but starts to melt in your mouth! i tried the manjoo things some others mentioned on here, which i would liken to a little twinkie. i didn't particularly like them as the sweet bread was dense and tasted stale, but to be fair, they were sold out of the fresh ones and we had to try the day-old ones. and if i remember correctly, you can get a bag of day-old baguettes for just $1.15.

always solid. lee's is a great place for lunch if you work in the classen area. it is very cheap and you can always get your food quickly. you must have cash. they have an atm, but it has a high fee. there is a 7-11 around the corner though.

my favorite is the grilled pork, although the chicken and vegetarian are quite good as well.

at its best, saigonbaguettemakes a better banh mi sandwich, but lee's has a bigger selection and is more consistent. of course it is slightly more expensive, and is a national chain, so if you prefer to eat at locally owned restaurants, stick with saigon.

the only thing i would not recommend are the non-vietnamese sandwiches, such as the ham and cheese. the quality of the cheese is sub-par at best, and they will be particularly disappointing if you are expecting a french-stylebaguettesandwich. stick with the banh mi and you'll be good to go.

nice addition to okc. when this place first opened we stopped by and found the food to be very good. a slight variation on the normal "sandwich" shop. they have a lot of different types of foods from the plain ole ham and cheese on a freshbaguetteto several different viet-thai sandwiches and drinks.

a favorite for the north classen area.