Huong Lan Banh Mi

I only come here for the banh mi — buy 5 and get the 6^th one free.
Although there are a handful of place in Duluth to get banh mi, this is my favorite place to get them. I love the grilled pork banh mi and appreciate that this place does not skimp on the amount they give you. Other places where I’ve noticed this have lost my business (ahem, Quoc Huong).
This place is in the same plaza as Assi on Pleasant Hill, with plenty of parking out front. It’s closed on Wednesdays. I would not recommend this place for a date or anything intimate as the décor is minimal and stark. It’s not a cozy place and there are only 2 or 3 working at a time so I don’t expect I will be here to eat in, since I prefer friendly service. But it’s still a great place to stop for banh mi. You can also call ahead so you don’t have to wait.

Had the pork banh mi. I felt bad about stopping in somewhere and only ordering 3 dollars’ worth of food, so I got a side of springrolls. That doubled my expense, but that was a lot of food for 6 bucks!
This was my first banh mi, so I had no idea what to expect, and I don’t have a basis for comparison, but it was great. I’ve always lamented the absence of good, chewy rolls in Atlanta, but it turns out I just wasn’t getting into enough Vietnamese restaurants. The veggies on the sandwich seemed very fresh, bringing some nice crunch to go with the sweetness of the pork. The springrolls were also very fresh-​tasting, and I think that’s the reason my order took close to ten minutes. They had a nice peanut sauce on the side.
Next time I’m in there I plan to grab a bag of the day-​old rolls they were selling for a dollar. How do these places even stay in business?
I’ve since had the banh mi at Lee’s Phở, and I’d call it a toss-​up.

Had my first Bahn Mi in Atlanta, GA this week. Although I have not had a Bahn Mi sandwich before, here are my observations of the one I had:
First, the bread was not just great, it was truly one of the best sandwich rolls I have had, and is superior to any that I have had around the world. (really). Inside the crust was soft, airy and just perfect. The outside consisted of a crispy-​thin layer that was uniformly and perfectly toasted… truly tasty and the texture was like no other I have experienced… its really that good.
Inside you get some greens, fresh jalapenos (Just enough for flavor), and really tasty, tender strips of warm marinated pork, it was all so fresh, it seemed like they picked the vegetables that morning.
(Three Bucks! Awesome!)
So, for those that have never had a Bahn Mi, what are you waiting for… can’t believe I waited this long, and I will be back to Huong Lan soon.

Again, those who know me knows that I do not like phở at all. However, I love me some banh mi. Hence the restaurant name with the word banh mi in it. A lot of my Facebook friends LOVE this place so I had to try it out. Funny thing is as I go there with my kids and their friend, I saw one of my friends there with her family.
I have to say that it’s a really really small place, but I’m okay with it. My problem was the score, it was a 66 U, it was facing away going toward the bathroom. Another thing was that it’s part of Lee’s Bakery, which I think is overrated. But what got me was that I couldn’t order the banh mi, buy 5, one free for $ 2.50 cause my kids wanted to eat phở. So I waited until after they were done so I could order. Again, I don’t like phở.
My kids think the phở was good but not the best, they still prefer I Luv Phở. When I finally got a taste of the banh mi, it wasn’t bad, definitely better than Lee’s Bakery but not better than my fave banh mi place, Houng Lang, or the next thing closest is Lee’s Phở (inside Assi Plaza). The jalepeno that they use is not even hot, I had to pick jalepeno from the garden to make my banh mi spicy.
Honestly, overall, it’s just an A-​OK experience and I will not go back and neither of my kids would want to either.

When I was growing up, every time a friend, family member, family friend, etc went to Atlanta, they brought back Banh Mi. Sooo. I now, and will forever, associate Atlanta with Banh Mi.
We took a spontaneous trip to Atlanta on Labor Day. Near the end of our trip, of course we couldn’t go home without any Banh Mi! I mean seriously, what will people think?! We were in the area and saw that Huong Lan was the closest to us at the time. It was 10 minutes before closing. Luckily, when we called, the sweet lady agreed to put in our last minute order. I definitely felt like VIP since their lights were already off by the time we pulled into the parking lot.
I ordered the Banh Mi Dac Biet and Banh Mi Thit Nuong. I personally prefer Banh Mi Thit Nuong no matter who makes it. Huong Lan’s viet subs are not the best, but they were decent. This should be a 3 stars review, but I figure they deserved the extra star for making 10+ sandwiches a few minutes before closing. FYI, the woman wasn’t the owner.
OH. it’s buy 5, get 1 free! That sounds like a lot but nopee. they barely made it home for 2 days before vanishing.

Stopped by here to grab a quick bite. Had the eggrolls, which came with a bunch of greens, salad, a side of pickled daikon/​carrots, & nouc mam (fish sauce). I was very pleased with my snack. I also got the mango smoothie, which was also pretty good! Perfect for the hot, humid weather, except I personally would’ve like it less sweet.
Service is not bad either. There’s one cashier lady, who seems like she runs the entire restaurant. She runs to the back, cashiers, and tends to patrons. Doesn’t seem like there is anyone else helping, and she seems like she could use more help but she’s really nice and helpful :) In addition, the AC was not cranked up enough. It was still warm inside that I can’t imagine eating hot soup there.

Buy 5 Get 1 Free Sandwiches. Good deal. Very friendly service. You can also add an egg to any sandwich for 50 cents. Ordered the Mi Kho, very good as well. Defiantly give this place a try.

As j v. said, this is definitely the sister store of Lee’s Bakery (
)…there are 2-​sided business cards at the register that have Huong Lan on one side and Lee’s Bakery on the other. Note that unlike Lee’s, Huong Lan is closed Wednesdays. The shop is located in the same plaza as, but perpendicular to, Assi. It’s a few doors down from a martial arts studio and a Chinese buffet.
The banh mi seems to be the main attraction here (all of them at $ 3.00 a piece), but they offer a basic array of other Vietnamese dishes too — Phở (beef noodle soup), Com (rice plates), Bun (vermicelli dry noodle), Hu Tien (noodle soup), Dac Biet (specialty dishes) and Giai Khat (beverages). The menu is a lot like Lee’s…2-sided, nothing over $ 8 (I don’t think) — posted some pictures of the menu in the Photos section (hope they’re clear enough to read).
I had the bun thit nuong (grilled pork vermicelli) — picture of that in Photos as well — it’s something I get often at Vietnamese restaurants and this was definitely one of the biggest bowls I’ve ever had. Bun thit nuong is a pretty hard thing to mess up since it’s just an assortment of fairly simple ingredients, and it certainly did not disappoint here. The grilled pork (coming from the same batch they put in banh mis, I think) was aplenty; my only complaint was that the pork could have been cut into thinner, easier to eat slices… but details, shmetails.
My dining partner had the standard banh mi thit nuong (grilled pork sandwich). I didn’t try any of it it, but it looked exactly like it does at Lee’s…that is to say, mouthwatering and perfect.
Overall, this place is pretty great. I’ve always been a big fan of Lee’s, so it’s nice to have this option when I’m in the Duluth area. Oh, one more thing… just like at Lee’s (my final comparison to Lee’s, I promise)…$ 10 credit card minimum. Though if you’re reading this review, you’re probably already a patron of Asian places and already knew that cash is always king.

The sister store of Lee’s Bakery on Buford Highway… although I don’t think the bread is freshly made in store…(I believe they get it fresh from the sister store daily. and I don’t think they use old bread for the sandwiches… cause I see them selling a day old bread at 4 for a dollar in this basket off to the side). Their sandwiches are still yummy… and their soup entrees aren’t bad either
Originally I thought Lee’s Phở in Assi was the sister store… but nope. this is the one. I saw Lee’s Bakery newspaper clippings posted at the register.
I’m only writing this review so that more people like me, who likes Lee’s Bakery and lives closer to this restaurant, can come here instead of driving out out to Buford

Recently opened and in the same complex as the new Assi Plaza Duluth. Their specialty would be Banh Mi but they do have other Vietnamese dishes. I like the thought of going into a very new place to eat whether it’s good or not, that can be judged later. But everything is super clean and organized and service is always great at the beginning.
I ordered the Banh Mi Ga Nuong (Grilled Chicken Sandwich) and Vermicelli with Grilled Shrimps Bowl. The Banh Mi was delicious. The chicken was nicely seasoned and shredded. It’s fairly loaded with vegetables. I’ve always like Quoc Huong, but the drive is far and gas is high… Unless I happened to be in the neighborhood, Huong Lan would be my quick fix for banh mi.
The vermicelli shrimp bowl is ok. It is generously loaded with noodles and vegetables. I think the marinade for the shrimp is a bit too heavy for this light dish. I would prefer a bit of salt, pepper and lime and then grilled. It doesn’t need all the heavy char siu bbq stuff on it.
I love their shrimp spring rolls; it’s perfectly rolled and filled with vermicelli noodles, shrimps and fresh vegetables. The peanut dipping sauce was pretty good.
If you buy 5 baguettes, you get the 6^th one free so order up! They even have an egg sandwich, which consists of 2 fried eggs, soy sauce and loaded with vegetables — darn good! Next time I’ll be brave and order the fish patty (Cha Ca). I’m very picky about that since I’ve experienced some with fishy smell and it’s not enticing to my palate.
Otherwise, decent service, great price so definitely coming back!