Saigon Wraps

The Banh Mi isn’t the greatest, but then again, I’ve yet to find any place in CA that have the perfect football shaped just-​baked light fluffy french rolls like the ones you get from carts in Vietnam. That said, I like the sandwich enough to be a repeat customer. I had the lemongrass pork sandwich and it seems they got the portions of everything just right. The place serves their own style of everything so if you wanted to have Vietnamese cuisine, there’s the rest of international blvd you can go check out for yourself.

I got the grilled lemongrass pork (#8) and the combo (dac biet) (#6) banh mi with no cilantro, of course! It was just over $ 7 w/​tax for the two sandwiches. I guess the online menu ($ 2.99 per) is a bit out of date.
The bread was freshly toasted. Soft with a nice crust. Came stuffed with some cucumber slices, shredded pickled daikon and carrots, and some jalapenos.
Both could have used some more veggies and there wasn’t much pâté on the combo sandwich. The pork sandwich was definitely the better of the two for me, and though the meat tasted pretty good, I didn’t get much lemongrass flavor.
The sandwiches were good. I’d stop by, if I was in the area, but not something I’d make a special trip for.
3.5 stars, but I’m rounding down because of the prices compared to other places on E14th or downtown Oakland.

This place has the best breakfast and sandwiches. The rice plates are tasty, portions are huge. Price is so reasonable also. You know what else, this place has computers for you to use! But if you have your own laptop, there is free wifi.
You have to try their fried spring rolls (gia gio), they are the best I’ve ever had, hands down.

The breakfast was okay but it was hard to focus on the food.

Saigon wraps is not your typical authentic Vietnamese sandwich shop, but they aren’t trying to be. They have their own style and cater to mostly BART patrons. Its not a place you come to just get some banh mi’s, its more of a grab and go type of place.
They also have a steam table with food already to go, such as egg rolls, fried rice, a couple different stir frys. Its more of a cross between cam huong and a subway. They also have noodle soups and phở. Everything seems pretty fresh.
I ordered a #8 Banh mi (Vietnamese sandwich) with grilled lemongrass pork, i really wanted a combo (dac biet) but they said they didn’t have everything for the combo. I thought the grilled pork was really good in the sandwich, it had that just grilled taste to it. But everything else in the sandwich was not very tasty. The bread itself was kind of hard, not because it was toasted. The pickled carrots and daikon weren’t pickled enough. They used real mayo instead of the Vietnamese butter and regular pâté. Their pâté was more of a Safeway chicken liver pâté, tasted funny.
Service was very slow for a place that’s supposed to get you in and out fast. I ordered two sandwiches and it took quite awhile. And the prices for a sandwich was $ 3.25 that is a whole dollar more then any other banh mi place. That’s about 33 percent more then usually but i know they have high rent at the fruitvale BART station.
Overall if your in a hurry go ahead grab a banh mi to go, but if your craving a real good authentic Vietnamese banh mi go to Ba le on 19^th and E14 instead.
3.35 Stars for Saigon Wraps in Oakland’s Fruitvale BART station

I came here to try the banh mi and was impressed by the atmosphere and the customer service. The guy who helped us was very nice and friendly and even went out of his way to help an elderly customer before us. The interior is clean and modern, offering wifi and computers for customers to use.
The banh mi themselves are good but not exceptional. $ 3.25 gets you a 7 inch sandwich with your filling of choice. This place tends to put a slightly larger amount of meat than most places and that is appreciated, but the filling was just not as flavorful as others you can find in the East Bay. The bread is cut from a larger loaf and they do a good job of making it warm and crusty and delicious. The veggies are fresh and tasty. One word of warning: they absolutely slather on the mayo if you don’t ask them to refrain.
So in the end, 3 stars for the sandwich + 1 additional star for the great service. If I lived or worked in the area near Saigon Wraps, I would definitely frequent the place. But, until then, I doubt I would make the trip next time I have a banh mi craving.

The Veggie Mix rolls are GRrreat and the vegetarian Phở is clean-​tasting and excellent (I order it with chicken broth and the chicken broth doesn’t taste as gamey as other places I’ve tried). They have tons of veggies in there and give you plenty of basil and lme and sprouts for the soup. My coworker and myself go CONSTANTLY. The banh mi used to be off the hook, but then one day i swear they started using some fish sauce in it or something and it TOTALLY KILLED IT. I was gagging in my office, not too far away, and then made my coworkers gag when they heard me. SOO. Five stars for the Phở, but NOT the chicken vietnamese sandwich. You broke my heart when you changed the recipe.

My go-​to, cheap, friendly place for a quick lunch. The bahn mi is just ok, but I do love their spring rolls. I also love the big cups full of cereal and the choice to have breakfast for lunch, such as their egg and bacon sandwich, which rocks.
I also appreciate that they provide free internet access for customers, which is really important for this neighborhood. The staff are tolerant of the teens who hoard the computers and treat them with respect. That goes far in my book.

Sometimes we need a place that serves, fast, cheap and good food. Saigon wraps is your place in the Fruitvale. Their Vietnamese sanwhics are good for less than $ 2.50! that is a deal, nice assortment of Vietnamese coffees. WIFI and computer terminals for your use.

i walked by this place a couple of times not even realizing it! the first time i was there i ordered the tofu bahn mi and tofu fries. well i had NO idea that tofu fries were enough to share for two! thankfully for me i have an appetite enough for three and i chomped down on the whole thing! was it the most amazing cheap eats ive ever had? no… but it was pretty damn good cheap eats and thats good enough for me!
i finally took my man and hes been on a meat eating kick lately (must be all that stress) and ordered the some kind of meat *hahhaa… omg i think its been that long that i cant even identify pig from cow* and well he liked it! in fact he said he just found his new favorite place! i dont know if i would make a special trip just to get here although since its walking distance from my house and i need a serious break from all the wonderfully greasy and delicious mexican food surrounding me.
btw everytime i order vietnamese coffee they never have it. ive ordered it at 11am 1pm and 3pm. does anyone ever have this problem? are they always out? do they even serve this anymore? i feel slightly jipped and the bitter girl inside me would like to take a star off for that alone, but the sweet girl in me adapts and says get the thai ice tea instead. its super rich and to me thats great cause i dont just slurp it down like i usually do i get to sip and enjoy. something i should be doing with life more often.

This place is great. I ordered the tofu banh mi and the lemon grass pork banh mi all for a little over $ 5! CHA!
The pork banh mi is great! could use a little bit of sriracha! and yes they do have sriracha!!!
I’d definitely come back to try their breakfast menu, great deals!

Not only free wifi, but free «customer-​only» computer access! Especially in this neighborhood, that’s pretty darn nifty. There are streams of teenagers that come in and dawdle on myspace and BART drivers on lunch break checking their Ebay bids. But it’s not too noisy to get some actual work done (well, if you bring earplugs to drown out the hideous techno CD they play over and over and over).
I had a scrambled-​egg-​croissant sandwich with «swiss cheese» which was actually the laughing cow stuff you get in developing (read: refrigerator-​less) countries. It was mediocre in every way, as were both the Vietnamese (sugar attack) and regular (folgers?) coffee. The fresh-​squeezed lemonade was good, but again too high on the glucose meter for my taste. But I didn’t come here for good food, or order what they’re good at, so it wouldn’t be fair to judge them on the eats.
So, they get 4 stars for being convenient, friendly, and electronically endowed.

Can’t give this place five stars for one simple reason.
They don’t have Sriracha Sauce. I ordered some sandwiches once and asked for hot sauce, and instead of what I was expecting, I got some kind of made in Hong Kong chili garlic sauce. It’s just not right.
Sandwiches are some of the best in this part of the Bay Area, sure there are better places, but you can’t find them anywhere near Oakland.
If they were to have Sriracha, I’d probably give them another star.

Good prices for yummy foodz. It works for me, it’s easy to get to from work and better than making some yucky fast food run for my lunch hour.
The rice plates and teas/​tapiocas are yum, plus they have super sultry chics working there which is a hoot. haha!
and «Powderface» across the way. yeaaaa…

Try the lemongrass pork banh mi, a nice variation to your average roast pork banh mi.

I love their banh mi! The tofu banh mi is tasty, filling, and just the right size. Watch them about the peppers though – I think they didn’t believe li’l ol’ me wanted them the second time, and they got left off the menu. Peppers are the best part, man!
Also, they are great for catering a party. Since I wanted sandwiches for my party, I bypassed the catering menu and just ordered 15 sandwiches cut in half, and 20 veggie spring rolls, also cut in half. I think the grand total was something like $ 80. What a steal! And the food was super popular at the party – everyone liked, everyone scarfed it up. The only drawback was no leftovers. :(

Of course there’s probably better bahn mi, but who the hell has time to drive all the way to El Cerrito or San Jose? This place is great if you’re in the mood for a cilantro-​laden yummy sandwich for 2 m-f’n dollars and 50 m-f’n cents!
Yumm yummm…

Okay, so yes, yes, yes, I agree with all of the reviews already written about Saigon Wraps. Particularly for a vegetarian who likes me a good hot pepper, it’s a great place, indeed. An added benefit I don’t think anyone has mentioned is that it has free Wi-​Fi. You can have your (rice) cake and eat it, too!!! :)

I’ve tried many other ban mi, at other Viet-​Namese restaurants. They were dry, chinsy, and tasteless. ‘Nuff with that.
SAIGON WRAPS, I love you. What ever you are doing to make these delicious sandwich’s, pleasepleaseplease keep doing it. I’ve eaten every ban mi there. I bring them to my brother, to my house-​mates (they’re Viet’s), and they always ask, «ay, can you bring me a ban mi from SAIGON WRAPS?» And with the great prices, I not only bring them a sandwich, I bring one (sometimes 2) for myself.
The BBQ and other dishes are really good too.

This place has one of the best vegetarian bahn mi (vietnamese sandwich) in Oakland. As is typically the case with bahn mi, it is super cheap, only $ 2.50. A full lunch for my wife and I comes out around $ 13.
If you ask, they offer two types of vegetarian sandwiches, which are both tasty. I also like to get an order of the tofu fresh rolls with peanut sauce. The beverage selection is also good, my favorites being café su da and fresh fruit beverages.
The next time you’re at Fruitvale Bart, check them out!