Cali Baguette Express

Can’t get enough of this place! So many great snacks, boba, smoothies, delicious plates and of course, yummy sandwiches! (Yes, I have tried it all lol) They bake their bread fresh daily and it doesn’t go unnoticed.
Great prices and super friendly and welcoming customer service.
See you soon, Cali baguette!

Do not put tip in the can. The owner will take it. That money won’t ho to the workers. I heard it from the lady that works there when I put money into the tip jar. Cheap ow

This is my go-​to place for Vietnamese food. The porridge is awesome especially for the cold nights. The sandwiches are good.

Great place to get fast food for a cheap price when I’m on the go. I like to order them for road trips or for quick lunch breaks. I’ve gone to both the Mira Mesa location, Kearny Mesa, and El Cajon location, and they’re all efficient. It also saves me waiting time when I call in advance to make an order. I’ve tried different selections of their banh mi sandwiches, including Vietnamese ham, BBQ pork, and fried egg. They’re all good so it just depends on my mood. I also like their Vietnamese iced coffee. In addition to fast and affordable food/​drinks, I like supporting businesses like this because I heard that it’s a family owned business that started from scratch and it’s great to see how much they’ve expanded.

Cali Baguette Express operates a few locations in San Diego… even one with a drive-​thru (El Cajon), but this review will be for the Mira Mesa location.
Parking — shared lot with other business. It gets hectic to get here weekdays after 5pm (people getting off work) and weekends. Try the side areas when the bank is closed for more parking.
Ambiance — can’t knock them for this one. It’s Asian fast food. Okay I know… what’s that supposed to mean. Well… just not a lot of tables and not the most comfy.
Food — they have quite a random selection from Asian snacks, drinks like boba and slushies, egg rolls, pre packaged Asian snack goodies and their famous Vietnamese sandwiches which are cheap cheap cheap !
I recommend the BBQ pork Banh Mi (bun– me) for first timers as its close to an American sandwich. If you are feeling brave, the #1 which which is like a cold cut of pork meats with pâté (liver paste) is sooooo good. Trust me, it sounds gross ESP that liver stuff but it’s really good.
Bread is distributed here daily and baked fresh in house. Disappointingly, here at 630 pm my sandwich bread was cold and a bit hard. The meat and pâté tasted good and I liked how they cut the sandwich in half without asking. Wish they toasted it or had fresh bread. This was the only drawback.
What’s a Vietnamese sandwich? It’s a sandwich typically served with a French loaf. Typical meats include the «special », BBQ pork, chicken, veggie /​tofu, beef. Extras included are cilantro, cucumbers, pickled carrots and sometimes radish, jalepenos. It usually has mayo in it as well.
Jalepenos are super raw and spicy so ask without if you can’t hang !
The beef stew is home made and soooooo tasty. Comes with side of French bread for dipping. It’s tender beef with perfectly seasoned stew. Try it if you don’t want a sandwich. It is a little oily… so that’s my only drawback.

I love Vietnamese food because it is fresh and heathy — loaded with Veggies. As I craved for good breakfast, I decided to try out the sandwiched here. Oh boy! They nailed it! They make it fresh and when I have my first, it was soooo good! The bread is very good which is the key to make great sandwiches. I saw so many Vietnamese dropped by to pick up the French baguette. This is a solid sign of having great baguette here.
The place is just a simple setting, so it’s good for quick meals or grab and go. Not recommended to sit there and enjoy a long conversation. Hey! If you go for good food, this’s where to go.

Always here for the fresh baguettes. Light, crisp on the outside and soft in the middle, fresh daily! Bahn mi are tasty too but on the lighter side compared to other places. For me, the bread makes this sandwich. Awesome service too.

Before I begin, I usually only get the grilled beef sandwich, egg rolls, and the coffee here. Don’t ask me about the ham or tuna stuff. Although, I doubt you’d regret getting it here considering how good their food is.
That is because they are delicious. The bread is fresh, the beef is flavorful, and the pickled vegetables and jalapeños they put in compliment everything else. The egg rolls are a great, crispy snack when you need something to nibble on while you wait for your sandwich.
As far as the coffee, even if it is pre made. It tastes great, is not too sweet, and keeps you up. Find me one BANH MI shop in Mira Mesa that does gives it to you fresh. I’ll tip my hat off to you and still get one from here… cause I’ll know you’re lying and you got it from from a phở restaurant across the street. Doesn’t count.
Of course, there is also the service that sure doesn’t hurt going here. The kind young woman and young gentleman that usually assist me work really hard to make sure a customer is satisfied.
Point being, this place is small, but it has so much to offer. Get a sandwich, some egg rolls, coffee, and call it a meal. Definitely worth it.
Btw, they take card.

I’ve came here for 4 years to buy sandwiches and iced coffee and they are good and cheap. However, I have never received so much DISRESPECT like I did today. Before you think «she’s young, why does she need respect for?» I’m asking for proper respect as a customer. Because it does not matter how old you are as a customer, you are PAYING for service and food. It is their job to be nice, courteous, & to provide good service to you because you are the person that is paying for the food they make/​electric bill/​taxes, etc. I have gotten terrible service from this women in the picture above. I bought 1 bowl of noodle soup, and my sister wanted one more. So I bought it again, and this time, she told me «Next time, buy it at the same time like the first bowl so I wouldn’t have to make you another one.» SHE WAS POINTING AT ME WHILE SHE SAID THIS. After she finished pointing & saying what she had said, she brushed her hand as if I was a fly in her food, RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME, and the other customers behind me saw this as well. As a Vietnamese person, I know that there are some horrible Vietnamese people out there who do stupid things: and I’m scared that she might’ve spit in my food because she was upset for making another one. But, how often do people do this? Order another food RIGHT after? It’s SO common for restaurants. I understand that she had to prepare it again, but I mean, CMON, THIS RESTAURANT MAKES FOOD. You were going to have to expect that from other people. I didn’t do this intentionally. These type of women would respect someone who was older, but not someone who is younger? In the end, you are getting the same amount of money for that food. What if a person that was 40 – 50 years old did the same exact thing? She wouldn’t have even opened her mouth. As a college student, and barely an adult, I deserve the same respect as everyone else does. I will not come back for a long time because of this women. There are other restaurants that make quick/​easy noodle soups/​sandwiches/​coffee that would treat me the way that any other customer should be treated: courteous and nice.

This shop is nice for a quick bite and iced coffee. Everything is made super fast and service is always friendly.
However, they could definitely dress their sandwiches up a bit more. Bread to meat ratio is depressing. Sure their sandwiches are long, but there’s just not enough meat and veggies to make up for it= eating unnecessary carbs. I think I have a picture somewhere, but on both ends of the sandwich there were barely anything. But even the bread itself is sometimes hard and not as soft as other Banh Mi that I’ve tried.
Their iced coffee is solid though.
Cash only from what I remember.

I have been here close to ten times now and get the#6 & Milk Tea no boba every time because it’s so good!
Great lunch time snack, speedy and polite service as well =)

Not the best Banh Mi place in the local area, better value and quality elsewhere. Larger variety of things to choose from, but I stick to the sandwiches only.
Banh Mi Thit Nuong, grilled pork. Comes on a baguette, portions of meat and vegetables filled the sandwich. The baguette wasn’t warm, definitely not toasted to order. Crust was soft to the bite. Meat was the same, reheated. It wasn’t very appetizing.
Café Sua Da wasn’t very good. Premade, sweetened with what tastes like Coffee-​mate.

I love this place. Company I work for work the day after Thanksgiving. I felt I needed to buy some comfort food for my team of 20 at work. I was not surprised when after 10 min, it was all gone and had high praises for such a different type of work lunch. Normally a company buys pizza… but me, I buy banh mi.
This is my go to place for great spicy sandwiches and a very reasonable price. Their fried egg rolls are really meaty with a lot of taste. The pork buns I could have done without but my team ate it up.
Great place and staff is quiet but the cashier girl is very nice and is always smiling.

Review by my 9 year old: It’s wonderful food is simply fantastic. I love it a lot. I liked the egg the most. I ordered vegetarian sandwich with fried egg. My mom and dad had coffee which they liked.
I recommend the fried egg sandwich and the sesame doughnuts.

This place can get busy, but for good reason. They offer a wide variety of bahn mi sandwiches at very reasonable prices ($ 3 – 5). The baguettes are baked in-​house and the freshness really makes a difference in the overall quality of the sandwich. In addition to the bahn mi’s they also have a wide variety of dessert, side dishes, and snacks to compliment your meal.
It’s a small place so seating may be limited during peak lunch hours.

Tried this place for the first time today and I’m so happy I did! Thank you fellow Unilocalers! I usually go to A-​Chau for my Banh Mi fix but the last time I went it wasn’t good. Maybe I went on a bad day? :(
The lady that helped me at the counter was super sweet and nice. I got the number 1 special with extra mayo and veggies and the Vietnamese iced coffee. I thought the sandwich was one of the best I’ve ever had! I love the texture of the bread and how incredibly long the sandwich was! The bread was fresh and so were the ingredients. So yummy! I noticed a few reviews where people were upset about the low amount of meat but I thought the sandwich was great the way it was. I also loved the Vietnamese iced coffee as well. If you love strong coffee this is your go to drink! I’m so happy I’ve finally found the best Banh Mi! Will be back!

The sandwich here are thinner than most places but they make their baguette fresh here all the time so it tastes yummy. You can literally see the baguettes bake in the oven when you’re paying for your order
The spring rolls here are my favorite. I recommend asking the kitchen to make a fresh batch for you! I like to call ahead and just come and pick up and pay for my order right away.

This is my go-​to banh mi place for good reason!
This was the first place I ever tried a banh mi 5 years ago, and they suggested I tried #13 — the grilled beef banh mi.
The service is quick, the employees are extremely friendly and down-​to-​earth, and their sandwiches range from $ 4-​$ 6. The #13 is priced at $ 5.25, which is such a bargain considering you are getting, essentially, grilled beef in an entire loaf of bread. Yummy bread I should add.
The beef is so flavorful. You will get beef juice drippings which, to me, is my favorite part!
If I could leave a suggestion… stack your filling so that every bite has both meat and pickled veggies. The current situation is having to take 2 bites (for me at least) to get the complete flavor profile.

They are located in the same strip mall as Wells Fargo, Bolsa, and QT Pot. It’s a tiny location but that doesn’t mean much when it comes to getting a good banh mi in my opinion.
It’s great how they have non banh mi items as well. You place your order with the cashier and then take a seat. Friend was running late and this blogger waits for no one when she’s hungry.
I’m not sure if they make their own bread dough here. But they definitely bake them fresh on the premises. The bread here is very different than the version I’ve become accustomed to at Bale French Sandwiches down the street. The nicely blistered bread skin reminded me of the beautiful sourdough bread I often see at American bakeries.
We ordered:
Pâté Chaud $ 1.25
— the meat pie was a bit greasy as you can tell from the paper bag sitting underneath it but that didn’t bother me. The pasty dough was ok but the pork filling was a bit weak from lack of seasoning (I later realized the filling probably wasn’t pork but was liver)
BBQ Pork banh mi
— The pickled veggies and bbq pork were nice but scarce. The sandwich came out warm. The bread was alright but I still preferred the bread at Bale. They do charge extra if you ask for more cilantro, jalapenos, etc.
Eggrolls
— They are not made to order and are available right away under a warmer. The difference in the two eggrolls are the wrappers used for each one. I think it’s .60c/​eggroll
Asian sausage and Egg Banh Mi
— We were both surprised how little was inside this banh mi. I’m not sure if friend paid extra for the egg inside this sandwich. The Asian sausage was a bit chewy for me. The egg tasted fine and freshly scrambled.
Overall an ok experience for our first time here. The sandwiches are affordable (most seem under $ 4) even if the protein portion seemed a bit small. So give them a try if you’re in the area.

Very small baguette shop!
I love how clean and organized it is in there.
I only give 3 stars because they don’t put too much meat in their baguette sandwiches like the bun mi shop across the street does. For a cheaper price id go to the one across the street right next to lucky seafood.
If you want extra sauce like the butter sauce, it cost like .50 or .75 cents. That’s a lot! I could understand .25 cents.
Their bun bo hue is okay, they don’t give too much noodles.
They do get busy on the weekends so I would suggest doing a call order. Even though they don’t ask for your name. When you come in they’ll know it’s you.