For the final time (who am I kidding, probably not), I’m going to implore that intrepid restaurateur who might be out there reading this blog post, to once and for all open a banh mi shop in Westchester.  Please.  Don’t make us grovel.

The restaurant would require only the tiniest of storefronts and a handful of employees (Think Lubins-N-Links in Tarrytown). Set up shop along Mamaroneck Ave. in White Plains, crank out an amazing product at reasonable prices, and customers will flock to you like they do for Melt Sandwich Shop.

Remember Field of Dreams?  ”If you build it, they will come.”

To research your potential restaurant, I would direct you to Banh Mi Saigon Bakery in Chinatown — a jewelry store with a Vietnamese food counter at the rear.

I felt bad for the jewelry sales people.  As you can see, not much action on that side of the store.

No, the action’s in the back, where customers queue up for various banh mis (pork, chicken, sardine, pate, or meatball), Vietnamese salads and spring rolls. From what I observed, the pork banh mi was by far the most popular item.

This place operates with machine-like efficiency; one woman takes the order, two women prepare the sandwiches, and a man calls out numbers and handles the register.  In and out in a couple of minutes.

Or, you can eat right in the store on one of the little benches.

For $3.75, you get an expertly crafted banh mi.  Mine was the pork banh mi “hot” (ask for it “hot” if you want it spicy).

The sandwich is a marvel in every way: mouthwatering roast pork, pork roll, cucumber, peppers, pickled radish and carrots, cilantro, mayo and sriracha, pressed tightly inside a fresh, crusty baguette.

I have no doubt I could bring a banh mi neophyte to Saigon Bakery and that person would walk out a convert, with little pork bits falling out of his/her mouth.  The power of the banh mi is that strong.

And that’s why I know a Vietnamese restaurant would do well here.  Who doesn’t like food that’s fast, fresh, tasty and cheap? What would you rather eat, a $6 Subway sandwich with those weird, microwaved slabs of meat, or a banh mi for $3.75?  It’s a no brainer.

(And by the way, in the course of writing this post, I made myself so hungry that I’ve been typing with one hand and grabbing handfuls of Cheerios with the other, just to take the edge off. Banh mi talk makes me voracious.)

Banh Mi Saigon Bakery
138 Mott St. (moving to 198 Grand St. between May and June)
New York, NY
212-941-1541