Bun Mee celebrates its fifteenth anniversary this 12 months. | Picture courtesy of Bun Mee.
Fifteen years in the past, when Denise Tran first launched her banh mi idea Bun Mee in San Francisco, she used to have to offer her workers a script.
Again then, company would stroll in and inevitably ask: What’s a banh mi?
So she’d prepare her workers to clarify the normal Vietnamese sandwich on a baguette, and the way the fast-casual Bun Mee performed a bit with the format.
Now, as Bun Mee jumps for the primary time to the East Coast with its first franchised location, Tran doesn’t actually have to clarify what a banh mi is.
“Nobody asks,” stated the Bun Mee CEO. “I take plenty of satisfaction in figuring out we had a small half to play in that.”
Perhaps—lastly—the banh mi is able to be a nationwide model, and even the “Shake Shack of Vietnamese sandwiches,” as Tran has been identified to say.
Bun Mee has 5 places, together with two within the San Francisco Worldwide Airport, which each Bloomberg and Meals & Wine have included among the many greatest airport meals on the earth.
All are company-owned—even the airport models, she stated. However the idea launched franchising in 2024.
Now the chain’s first franchisee has dedicated to a few models in New York Metropolis, with the primary opening later this 12 months.
Tran doesn’t wish to reveal who the operator is. “It’s a excessive internet price particular person” who doesn’t wish to be recognized, no less than not but, she stated.
Tran can also be planning to open extra firm places within the Bay Space, and likewise in New York down the street.
What Tran would love to seek out is a strategic accomplice, whether or not non-public fairness or a household workplace. She’s on the lookout for buyers with the endurance to develop this rising idea, which has the assist techniques in place for firm, franchise and nontraditional progress, she stated.
“I’m on the lookout for buyers which are all for a long-term technique and long-term progress for us, which are aligned with our values,” she stated. “I wish to construct a legacy model that’s targeted on constructing worth and having an extended perspective on progress.”
What she’s not on the lookout for: buyers seeking to get out and in in 5 to seven years, she stated.
Bun Mee models vary from 700 to 1,600 sq. toes. | Picture courtesy of Bun Mee.
Bun Mee’s journey has been a bit slower than Tran anticipated.
When she first opened the idea in 2011, the plan was to develop organically at a considerate and deliberate tempo of a couple of unit each different 12 months. Issues began out nicely.
However then COVID-19 hit, in fact, and, like many operators, Tran stated she spent three or 4 years after the pandemic fog lifted in restoration mode.
It wasn’t wasted time, she stated.
Tran was additionally engaged on the franchising plans. She needed to take some complexity out of Bun Mee’s menu.
That meant lowering the variety of sandwiches from 9 to 6, for instance. People who required extra prep have been moved off the core menu to limited-time supply standing. And Tran added extra salads, for individuals who wish to be carb-light, in addition to room for extra customization.
Tran additionally expanded the chain’s Vietnamese espresso program, including matcha and different variations. “We predict Vietnamese espresso is a development that’s right here to remain,” she stated.
The highest sellers proceed to be the normal Lemongrass Pork, which is tucked right into a toasted baguette with shaved onion, pickled carrot and a daikon/jalapeno/cucumber/herb combine, with garlic home mayo. (A extra traditional variation provides pate de campagne and mortadella.)
Mama Tran’s Hen Pho, made with sous vide rooster breast, can also be a preferred consolation meals, notably on the airport models, she stated. And the Crunchy Saigon Hen Salad with a nuoc cham French dressing can also be an enormous vendor.
The typical examine at Bun Mee is about $22 to $24, and models serve beer and wine. Within the models that do catering, that program is powerful, stated Tran, accounting for about 20% of gross sales.
For the three streetside places, which vary from 700 to 1,600 sq. toes, the common unit quantity is $1.7 million, Tran stated.
And the airport places common $5.5 million, which explains why airport shops are so in demand.
“We’ve gotten ourselves to a mannequin I really feel assured we might scale,” she stated. “I’m on the level the place I wish to actually develop and push the pedal to the metallic, and put ourselves on the market and search for alternatives for progress.”
In fact, now that the banh mi wants no rationalization, Bun Mee has extra competitors.
Chains like Paris Banh Mi Café & Bakery, with near 50 models, are franchising throughout the nation. The San Jose, California-born Lee’s Sandwiches boasts greater than 60 places. And there are numerous mom-and-pop banh mi retailers, particularly round Asian communities.
“Since us, there have been fairly a number of,” stated Tran. “However I feel there’s plenty of white house right here.
