A banh mi turf war is brewing in Fullerton.
Banh Mi Che Cali, which we've written about here on these blogs and featured on our Best Of lists, Favorite Dishes lists, and lists of other lists, has opened what has to be their biggest, most gigantic store yet…and this one also serves pho in an actual restaurant that is directly next door to Lee's Sandwiches in the Costco parking lot on Harbor Blvd.
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This sort of thing would not be an uncommon occurrence in Westminster/Garden Grove where duking banh mi purveyors are just part of the landscape. But Fullerton? This is new.
Banh Mi Che Cali still offers the buy-two-get-one-free deal that has pretty much popularized the brand in OC. But the price has inched up a bit since I remember. It's $2.75 for each hoagie style sandwich these days.
The new restaurant is housed in a space that was the site of several failed restaurants, including a Chinese restaurant and dim sum house I reviewed a few years ago. This one will last a while, I'm sure. As for that Lee's, now that BMCC has moved in? Only time will tell who will win the Great Banh Mi Battle of Harbor Blvd. Fullerton!
**Thanks to Annie Nguyen-Habermann for the tip!
1000 S. Harbor Blvd., Fullerton, CA, 92832
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Before becoming an award-winning restaurant critic for OC Weekly in 2007, Edwin Goei went by the alias “elmomonster” on his blog Monster Munching, in which he once wrote a whole review in haiku.