If you want to go on a date with a girl and have sex in the bathroom, just know there's only two bathrooms, so you may have to wait. The place has a steady flow of people and there's a little line for everything. But it's worth it. The sandwiches are so cheap (5$ a pop) that you'll have plenty of cash leftover for name brand condoms. Also, the sandwiches are on delicious bread and are filling but light, so you don't feel like you need to use the bathroom once you finally get in there. Coincidentally, this is hands-down the cleanest place in the whole Vietnamese neighborhood. First hand knowledge, the following things are delicious: Spring rolls, the #1, 20 (but it's a little salty), the baby muffins and pear juice. But no matter what, any place that has a picture menu for every thing they have is okay by me. read more

My favorite banh mi in the city. Take that, Nhu Lan. #1 and #2 are the best bets. Also recommended: #10 and #13. I'm not a huge fan of #14. The bread is awesome, if a bit untraditional. Unlike the bread you will find at most banh mi shops (including Nhu Lan), the crust is not hard but it remains crunchy on the whole, making the sandwich easier to eat. read more

This place is always phenomenal, and not just because it's literally a block away from my home. My go-to order is the veggie avocado banh mi which manages to pack a bunch of complex flavors and textures into a sandwich that is super satisfying without leaving you stuffed. Also, the iced coffee does not mess around. Perfect for those days where you really need that extra boost of creamy energy. read more

My boyfriend and I came to Chicago in May for a long weekend and then again last weekend and this was a place we couldn't leave Chicago without going to. Their traditional Bahn Mi and Vietnamese coffee are absolutely perfect! The Bahn Mi is the perfect crunch and savory, buttery French bread meets crunch, fresh veggies and perfectly seasoned meats. The Vietnamese coffee is strong, full-bodied, but has the perfect amount of sweet with the condensed milk added. Love this place! read more

Delicious banh mi sandwiches. I love the original but also the bbq pork- make sure to get hoisin sauce to dip the sandwich in! Truly a game changer. There are also super hearty salads for under ten dollars big enough for like three people! I love this place and will keep coming back read more

There were a lot of years when I would rank Ba Le's sammiches among my top two or three favorites in the city. But, not to sound like a grumpy, old change-hater or anything, since their move to their swanky and sleek new location their quality has nose-dived in my opinion. I'll grant anyone a bad day, but Saturday was my third time to the new spot and I have been sorely disappointed every time. Is it just me, or during their move did they forget to bring the fish sauce? My chicken was dry and banal, the portion smaller (which, I guess, was a good thing in this instance) and I felt like I was eating in an airport. Given that it was packed, maybe abandoning the bold flavors that made it so wonderful to me is proving to be a wise business move. However, I will have to hand over the banh mi mantle to Nhu Lan. read more

I have a love-hate relationship with Ba Le. I've never been to the downtown location, even though I work across the street for it, but I've heard that the Argyle location is cheaper. Honestly, I'd rather get bahn mi from Saigon Sisters. I've had a few different types of sandwiches and every time I think the meat is too dry. I wish there was more of some kind of sauce on it that made it more flavorful. That said, I love their smoothies and their salad rolls. They also have a variety of puddings and other Vietnamese foods. read more

Best Banh Mi in Chicago for my money. I am sure everyone has their super authentic spot, and Ba Le isn't just a hole in the wall spot, so I am sure people will dispute me saying it is the best. Just because it is slightly commercialized and a little more well furnished doesn't mean it isn't churning out the super flame Banh Mi's. So go ahead. Dispute me... But you know what? I don't give a crap. This place is cheap as can be. And so damn good. A staple of a summer day for a kid who grew up in Uptown. read more

Ba Le does the bare minimum to be classified as Vietnamese food. It's super bland. The pork in the spring roll tasted like it was boiled, then microwaved without seasoning. My Banh Mi sandwich was sloppy, not fresh and the bread was rock hard. My wife couldn't eat more than 3 bites of her Vermicelli bowl... it was rough. This place is lazy food. No love. The plus side, it is new, modern and cool. Oh - and the guy on the phone who took my order had the personality of a fart. This place is bad for Vietnamese. Lucky for them, Vietnamese, by nature, is awesome. read more

It's Saint Patrick's Day, and the only green I'm getting involved with is the jalapeno and cilantro in my Banh Mi! I don't run around drinking with a bunch of fools on this day, I go to Viet town and do the right thing. I've been looking forward to this dinner date for weeks! read more

i live in the neighborhood so i dropped by today to try out the ambience and the Banh Mi. I liked both. The Banh Mi was fresh, well done and reasonably priced. The place was nice and spacious and the service was quick. The sandwich tasted good but Nhu Lan's is bigger for roughly the same price. I can't beat being able to walk to the place to get a Banh Mi fix but I will be comparing other stores to see how their Banh Mi's stack up. read more

I love banh mi, what can I say. I've read some questionable reviews about this place, one person saying this place is dirty and another saying the quality of ingredients is poor. I don't know if they went to the same Ba Le as me but I was pleasantly surprised in taste and cleanliness. Ba Le is cheap, just like most banh mi spots so you are not going to get organic grass fed pork, beef or chicken. In any event, I've been here twice in the last week and had the BBQ pork banh mi and today I had the sauteed beef banh mi. Both were really excellent but the sauteed beef was unreal. I'm not sure what the beef was sauteed in but it was really flavorful. I almost felt like I was eating a philly (without the cheese). My fiancee got the sauteed chicken banh mi and loved it so much she couldn't stop raving about it. Ba Le has 21 different banh mi ranging from BBQ pork to turkey to tuna. They also have freshly made egg rolls (shrimp or pork) which I haven't had but look good. They have fantastic mango (and other fruit) smoothies with tapioca, a variety of spring rolls, sweets and other to go items. Service is fast and attentive (note that sauteed banh mi takes longer as the meat is cooked on a grill. I would definitely come back here since its delicious and cheap but I am so partial to Nhu Lan and it's not too far from me I'd most likely go there unless I'm close to Ba Le. read more

Ordered the banh mi bi chay (vegetarian) and Viet iced coffee. The banh mi was alright. It had tofu which was pretty bland with little flavor. I'm also used to banh mi seasoned with soy sauce but it didn't seem like this one had any. The quality of the bread was also okay; I prefer the bread to be more crispy than it was. Iced coffee was a pretty big portion and decent! To be fair, I did just come back from a summer in Vietnam so my expectations are higher than average. Will probably be back due to the lack of Viet food places in the area! read more

Nothing short of amazing! I remember when this place was a tiny little bakery. Love the sandwiches and especially appreciate the pickled daikon. Bursting with flavor and all on a crispy baguette. Colonization is awful, but these sandwiches are amazing. read more

Delectable. I am particularly in love with the French things that they do really REALLY well here: truffles, patisserie, BAGUETTE (!!) and pain-au-chocolat. The sandwiches are excellent, and an outstanding value at like $3.50 and I think not more than $4.95. Serious! The egg rolls are PERFECT: small, light, NOT greasy, and cheap. The pork ones are excellent, and the veggie ones (a little bit less, IMHO) but I haven't tried the shrimp ones. They have a large assortment of excellent drinks, a lot imported or the kind you'd not usually see here. I don't think there's even one can of soda (what you Midwesterners call "pop") in the place, certainly not sugary junk. What you can get are great coffees, bubble drinks, non-alcoholic wine-like things in small bottles, and many great natural fruit juices: the mangosteen is great. Tastes to me like light lychee mixed with mango, and just a hint of cassis. Who knows. Highly, highly recommended. The decor reminds me of a SoHo (NYC) hair salon from the eighties named John Dellaria. very minimal, sleek, chic, spare, stylish. GO! Go SOON!! :-) read more

I was just about to type "Holy Crap"...but a few people beat me to it. This is a true "crack laced sandwich"... Is that butter on the crunchy ass baguette? I had the #11 I believe, pork roll with pate. Jeez! Three dollars and some change for an out of body experience? With each bite a different angle, sweet and crunchy, then luxurious pork fat, then sharp jalapeno spice...and then the soothing richness of pate. The bread is perfectly crunchy without being too crumby or hard to chew. i got about a block away before I thought about turning around to get one to go. Uptown has gotta be one of the great food meccas of this world. This place is dangerously addictive, no joke. NO JOKE!!! read more

The sandwiches are pretty good and decently priced. I enjoyed my BBQ sandwich and my friend was raving about her veggie sandwich. We also shared two desserts. They were a bit on the pricey side (each was bite-sized and $3+) but were great. The onnne complaint I have is about their drinks. I ordered a lychee bubble tea and it was just... horrible. The drink was watery, not very sweet, and the tapioca was either old or overdone -- whatever the case, it was hard and too chewy. Gross. read more

Stopped by here after eating some pho so we were looking for some dessert. We got some of their mini macaroons and they were pretty good. They're a bit pricey at $1.65 a piece so it adds up! We got the following flavors: green tea, nutella, coffee, pistachio, and sweet basil. All of them were very good except the sweet basil. We were just curious to see what it would taste like and it tasted exactly like basil...that was sweet :) They also have several choices for banh mi's and other Vietnamese dishes, so you can get all kinds of stuff here! read more

Ba Le Sandwich - Macaroons! - Bakeries Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

There is no better place to find Banh-Mi sandwiches in the city. They have great food and for a VERY reasonable price. I usually get the Ba Le Special which has pickled veggies, pate, cilantro, jalapenos, Viet mayo and various meats on freshly baked bread. This awesome sandwich is only $2.99 and if you buy 5, you get one free. They sell sandwiches, the ingredients to make the sandwiches at home, coconut-mung bean drinks, juices and a LOT of other delicious Viet foods. They're family owned and have expanded and developed a lot over the years. It looks like they are building a new store front with parking next door that looks very contemporary. I will always love this place and when I want Banh-Mi, this is the only place I can rely on. read more

Pretty much Asian Subway as another reviewer stated. I got the BBQ, and my wife got the Vegetarian. Both were excellent. Best part was the price, under 10 bucks for both of our sandwiches. Go there if you want something cheap, good and different. Also props to the girl working the counter, she was super friendly, and gave us some great suggestions, and was uber patient with two first timers. read more

Tried the meatball, it was pretty good! My partner had the vegan chicken, he calls it "good stuff". I wasn't blown away this time, but based on other reviews and checking out the menu, I will try BBQ pork and the vegetarian (fried tofu) in the future. It seemed like a bigger banh than Nu Lan or bm& co They didn't put ice in our reasonably priced fountain drink- felt very European! I don't mind, and I bet if you ask for ice, you can get it. A little dirty in mid afternoon on a Saturday- trash overflowing, crumbs on tables and floors, food stains on the walls. You don't need two people taking orders if the queue for food prep is so long, so could have someone keeping things tidy. And if you are the guy next to me reading a book long after you finished your sandwich, what the hell? Can you not see how limited seating is? Camp somewhere with more empty seats! read more

They have some of the best bread I've ever had here. It shatters so beautifully, it's crisp but not hard-chewy but not tough. SO GOOD. I bought 6 loaves to bring home. As everyone knows, a great sandwich is on great bread. I went with a friend and we decided to get 3 sandwiches and split them all. We tried the meatball, BBQ pork, and roasted pork w/ pate. We liked all three but our favorite was the BBQ pork. We got them all w/ everything (diakon, onion, cilantro, carrots & jalapenos). I also had to indulge in a cantaloupe bubble tea despite the freezing temps, and I was not disappointed. Buy 5, get one free! read more

Try #1 if you're feeling adventurous, #9 or #10 if you're feigning for some pork. The saltiness of the meat,sweetness of the pickled radish, and the spicy jalapeno makes me crave a banh mi at least once a week. But parking and crowds make me stay away on weekends. Add a cold dessert cup (corn, sticky rice, milk and pandan leaf is my fav)and a bubble shake and TADAAAA: perfect lunch or dinner without breaking the bank! read more

Whenever my vietnamese parents come to visit me in Chicago, we stop by Ba Le for lunch. The "special banh mi" is the one we always get because it's pretty authentic according to my mom. I've been to some places that said they have banh mi but just have a baguette with random ingredients inside that taste good but aren't authentic, but Ba Le has the typical banh mi ingredients. I usually buy multiple sandwiches and have banh mi for lunch for a week, but you should ask to separate the vegetables from your sandwich if you do this so it doesn't end up soggy. In addition to the sandwiches that you can order off the menu, you can also buy the individual ingredients (baguette, cha lua, head cheese, etc) to make your own banh mi. They also have lots of authentic vietnamese desserts such as che (sweet souplike jello thing) and banh da lon (sticky tapioca jello cake), so if you want to get a taste for some vietnamese cuisine other than pho, i'd go for this place. It's also a lot cleaner and open than typical vietnamese shops. read more

I love this place. If you aren't yet familiar with banh mi sandwiches, you don't know what you're missing. Even my friends who generally don't like sandwiches love this place. The best byproduct of imperialism since knowledge, the bread is the Vietnamese take on the French baguette and it's made from a blend of wheat and rice flours, which, I think, is what gives it its magical consistency. I know people who say you have to get there when the bread is really fresh in the morning but I feel like it's always amazing no matter what time of day. I think their egg rolls are also decent and the sweet things I've tried have been pretty good as well. The only thing I'm not really a fan of are the bubble teas. Of course I don't like bubble teas generally so if you like them, you'd probably like them here. I find them too sugary and weird but to each his own. I also think their new location is phenomenal. If you haven't been there for a while you should check it out. They have an expanded selection of sweets, the space is really nice, I think they might have wi-fi as well but I'm not certain... read more

I think that Ba Le has the best sandwiches in Chicago. Why go to Subway or Jimmy John's when there is Ba Le??? I will admit that I would have given it 5 stars but in the past few months it has become a bit more "Americanized" than I like. I've traveled to Vietnam twice now and love the culture and people. Some of that is lost in the new restaurant. Why is a white dude the manager? Not saying he isn't a good manager, I just miss the Vietnamese chatter and overall cultural feel when I go, but it is still a fantastic place. The chicken sandwich is amazing, along with the Vietnamese pork sandwich. They're opening up another location in Chinatown, so I may have to journey there to compare. read more

Uh oh!!! Just a week after my first experience at Ba Le, my husband surprised me with it for dinner last night. Unfortunately my glowing review has been undone by last night's experience. Taste-wise, it just wasn't there. The meat on both the sandwiches I previously reviewed were really poor quality. Both visually unappealing and grody in taste. I could only stomach a bite of the pork sandwich, which I happily inhaled last week. The chicken tasted like a microwavable frozen Tyson dinner and actually reminded me of my high school cafeteria :( I'll go back, hoping this was a fluke, but it was NIGHT AND DAY from last review and that kind of inconsistency is not a quality I hope for in a nice spot like what this seems to be. read more

Will not come here again - worst service ever! I ordered 24 sandwiches over the phone right before the store closed. We are from another state so, I asked if we could get some ice for our cooler to keep the sandwiches cold on our 4 hour drive home -the girl on the phone responded, "no - it was store policy not to give ice." I asked if we could just get a small bag since the store was closing and she still answered no and said to go to a convenient store. A small bag of ice costs maybe $1 and my bill for my sandwiches was $90! Really, you couldn't give a customer who orders almost $100 worth of food a small bag of ice? I would have even paid for the ice if the person on the phone offered. What would you charge - $2 or $3??? I couldn't believe the person just said no even though they had an ice machine full of ice! 2. When I arrived, I asked to add a bag of pickled vegetables. The girl said a 1/2 lb. was $3 - which was fine. Then she said it did not contain cilantro and jalapenos. I asked if she could put a few in. Again, she said it's store policy not to give cilantro or jalapenos. I asked her again, you can't give me a few springs of cilantro when I'm buying the bag of vegetables? She answered no. This is a ridiculous policy. I'm paying for the vegetables - and in the bag of vegetables that comes with the sandwiches there are maybe 10-15 sprigs of cilantro and maybe 1 sliced jalapeno. But when I PAY $3 you can't include 5 cents worth of cilantro and 5 slices of jalapeno??? We had friends with us and I was giving them 4 sandwiches and I wanted them to get the same condiments - unbelievable how cheap the store owners must be. I'm paying for the bag of vegetables! Put the same mix of vegetables that comes with the sandwiches! I didn't realize cilantro and jalapenos were like gold! 3. To top it off, when we opened several sandwiches to add the vegetables one had a small black hair embedded in the mayo! See attached picture. Ewwwww. I can't believe the store policy is so incredibly cheap and inflexible. I hope they reconsider options for customer with large orders and start putting hairnets on! The sandwiches don't taste as good as they used to anyway. We just kept coming here because it was our regular spot. Not anymore! I just did a Yelp search for other Chicago Banh Mi places and there are a lot. Bye bye Ba Le. read more

Ba Le Sandwich - Hair embedded in my sandwich (bottom left). Put hairnets on your staff! - Bakeries Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Just found a bone in my chicken sandwich... Such a disappointment. It's good enough that I will probably still keep going, but I'll stick to the pork from now on. read more

Ba Le Sandwich - Found a bone in my chicken sandwich... Such a bummer. Place is usually awesome. - Bakeries Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Hello I been going here when I was a kid. I learn many new things over the year about the food industry and all the bad ingredients that go into making you out of sync. Everytime I would eat a Banh Mi I feel lazy and brain dead. It is because of the MSG. It kills brain cells. Now I'm in a milk and organic diet and the pain is less. I feel more alive and stronger and now pick pockets won't steal my money. I like the California style roll Ban Mi. This is Chicago Style. I'm the guy that don't eat to much fake meat slices made in a lab. Nor do I eat food with Genetically modified ingredients. I don't care too much because I'm Vietnamese and I need my Ban Mi. I will stay away from the corn at all cost. I go here all the time when I'm in the Chicago are Viet Town Uptown. It is a 45 minute drive from my home. This is the place to be for Ban Mi lovers. If you better go to Orange County California for the best Vietnamese food there is in the great United States. read more

I have a serious addiction to this place. I can go here every day for a week. Their bread is crisp on the outside and light in the inside. I love this place so much that I bring these sandwiches to DC for my BF because the Eden Center just can't compete. They make the best grilled pork Bamien. read more

So we've been going to Hai Yen for years. It's quite delicious. So we had a craving for some Vietnamese sandwiches . So they actually built a new building which is next Door to the old location . The sandwiches are a plenty ranging from $2.00 To $3.50 we ordered 6 different kind. The BBQ pork was my favorite they all have dikon and onions and jalapenos. All were pretty tasty and I highly recommend this cheap spot for really good food read more

The Best Bahn Mi of all time for real ya'll. The flavor is everything a Bahn Mi should be. Pork, Chicken and Pate are all great and the French Bread is so crusty yet soft just the way it should be. This would be my last meal if I had to choose. read more

This reminded me of the Ba Le in LA except of course this one is way newer without the stench. It actually reminds me of a Lee's Sandwiches where they have automated screens that call you when your order is ready. They do have all the Banh Mi Sandwiches galore and Vietnamese coffee and drinks here all at very reasonable prices. read more

Overall, thought sandwich was pretty good, not great. Cheap price, very light on the meat of the sandwich (I tried the BBQ pork, which was a little fatty and did not have much taste). The shrimp eggroll was good, although a little small for $2.50. The salads looked tasty and I plan to try a salad on my next visit. Limited seating, primarily set up for "to go". If I lived closer to this place, I would probably buy something there fairly often. Liked the clean and modern decor. read more

The bread was crusty on the outside and soft in the inside... I got the Chinese pork banh mi and it was exactly what I'd hoped for. The beef noodle soup (pho) was delicious, more flavorful than other, fancier phos I've had in the area. Ba Le took the place of the old Thai grocery store my family had been going to all my life (I heard the owner retired), and I guess after eating here, I am okay with that. read more

came here to try the macarons, stood there for probably 15 min was originally waiting to try to figure out which ones to get by them.. but then the lady kept attending those in the sandwich line she even looked at me and never came to attend to me... got fed up for waiting and left thank goodness i didnt end up buy this dinky little macarons headed over to alliance bakery! really poor service here. read more

I've only had bahn mi and che bap from here but I like this place a lot. The bahn me is a little sweet but the price is reasonable and the flavor of the veggies is good despite being a little heavy handed. This is the only place I've so far been able to even find che so that's enough for me. The space is always clean and there seems to be a lot of variety so there are plenty of reasons to make multiple trips. read more

About a 2.5: My friend and I were really excited to check this place out. They are supposedly known for their Vietnamese sandwiches, but since we had already eaten dinner, we decided to check out their bakery good instead. The bakery was very packed and very busy, and the staff were in a rush to cater to all customers who walked in. They were friendly and willing to explain each of the items that they were selling. There were drinks infused with ginger and coconut milk; dessert with sticky rice, yellow and red bean, coconut shavings; quail eggs; there were egg rolls; and there were dried plums that were vacuumed shut to get it to go. We grabbed one that looked like green mochi that was covered with yellow sesame, served with a cup of coconut milk (I wasn't a fan as it tasted like sweet sticky rice with very dry yellow bean; the coconut milk didn't seem to add much to it). We also tried something that looked similar to crepes that had a filling of sticky rice, coconut shavings and peanut bits; the big sesame ball that was next to the egg rolls was very nice, I thought, as they were chewy and wonderfully sweet in texture. We also tried the banana leaves that were wrapped around sticky rice, red beans, and coconut shavings - I didn't like this as I didn't like the combo of the flavors. It seems as if the ingredients are usually the same for all of their dessert, but I'd like to go back and get more of their sesame balls and try out their hoagies. +sesame balls read more

Just an off day I'm assuming but everything looked old so I left as quickly as I walked in over across the street to tank noodle there's a bit of a wait there but we'll worth it... sorry bale maybe next time read more