By Neal Wong

A new Vietnamese sandwich shop, also offering coffee drinks and iced teas, has begun its soft-opening on Balboa Street near Fifth Avenue. Ghien Banh Mi & Cafe was started by Tuan Luu and Uyen Vu, who also own Luxury Spa.

“I planned this like eight years ago,” Luu said. “Me and my wife – we wanted to do the bánh mì sandwich shop for a long time.”

When Luu was growing up in San Francisco, his mother thought about opening a restaurant, but it never happened. Luu said that he and his wife inherited the idea and also felt that there weren’t enough Vietnamese restaurants in this part of San Francisco, so they thought about opening one. The process was more complicated than they anticipated, so they opened Luxury Spa, a nail salon, instead.

The space next to it used to be a computer shop. When it became available to lease, the couple saw it as their chance to make their restaurant idea a reality. Luu worked through permitting, architectural plans, plumbing, electrical work and construction over the course of roughly a year before the restaurant began its soft opening in May.

Luu credited Vu with choosing the name, which is Vietnamese.

“‘Ghien’ is ‘addicted,’” Vu said. “Customers will come back for more, because it is so good.”

Right now, the menu centers on bánh mì, including a house special sandwich loaded with different types of meat, pâté and additional fillings. Luu hopes to add sticky rice options eventually. On the drinks side, there are fruit teas and Vietnamese drip coffee made with imported robusta beans and traditional filters.

According to Luu, customer response since the soft opening has been encouraging, with people already returning.

“They said they love it,” Luu said. “They’re coming back a lot. They said the coffee is strong and tasty.”

Marie Battle visited for takeout shortly after the began its soft-opening in May.

“We live just a few blocks away, so we were really excited about it,” Battle said.

Battle said so far, she had tried the grilled chicken and grilled pork sandwiches and was returning specifically to have the house special.

“I thought they were really good,” Battle said. “But today, I’m excited to try the special because it has the pâté.”

The food is not the only thing that makes her keep going.

“The location, the nail lady people are very nice, and I really like them, and I really like that they also own this,” Battle said.

Laura Braun, another neighbor, was visiting for the first time.

“The sandwich was great all around: taste, size, price,” Braun said. “It’s a perfect quick lunch spot for our neighborhood.”

She welcomed the addition to the food scene.

“With Tastebuds gone, we need more,” Braun said. “Hopefully, people see the demand over here and it brings more businesses to all the empty storefronts on Balboa.”

Luu said the shop is still in a testing phase and has not yet scheduled a formal grand opening. For now, the focus is on getting it right.

“We will make mistakes, so we just start with this kind of business,” Luu said. “That’s why – soft opening. We do testing, but the revenue needs to be there.”

Ghien Banh Mi & Cafe is located at 407 Balboa St. and is open Fridays to Wednesdays from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.