>bánh mì sandwich, cleaned up and ready for recession

Warning: for you foodie people in the know, there's nothing new here. This is
1) a public service announcement mostly for the folks on the East Coast
2) recession food idea #1
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Have you ever declined something potentially good precisely because it was too cheap?

For instance, you've looked down your nose at humble bánh mì/bánh mỳ sandwiches because they cost a mere 2 bucks?

Hygiene issues? Have you ever read a headline, "Man dies from bahn mi poisoning"?

When your wallet feels light, you'd still rather do a Subway sandwich? (Bleh.) You poor souls, please do try Lee's Sandwiches. It's a chain, a sanitized and modernized version of mom-and-pop-hole-in-the-wall Vietnamese shops.

Mind you, these are not as good as the real mom-and-pop-hole-in-the-wall stuff, some of which taste as good as anything anywhere costing ten times more. Still, a sandwich here is at least as good as one from Togo's at half the price.

Pictures are from a light dinner at Lee's in San Francisco's Tenderloin district. Read the numbers on the receipt. (Cream puffs are on another receipt, not pictured. And please excuse my bite. I had to try my dessert first.)

I don't feel poor yet (knocking on that wooden table!) but there's something wonderfully satisfying about a good cheap meal.