Kims Cafe & Sandwiches

Albany, United States

4.1

Closed now

20 reviews

Accepts Credit Cards
Free Wi-Fi

Contacts

QR code, vCard

Telephone:
+1 510-525-2538
Address:
1309 Solano Ave Ste F, Albany, CA, 94706
b/t Key Route Blvd & Pomona Ave
Nearby public transportation stops & stations:
980 ftSolano & Santa Fe
0.3 miSolano & Curtis
0.4 miSolano & Peralta
Categories:
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Bussiness info

Takes Reservations
No
Delivery
No
Take-out
Yes
Accepts Credit Cards
Yes
Good For
Lunch
Parking
Street
Bike Parking
Yes
Good for Kids
Yes
Good for Groups
Yes
Attire
Casual
Ambience
Casual
Noise Level
Quiet
Alcohol
No
Outdoor Seating
No
Wi-Fi
Free
Has TV
No
Waiter Service
Yes
Caters
Yes

Today

Today 10:30 am – 7:00 pm
Closed now
Local time (Albany) 20:07 Wednesday, 25 June 2025

Business hours

Monday 10:30 am – 7:00 pm
Tuesday 10:30 am – 7:00 pm
Wednesday 10:30 am – 7:00 pm
Thursday 10:30 am – 7:00 pm
Friday 10:30 am – 7:00 pm
Saturday 10:30 am – 7:00 pm
Sunday 11:00 am – 6:00 pm

Description

Specialties

we sell vietnamese sandwiches in baguette. we also sell vermicelli, salads, and spring rolls

History

Established in 2011.

we were thinking if opening a coffee shop but we thought there is not alot of vietnamese sandwich places

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20 reviews of Kims Cafe & Sandwiches

No registration required
Place rating: 4
Berkeley, CA
I’ve been here about four times. LOVE the combo banh mi. Food prices are definitely within the acceptable range for Solano Avenue. I’ve also had the salad — very good, and I found the quantity to be enough for two adults.
One slight quibble: on a visit in December 2015, the BBQ pork was very dry and overcooked; seemed to have been sitting around for a long time. Since then, each time I’ve ordered BBQ pork it was tender, fresh, and correctly seasoned. I hope the one mis-​step is an exception. I would have preferred to be told «our pork is a bit stale today; would you like something else instead on your sandwich?», or for them simply to have declined serving it until some fresh could be cooked.
The staff are very nice and accommodating. I also enjoy the unfinished, casual feel of the back room. There is something about its chaos and ambiance that reminds me of places I’ve eaten in Vietnam. Please don’t fix it up!!!
Place rating: 4
Oakland, CA
I loves Kim’s Café. Are there other Vietnamese places that will let you have cabbage instead of noodles in soup? This place has «people who deny themselves delicious carbs» pegged. You want phở without all the self loathing and bloating? This is your place!
Disclaimer, sometimes I count calories, sometimes I don’t. The noodles are awesome too. I also love Kim’s salads; it’s a giant bowl of raw veggies and delicious sauteed/​fried pork, lemongrass chicken, bbq chicken or lemongrass tofu, and they are all extremely filling and tasty.
I work down the street, and this is probably the place I’d choose to get lunch at the majority of the times I fuck up and forget my lunch on my kitchen counter at home.
Place rating: 4
Berkeley, CA
Found, ordered and paid via Unilocal!Ready in about 15 minutes.
Ordered the bbq pork banh mi. So much flavor. Wasn’t sure if the 6″ would be enough food so I ordered the 9″ for just a couple bucks more. So full! The smaller one will do just fine in the future.
Also got the Vietnamese iced coffee. Perfectly sweetened. Fresh, tasty coffee flavor.
Will absolutely return!
Place rating: 5
Emeryville, CA
Delicious! The spring rolls and peanut sauce are on point. Sandwiches were exactly what we wanted. Definitely coming back!
Place rating: 5
North Berkeley, Berkeley, CA
Great Vietnamese fare! We ordered the BBQ pork bahn mi and the grilled pork vermicelli bowl and were not disappointed. Both were delicious! If you’re sensitive to spice make sure to take off the jalapeños! Kim’s mango mint iced tea is also cool and refreshing!
Place rating: 5
Contra Costa County, CA
Total hole in the wall but the food was delicious, service was good, and the sitting area in the back is warm and inviting. We had a curry tofu banh mi, a curry chicken banh mi, and a noodle soup. Everything was great and very reasonably priced. We’ll be back!
Place rating: 2
Berkeley, CA
over the past year, I’ve experienced this café to steadily go downhill. Today was the last day
I will TRY to eat their so called food. Ordered Grilled Pork Salad, pork was shoe leather and I just couldn’t bite through this dry, tasteless crap. Get your game on Kim’s, other Americans
may think this is the bomb, guess what? Put less sugar in your awful soup broth and try a juicier cut of pork that you don’t leave in the chafing dish for hours and hours. You’ve lost me as a customer. owner didn’t blink when I gave her the bowl of shoe leather and told her of my disappoinment… Try Monster Phở, no sugar in broth
Place rating: 4
San Francisco, CA
our go-​to for Phở or Banh Mi sandwiches on Solano Ave.
Place rating: 4
San Francisco, CA
I love their BBQ chicken sandwiches. The bread Kim’s uses is high quality baguette and the pickled carrots and daikon radishes in their sandwiches are perfectly crunchy and bitter. I also love their fresh shrimp spring rolls. They are huge! This place is fairly inexpensive for high quality food. My only three problems are that sometimes they run of out ingredients toward the end of the day, they close early (6:00 p.m. I believe) and a few times their chicken has been so tender/​overcooked that it becomes hard to chew. Overall, I love this place.
Place rating: 5
Albany, CA
Great sandwiches with a kick! You can get either a 6 inch or 12 inch with lots of fixings!
Place rating: 3
Civic Center/Tenderloin, San Francisco, CA
The wait was a bit long, and it seemed that they were running a little understaffed. Everyone was running around, and I had the person at the counter take a call while taking my order. I started with their shrimp spring rolls, peanut sauce was a bit watered down. There sandwich was great, I went with the classic Pork & Pâté. And their iced Vietnamese coffee was strong, which is something rare nowadays.
Place rating: 5
Berkeley, CA
Delicious, fresh, and cheap Banh mi. Make sure you put the two sauces on (bottles in the back by the café). Great for vegetarians and vegans.
Place rating: 5
Albany, CA
We have been visiting since they started. The food has been consistently excellent. We love the addition of the soups with vermicelli and tofu plus veggies.
Definitely a vegan and vegetarian friendly place.
Must try Lemongrass tofu Soups.
Place rating: 5
Hercules, CA
You have to try the combination soup! Also the pork fresh spring rolls.
The combination soup has ton of meat and the broth is spicy with a hint of sweetness. It is also topped with a peanuts as a garnish.
We eat phò almost weekly and have gone to probably gone to every Vietnamese restaurant in the East Bay. Although this (combination) isn’t a ‘traditional’ Phó soup, it is the best tasting Vietnamese soup I have had to date.
Sandwiches are pretty decent also, but I like Bahn Mi Ba Le in El Cerrito for sandwiches. This place is my go-​to for soup and fresh spring rolls.
Place rating: 5
El Cerrito, CA
Their sandwiches are good but their Lemongrass chicken salad is for me their standout dish.
Its piled high with finely chopped salad, a mildly sweet lemongrass dressing and topped with a generous layer of chicken in peanut sauce. You can dine outside or in a comfy, although homey, dining area. At $ 7 its the best deal in town.
I cant wait to go back…
Place rating: 4
Daly City, CA
The sandwiches and spring rolls taste so fresh here. It can be a bit pricey compared to other vietnamese sandwich places, but a 9-​in for 6 bucks is totally worth it!
Place rating: 2
Newark, CA
This is for their banh mi mostly.
I was a little low on cash, bahn mi’s are cheap and usually delicious and this was on the way home.
Got their lemongrass chicken and their vietnamese coffee. The banh mi was a little more expensive than your usual but still affordable and cheaper than other sandwich spots.
Their banh mi was suuuuuuper dry though! The chicken was not moist or flavorful at all… where’s the lemongrass? The meat and pickled vegetable to bread ratio was pretty poor too, especially considering that the bread was pretty dry/​not very light either. Major disappointment.
The coffee wasn’t bad though.
The service was really friendly but if you’re gonna charge more than most places for a sandwich it’s gotta be better than those places as well.
Again I think (generally) people’s lack of options are driving them here like most Asian places as you go more north in the east bay.
Place rating: 4
East Bay
We haven’t been here for awhile and I’m not sure why.
We used to go to the popular bahn mi place on San Pablo
but the son got food poisoning so we’re reluctant to go there.
Mr Rinky got some sandwiches to go.
Mr Rinky and I both had the tofu sandwiches.
Son of Rinkys had a chicken sandwich.
They used ACME baguette so the sandwiches are delish!
The ingredients are all so fresh.
The owner is very sweet and welcoming.
We’ll be coming back!
Place rating: 3
Oakland, CA
They make a decent Banh Mi sandwich, although not at the low end of the price scale compared to other places, the sandwich was of good size and tasty. Good mix of vegetables, jalapeño, meat, bread is very good.
Interior front is almost like a hallway, Narrow and lacking any ambiance, with kitchen in the back and addtional seating there as well. A couple of tables on the back patio but it’s not much in the way of atmosphere either.
Only sugar free drinks in the cooler were water and diet coke. Would b nice to see some other low sugar options like unsweetened tea.
If you’re on Solano Avenue and get that Banh Mi craving, stop in by all means.
Place rating: 4
Berkeley, CA
I made an order to go for Chicken Spring rolls. I didn’t know you could choose lemongrass or BBQ chicken.
I arrived after 15 minutes. My food still wasn’t ready. Service was eh.
Then after 5 mins my food was done. The employee was super nice and opened the door for me (I had a stroller). I totally appreciated that and the slow service was forgotten.
The food was pretty good! $ 4.50 for 3 large lemongrass spring rolls. The side of peanut sauce was the perfect size. They used mint inside the rolls instead of Thai basil (I liked it that way).
I’ll go back sometime soon.