Parisian Bakery 2 & Cafe

Hungry and need a snack in a hurry but don’t want to fuss with crazy Chinatown traffic?! Stop by this convenient Parisian Bakery & Café location (where the old Viet Hoa used to be on Beechnut & Wilcrest before it got super sized and relocated to Beltway & Beechnut) for your freshly baked bread and a variety of Vietnamese snacks/​pastries here!
Prices have increased over the years for their French bread– it’s now $ 1.25 for 3 large or 5 small ones. My mom always buys their bread weekly to make sandwiches for lunch. The bakery supplies many of the Asian grocery stores and restaurants/​cafes with their bread. They have 3 locations in the Chinatown area. Just toast up some bread in the toaster oven and it will taste heavenly– thin, crunchy outer layer and soft, tasty goodness on the inside. You will be in carb heaven!!! Make sure to try the pâté chaud (pastry with meat filling– it’s the Vietnamese version of an empanada) and the giant-​sized, buttery croissants. They have a decent banh mi station there too– buy 5 sandwiches, get 1 free but I prefer the ones at Don’s or Nguyen Ngo. The sweet sticky rice with chicken is a good to-​go option for lunch. I sometimes get the banh bao (steamed savory bun) or banh gio (minced pork and rice dumpling) for lunch too. Every now and then I’ll even get the crunchy palmier cookies (they are puff pastry sheets molded to look like elephant ears, then baked to caramelize the sugar). Depending on the season, they have fresh pressed sugar cane juice too, which is a real treat for those hot summer days. They add some kumquat juice to the sugar cane juice, giving it a sweet and citrusy taste.
Go grab a few bags of freshly baked bread and you’ll be coming back on a regular basis. There must be drugs in the bread because I am addicted to it! The location is less busier than the Dun Huang or the Viet Hoa shopping plaza, so I prefer this location the most. However, beware of shady people/​beggars since this shopping plaza has become very run down over the years. Just grab the goodies that you want/​need and quickly go!

The shopping center looks a little run-​down, as does the inside of the store, but overall, the Vietnamese sandwiches are really good. I’ve had the meatball, combination, barbecue pork, and grilled chicken on multiple occasions, and all of them have been flavorful and good. As a bonus, the french bread is a good texture (not too hard and not too soft), they don’t skimp on the buttery mayo, and the sandwiches are buy 5, get 1 free ($ 3-​$ 3.50 each).
As some downsides, the inside looks a little run-​down, there are some houseflies flying around, there’s little seating, it’s a little stuffy (they’re Asian, so they may be saving on A/​C), some of the workers don’t speak/​understand English well, and the desserts (the green sweet cakes and chè) are too sweet for my taste. If you stick with the Vietnamese sandwiches, bread, or other breaded products and order to-​go, you’re good to go!

FYI, if you are looking for birthday cakes, they don’t make them anymore.

I go here for the combination banh mi and to pick up lunch items like steamy pork buns and wrapped dishes to go, but made fresh daily whenever I am in the area.

This location is not what I would consider a café b/​c the place does look a bit run down and it’s in the middle of a ghetto shopping center. HOWEVER, if you just focus on the food, this is the place to get cheap and tasty food!
Do note that this place is a chain and they have their original location and Parisian Bakery 3, all located within the International District. This must tell us something about the popularity of this bakery.
The only reason I go to this location is because the one on the Beltway gets super jam packed from all the horrible traffic in Chinatown.
Anyway, skip the banh mi b/​c it’s horrible here. Get the pastries instead! Their almond croissants are mouth watering delicious and the portions are huge!!!

Thanks April C for the tip on eggroll and fish sauce. I just bought eggrolls and asked if I can get fish sauce with it. Lady #1 firmly tells me they don’t have fish sauce. I was like what? I just read the Unilocal review 10 secs ago complementing them for that. So the lady #1 started Vietnamesing with lady #2. Then lady #2 walks to the sliding door fridge next to lady #1 and took out a small fish sauce in a to-​go container.
WOW! Seriously??? Lady #1 you gonna lie to my face and get busted by one of your own people. Comon’ how you gonna be cheap like that with duc mang?!?
This is my first and last time here.
Parisian Bakery yall should feel ashamed for being el cheapo on them duc mang. This is the first time I feel discriminated against cus I am not Vietnamese!!!

I prefer making my larger orders at this location vs. the one off of Beltway 8. The service is nicer as well, AND this location will give you fish sauce with your Vietnamese eggrolls.
50 cents each, and it doesn’t get cheaper than that anywhere else! Order in advance.
God bless their ham and cheese croissants.

This place is Better than Auchan’s was. The Croissant pastries are awesome. The Cream Puffs are Awesome. The Sesame ball things are Awesome. The eggrolls and yucca fritters are tasty but I warn you of the msg headache sickness that comes with every bite… I’m not kidding. I wish they had it set up like a real café you know espresso drinks tea and such.

Sometimes, I roam the streets of our fair city just to see a different part of town. But, like clockwork, I get a hankering to stuff my maw with something savory. Roaming the wilds of Alief on a vacation day last week, I wanted to try out a new place and consulted the Unilocal Oracle.
Parisian Bakery 2 and Café came up. Who couldn’t love «Paris»? Who couldn’t love a «bakery»? And, it has got to be good since it is the second in this chain, right? Seeing David N’s 5-​star burble clinched it for me, too.
Upon entering, you face a bank of cases with a couple of large clear plastic bins holding the small and large banh mi baguettes on the side. Two tables are next to the drink cooler but this is mainly a to-​go kind of place. The friendly Vietnamese staff are eager to take your order, educate you on the items that are new to you, and upsell you nicely if you want (hooray for capitalism!).
I opted for the «fully Monty» treatment and bought a BBQ-​filled extended bun ($ 2), inquired about this pâté chaud ($ 1.75) item, then bought one to try. Copping a squat at one of the 2 tables, I tore into that BBQ bun: deliciously filled to bursting, it glistened with either an egg wash or some drizzled butter — maybe both. And, it was topped with some chopped bell peppers and green onion. Fantastic bargain.
Moving on to the pâté chaud, it turns out to be a seasoned meatball encased in some flaky luscious pastry. The meatball wasn’t much to my liking but I’m still proud that I tried it out. The pastry, though, was delightful and I ate all of it. I can see how this foundation would make their other offerings better. They also make banh mi but that will wait until a future visit.
All in all, this spot wins for serving superior savory snacks without socking it to your wallet. And, unlike Paris, you won’t need those high-​priced Euros for this place.

Seriously the best Vietnamese sandwiches in town! We drive all the way from the East Side of Houston to feel like we’re in the homeland in Bellaire. If we want sandwiches, it’s always from this place.

Banh mi is good here. I think previous reviewer was there on a bad day or was there on an employees bad day.
Pâté chaud is good and so are the breads.

Best Banh Pâté So in town. (Vietnamese empanada)
It’s just the right about of breading and the meat inside is huge and super flavorful.
Skip the banh mi, probably some of the worst I’ve had.
They also offer amazing cha lua (vietnamese meat roll?), french bread, and many desserts. I had their banh bo which was pretty good also.
Basically, everything BUT the banh mi is amazing!