Simply Banh Mi

MSG phở! Horrible service! The waitress was talking on the phone very loudly during our whole meal

If you have a hangover and your around Georgetown, this is a great spot to get a good bowl of Phở, and a spicy Bahn Mi. Prices are good for the portion size, and the fact they offer a half portion Phở is nice too.

DC does not have enough Vietnamese places as my hometown of San Jose, and homegirl cannot be trekking to Eden Center every time she wants some food… but wow, this place is really great.
+ Truly affordable, especially given the area! Most banh mi’s are $ 7.50.
+ Banh mi’s are delicious… I found mine to have plenty of pork belly & the veggies were fresh.
+ Quick service. My friend received her zucchini fries less than 5 min after ordering.
+ Friendly staff. Same friend did not like her boba and they graciously refunded her.
+ Plenty of outlets for you major phone users
While the space is on the smaller end, there was always a seat for every party that arrived. I did not get a chance to try the phở here but the banh mi’s alone are worth a second visit! :)

The owner is super nice and fun to talk to! A bit pricey but somewhat worth the money. The meats they use for the pork belly banh my and beef brisket are really tasty! The boba is a little sweet but I am sure customers can request to have it done the way they would personally like.

I am seriously salivating at my desk while I think back to the banh mi I ate here. The sandwich was enormous and stuffed with lemon chicken, carrot slaw, and drizzled with fish sauce. I also tried the rice bowl with lemongrass pork… and OMG I am definitely getting this meat in my sandwich next time. The rice bowl was huge and pretty much just a deconstructed banh mi. I prefer my carbs in bread form, so I’ll stick with the sammie. The food took longer than Chipotle but less time than a sit-​down restaurant. I didn’t mind waiting because everything was so fresh.

The restaurant owners are so nice! I really enjoyed my banh mi, I would have loved to try the phở as well, but glad I didn’t order it because the sandwich was pretty filling.
You can somewhat customize your sandwich.
1) Choose a base (you can get banh mi, vermicilli noodles, salad)
2) Choose your protein
3) Sauces
4) Extras
Overall, I was pleasantly surprised by my experience. But I also came in with no expectations. Also, apparently this place was downstairs before, but is now upstairs. If you’ve been here before, you’ll know what I mean.
So yeah definitely try this place, especially great place for people who only eat zabiha/​halal food!

This place is delicious, and a great price! Their peanut sauce is perfect and they pile the fillings into the sandwich. And don’t forget to order the boba tea!

Loved the food and our boba drinks. Tiny space with several tables (mainly for two). Order took a little bit to arrive but they were busy on a Sunday afternoon & it was worth the wait. We ordered the BBQ pork belly banh mi and the garlic shrimp banh mi. Both were delicious– bread was not too hard, not too soft, as expected, the pickled veggies in them were fresh & tasty. Thought the garlic shrimp had more flavor than the BBQ pork belly. Would def return for everything including the friendly service.

Did you just move to DC? Are you a (self described) foodie? How many Instagram food pictures is too many? Do you think H St. NE is fun? Then you absolutely must try this place out! Look at all those awesome reviews. Maybe you’ll see some of your friends driving past while you wait in line to get that item your co-​worker at that sweet internship you just landed has been talking about all week.
If you don’t fall into the category above, don’t fall for this place and the reviews. You have to wait forever to get to the ordering table. The food is absolutely mediocre — specifically the salad, which completely sucked. I guess they’re known for their sandwich… but why then even bother with the aforementioned salad on the menu.

I heard about this place by word of mouth from a friend who loved it. So what about this place caught my attention? They have halal phở and bahn mis?! Are you kidding me?! I’d only had phở once before that a friend made and it was very delicious. A halal Vietnamese place is unheard of so my wife and I jumped at the first opportunity to check it out on a weekday evening.
The manager, a young man, was very nice and welcoming. He said that unfortunately they were out of bahn mi for the day (it was near closing time) but he explained the other options. We had the lemongrass beef phở and lemongrass chicken rice bowl with Thai ice tea boba. Everything came out in about 10 mins (it wasn’t busy). The rice bowl was fresh and delicious but without a doubt, the phở was the star and A-​freagin-​MAZING! I ended up slurping right from the bowl to finish off the broth. All of the ingredients in both dishes seemed fresh and oh so flavorful.
Do yourself a favor and visit this place, especially if you require halal options. BTW, I have to mention what a lovely family it is that runs this place. Great customer service and attitudes can’t be appreciated enough! And it’s very thoughtful of them to use halal meat because why not? Brings more customers through the doors :-D

I’m a big fan, and I end up ordering from Simply Bahn Mi a few times a month — mostly their vermicelli chicken and pork lemongrass bowls. The ingredients are fresh, and the price is right. John and team are doing a great job, and they’ve just opened the upstairs dining room and so I look forward to eating there sometimes.
Note: I wouldn’t recommend the $ 2 of the chopped Spring roll add-​on. The roll is really small, and is not worth it for ¼ the cost of the entire bowl.

OMG yes!!!
Holey MOLEY!
Yes!!!
Oh YES!!!
I have only had SBM delivered — but I can tell you this: YES!
Oh the sandwiches are so big and full and tasty — crispy aubergine, WHY YES!
The Phở is excellent — when delivered they even supply sliced peppers!
Olé
And did I mention affordable, gosh this place is cheap and wonderful!!!
Simply Banh Mi is SIMPLY DELICIOUS!

Leaving the Bay Area in California was hard for me and my partner for so many reasons, but one of them is not having good Asian food in the area.
It’s been 9 years since we lived in DC and just within a year did we find this place. I’m so glad we did too. I think this is the best Vietnamese place in DC. The phở (my favorite) is wonderful especially with a poached egg. My partner always gets the lemon chicken banh mi with peppers and fried eggplant (which he’s obsessed with).
We also got the boba and we’re happy with it. There so many things I want to give a try, but honestly I have a hard time trying out something new when I love the phở so much. If I could, I would come here more often, but Georgetown can be difficult for us to get to. However, on cold days or long nights (the day before) nothing beats a large bowl of phở to make
my day better.
The restaurant is small (though they’re in the process of moving to the main floor), but is filled with such friendliness of the staff. Each time we come, we’re greeted so warmly by the owner, which makes me love this place so much more. I definitely feel that most places in DC lack this genuine of customer service.
Definitely give this place a try– you’re welcome.

If you read my reviews you know that one thing can make or break my experience… customer service. We were immediately greeted by the owners son. He was extremely friendly and helpful. My boyfriend is Vietnamese so he knew what to get. I needed a little help! The owners son (ugh I should have remembered his name!) helped me decide what to get. We decided on lemongrass beef banh mi with fried eggplant. It was AMAZING! All of the flavors went together in perfect harmony. We also tried the egg rolls. They were delish as well! While waiting for our food I picked up a vietnamese cookbook off the shelf. The owner wrote it! Once we got our food, she came out and greeted us and made sure we had everything we needed. Overall amazing customer service and amazing food for a reasonable price. We will be back!

Definitely the best banh mi I have had in the area (I will caveat this with the fact that I haven’t yet been to eden center). It is a hole-​in-​the-​wall but the best kind, with awesome and friendly service. They have plans on expanding upstairs soon with additional seating which will be super nice. I say all this because I will absolutely be back! This is exactly the type of food I will travel long distances for.
I ordered the lemongrass pork banh mi with fish sauce (they let you choose your sauce here, lots of meats to choose from and exciting add-​ons as well). The baguette was perfect, the meat, sauces and veggies all were the best combination of savory flavors. I also got the jackfruit smoothie with yogurt jellies (the kind that pop with liquid, so amazingly good) which was perfectly sweet and delicious. You definitely can’t go wrong with either of those choices.

This place definitely has its ups and downs. First, the service here is fantastic. My food came out within 5 minutes of ordering, and the man at the counter was excessively attentive. Despite the fast service, my food was still properly prepared and delicious! On top of that, the prices are very reasonable!
However, this place is a tiny easy-​to-​miss basement restaurant. The tables were small and right up against each other. It was so cramped that I would compare it to flying economy. Moreover, the interior design of this place screams for a much needed renovation.
But overall, I am very willing to tolerate a cramped and ugly restaurant for the amazing food and service Simply Banh Mi has to offer!

Solid food, excellent service, fresh ingredients and the cherry on the top– the sugarcane juice!
Had such a good meal here! The husband got the banh mi with lemongrass chuck and I got the salad with the lean pork. Both were amazing. Presentation was superb and all the ingredients tasted very fresh!
Hard to find initially and parking can be a bit daunting.
Average price is about $ 9 after all the toppings etc.

This place is a little hole-​in-​the-​wall hidden Georgetown/​Glover Park Gem. They have limited hours, but you can tell they put a lot of hardwork into maintaining and running this place. The people you are ordering from are probably the owners!
In the basement of a small building, there are only a few tables inside. If it is not cold outside, they have a slightly larger patio! But if you are coming with a group or ordering a lot of food, don’t expect to dine in!
Menu is fairly large. I went with the salad, and it was delicious! I added crispy eggplant, because that sounded even more delicious. They have plenty of sauces to offer and even more if you want to add it yourself. Friends of mine got the sandwiches and phở — all looked amazing!
Prices are fair and somewhat cheap for the area. My salad was a good size, and the sandwiches were plenty of food! The meat was tender and you could tell it was cooked to order.
Like I said before, a gem of glover park! I love locally owned restaurants, and I know I will be back since I work in the area. The service is great and pleasant, they brought us ice waters without asking. It can be somewhat slow because they prep everything in their small kitchen, but nothing that isn’t worth the wait!

The service was great: very attentive, readily addresses the various customer concerns (helped a man get up the steep steps; answered an interrogation worth of questions about third party delivery services); provided menu suggestions and managed substitutions well.
Boba: I waited about 15 minutes for my boba. Nothing special. The boba itself was flavorless, the Vietnamese iced coffee it was floating in was alright, also lacking in flavor.
Banh Mi: I asked for whatever their most popular banh mi sandwich was, and received a crisp, fresh roll with BBQ pork belly, carrots, cilantro, jalapeños, and cucumber. It was delicious! I was missing the Banh Mi sandwiches from home, and this absolutely didn’t disappoint. If they can get their boba game on point, this would be a 5 star lunch spot.

This is a very small basement place in Georgetown. Fortunately, there are plenty of nice outdoor areas to eat nearby, weather permitting.
They have some nice vegetarian options, but oddly, they do not list all of them through Eat24 (i.e. the thing I usually use for takeout orders). I couldn’t get the actual banh mi, nor the pleasant-​looking veggie phở that other reviewers liked, nor any combos (if I were the restaurant, I would do something about this). Of course, if I wasn’t using this app, I could have avoided this problem, but I wouldn’t have been in and out in a flash and I wouldn’t have been able to use my handy coupon. I ended up with a salad and rolls instead.
I wasn’t awe-​inspired by the salad itself, and there were a few iffy bean spouts mixed in with the expected pickled daikon and carrots and an excess of cucumber. However, I will say that their fried tofu is quite good; whatever they’re doing results in a nice crisp exterior and a burst of flavor. The rolls were better; the Vietnamese really know their rolls in my experience, and these included more of that fried tofu along with vegetables and basil in a cool clear wrapper and and a lively dipping sauce.
It’s certainly nice to be able to be able to get decent food in Georgetown for not that much. I’d rate them higher if I could actually order the things I wanted and if they were open later (closed at 7 daily, FYI).