Sorento Cafe & Sandwiches

This place is closed and long gone now, just in case anyone sees it in a search.

Can’t find!!! Out of business!!!

Service is very very slow. Nice and reassuring it’ll always be another 5 minutes, but very slow non the less. It took about 25 minutes to get a sandwich and a smoothie, and it was 15 minutes before my order was taken, and I was the only one in line.
Sandwich was tasty, but somewhat small. Smoothie was fairly plain. Everyone seems to raving about the phở, and a return trip is tempting, but I dont want to wait all afternoon to eat it.

Sorento is a hidden gem in one of Cupertino’s plazas (next to Mervyn’s)! I came in during the afternoon and was warmly greeted by a very sweet older woman. I was on the hunt for phở, so I ordered a bowl of chicken phở for only $ 5. This is a good deal for phở, so I was surprised to see that each banh mi is $ 3.50.
I’ve actually just discovered life outside of Phở Hua, and let me say it is a pleasant one, with nice, tender meat and clean shops. Yumyum.
When my phở (
) first came, I happily stirred in my sprouts… then excitedly took a bite, to find that my noodles were… al dente. Crunchy phở, anyone? I wondered if it was supposed to be like that, but then decided, after a few more bites, that I could not eat crunchy phở, so I notified the woman, who apologized and promptly took my phở back to the stove.
In a few minutes, my phở was back and perfect! Soft, soothing noodles in a flavorful, peppery, chicken broth. The chicken (skinless) was fresh and abundant. I’d say the only thing missing was a wedge of lime.
So yes, a couple bites of hard noodles aside, the meal was wonderful, warming me inside and out. I’d probably go back and try the beef, and maybe a $ 3.50 sandwich! It sounds cheap but I’m used to paying under $ 2 each for banh mi thanks to Oakland Chinatown.

AH-​MAH-​ZING!
Heard about this from a friend and decided to check it out :) We ordered the beef phở with meat balls, as suggested by my friend, and holy moly. I must say that it definitely was THE best phở I’ve had in Cupertino! A huge, amazingly delicious phở for only $ 6?! Hmmm I’m definitely coming back :)
the lady working there was SO nice and friendly too! she gave us cookies as desserts and i thought it was really nice of her! :] go check it out, you won’t be sorry!

I had the opportunity to dine here not long ago. First of all, let it be known that this place is a very small, quaint type of environment. It has a home-​y type atmosphere.
I particularly enjoyed their chicken phở, which had the right mixture of flavor and crispness (not overwhelming). The soup base was so good, I drank some of it (which I never do at other phở restaurants).
Their sandwiches are priced right and packed full of goodies.
Overall I really enjoy this restaurant!

This place has changed ownership yet again. Years ago it was a Vietnamese sandwich shop. Then this adorable little man took over and made some of the best sandwiches I’ve ever had. He was really slow, but it was worth it. Now it’s being run by two Vietnamese ladies and it’s back to Vietnamese sandwiches as well as phở.
The sandwiches now are pretty standard Vietnamese sandwiches, better than Lee’s to be sure. As I’d expect from a Vietnamese sandwich shop, they’re $ 3 each and I’m still a little hungry after I finish one. I’ll usually get two and save half of one for a snack later.
I’ve had the phở ga, which is chicken broth with noodles and some chunks of white meat chicken. The flavor is pretty good, though not the best I’ve had. I intend to try beef phở as well, though I don’t think I’d go to this place just for the soup.
It’s really a shame that they don’t serve the wide variety of sandwiches that were available before, but what they do serve now is good. I’ll keep going back.

Love the food and their prices! I got the $ 5 turkey, swiss panini sandwich and it was great. If you are looking for a good sandwich that is decent sized but not monstrous this is the place. Yes they aren’t the fastest place around but it’s good and everything tasted fresh. I went at lunch time and it wasn’t crowded.

I think Sorento Café has changed owners and now it’s called the Little Café. This place is one of the best lunch cafes in the area. The sandwiches really hit the spot without hitting the wallet. I especially love their half sandwich half chicken phở combination. The chicken phở (phở ga) is really delicious and more importantly, not oily. Everything from their salads to their Vietnamese sandwiches are fresh and affordable. They even make their own soda and fruit drinks.
Many people have complained about the slow service, but you can always call them before and order. When you come in, your food will be ready. I highly recommend Sorento– I haven’t found another café that gives you great quality food at a descent price.

S-​L-​O-​O-​O-​O-​O-​O-​O-​O-​O-​O-​O-​O-​W!!!
Thought I could grab a «quick» sandwich over lunch and was I so wrong. There was only 1 other person in front of us and no one else in the place. We had to wait 20 minutes just to get 2 basic sandwiches that they offer. The older guy making the sandwiches in the back was hustling in the back so can’t imagine if they actually had 5 customers at the same time.
If it weren’t for the painfully slow service, there’s a lot to like about this place. The sandwiches were pretty tasty (BLT panini) and the one with the eggplant but could have used a bit more grilling/​toasting on the panini. The prices were reasonable (if I recall, $ 4.75 for a panini). And the young girl who took our order was very nice and apologetic for the wait.
Bottom line: If you have lots of time for lunch and aren’t starving, this place would be fine. But if you’re looking for a quick sandwich, this is not the place for you.

reasonable price ($ 3) for a Vietnamese sandwich.
I actually prefer Lee’s crunchier bread, but this place is quiet, has AC on a hot summer day, has reasonably priced smoothies, and also great desserts.
A good place to come hangout on a regular day. =)

If you want a little taste of Europe with a Cali twist and are on a siesta-​style lunch break (meaning you have all the time to chill), come to Sorentos. I loved my prociutto, brie & avocado sandwich. Even though they don’t have a lot of bread varieties, (I’ve only had their whole wheat & sourdough) the sandwiches are simple, fresh and flavorful. I also liked the BLT & Avocado and the egg salad with just the right amount of anchovies. Who knew that combo could taste so good, but it was just the right ratio.
Yes, the service is slower than most, but once you’ve been around the globe a few times, you realize not everyone caters to or has the fast food mentality. It’s about perspective. It’s unfortunate we live in such a demanding society where we’re all overworked and pressed for time and hardly ever take a «real lunch,» So if you actually have the time for a real lunch for once, can enjoy your newspaper or just want sit in the sun, come to Sorento’s for a tasty bite. Just imagine it’s Italy or Spain. At least the food will taste just as good.

I came to this place today for lunch for the first time. The menu is on the floor to the right. But I didn’t know that until it was pointed out to me. Then, the drinks aren’t on the menu, either. They’re in a glass case that I didn’t notice because there were signs on it. Can we say bad UI? ;)
It took FOOOOOORRRREEEEVVVEEERRRRRR. And then when I got my BLT, the bacon was burnt. And not in the good way. I mean to the point where parts of it were like eating coal.
The food was cheap though. And it’s walking distance. But this place won’t be a recommendation from me.

For all you geeks out there, this is a single threaded sandwich shop. Came here with 5 other coworkers and I was the last to get my sandwich. Between the first sandwich arriving at the table to mine, it was well over 30 minutes.
The sandwich itself was pretty tastey — panini roast beef with mushrooms on whole wheat. But that’s probably more the result of the stick of butter that was in the sandwich. Also, whole wheat isn’t your regular panini bread. So that was a little strange.
I love supporting small businesses, but I think this café has been open long enough that they should’ve gotten their stuff together by now.

I came here to lunch today with a coworker, we ordered Vietnamese sandwiches, even though this place wasn’t really Vietnamese from what I can tell? I had the classic sandwich steamed pork and pâté. I *heart* pâté, smooth delicious flavor. My coworker had the BBQ pork one. Then we sat near the window on this beautiful day on their comfy indoor benches and chairs with pillows, best yet, they had good magazines! Vogue, Town & Country, and the piece de la resistance … Star! So then we just sat and flipped through the mags and it almost felt like a weekend.
Mind you it did take a while for the sandwiches to be made, but when I got it mine was delicious. It was a different kind of Vietnamese sandwich, slightly fusiony, it had cooked red onions and some kind of sauce on the veges. I thought it was great. The bread was fresh and toasted. Yum all around for me, and relatively cheap.

I suspect we caught them on a bad day because by «them» I mean «him»: the one employee in the entire restaurant trying to take orders, make food, and serve it.
15 minutes later when I received my prosciutto and brie panini, the ingredients were fresh enough but the cheese was cold and unmelted and the tomatoes runny, spilling over the rest of it and making everything soggy.
Also the Thai iced tea, which at $ 2.95 costs more than some of the sandwiches, just didn’t taste right, like the mix packets had been sitting around in the fridge next to the pork for too long.

ehhh… I read the good reviews about this place and decided to check it out.
It was okay in terms of taste. I ordered a vegetarian Vietnamese sandwich (thinking it would be almost like Lees sandwiches) and a cantaloupe-​honeydew melon smoothie.
It took about 8 minutes to get my food done (I was the only one ordering and the other person already had their food and was eating).
But, I did notice that the sandwiches are made with tender loving care. It had more vegetables in it. However, what really made me not happy (hence the 3 stars given) was that they added a bit of mayonnaise-​like crap on my food (I hate mayo/​dill sauce/​ranch dressing/​etc). Good thing that it was a small smigen of that crap. I tissued paper it out of my sandwich and was grumbling eating my sandwich. They also had eggplant – something I’m not too fond of, but I ate it. I think Lee’s sandwiches would be a better bet, except that Lee’s veggie sandwich is dry tasting and Sorentos is fresh, moist tasting.
The smoothie I had didn’t taste like cantaloupe-​honeydew melon. At first I thought it was pretty good, but I think I tasted a lot like lychee in it and unlike most asians, I don’t like asian fruit; that shit tastes like watered down crap.
So my experience wasn’t that great here.

This friendly little sandwich joint has a fascinating menu. There is something for everyone including a selection of about 8 Vietnamese sandwiches, many standards like roast beef or turkey, vegetarian sandwiches, several delicious sounding panini and even a Lebanese meatball sandwich. They also offer some nice sounding salads. I can’t wait to come back and try a little bit of everything.
This time, upon the owners recommendation, I tried a regular sandwich of fresh mozzarella, tomato, spring greens and house made pesto on wheat. It was very fresh and delicious and obviously made with care. They are a small place and a solo venture from the looks of it so be sure to allow for that. No need to rush a good thing anyway…
Cash only… possibly checks too but I can’t remember for certain.

Having grown up in Cupertino, I don’t know why I’ve never seen this place before, but I’m sure glad I spotted it today. The boy ordered the Sorento Club and I got the panini with roast beef.
The Sorento Club ($ 5.50) was a monster – four inches high and crammed with yummy sandwich goodness. My panini ($ 4.50) had roast beef, sliced portabello mushrooms, cheddar cheese, lettuce, and tomatoes, all between two lightly toasted slices of sourdough.
Delicious, affordable sandwiches with fresh, quality ingredients. It takes a little while for the sandwiches to be made, but when you unwrap them, you’ll definitely see all the love and effort the owner puts into each sandwich creation.
Support local businesses and get your next sandwich at Sorentos!
M-​F 10am to 7pm
Sa-​Su 10am to 5pm

This café is a hidden gem for yummy Vietnamese sandwiches.
It’s located in the Mervyn’s plaza, right next to a hair salon. You really have to drive into the plaza and look around to find it.
I absolutely love their VN (Vietnamese) sandwiches. It tastes so much better than Lee’s Sandwiches or Thanh Houng. They actually use real french baguette and cucumbers in the their sandwiches. Cucumbers are a big plus considering most places stop putting cucumbers in the sandwiches anymore. My favorite is their grilled chicken sandwich. =)