Banh Mi Che Cali

I always order the same things at Vietnamese restaurants: charbroiled pork with vermicelli and egg rolls. This place makes it just as good as most, at a very reasonable price (around $ 7.00) plus you can get extra egg rolls for I think $ 1.50 for 2. Yum! I make them at home, and this seems like a great bargain, when I don’t have to stand there for what seems like forever, chopping, mixing, and frying.
You order at the counter and wait. How long you wait is usually 10 – 20 minutes, depending on how busy they are, at lunchtime. I will definitely return, especially since the warm weather is here.

Staff was super friendly and offered suggestions. Prices were very inexpensive and they had a lot of specials. Everything was fresh and the food was tasty! I can’t wait to come back and try their variations of banh mi.

Service is better. Cashiers are pretty quick. If you are getting ready made items, you are in and out.
Bonus star because this place opens at 6am. My husband and I will get banh mi here early in the morning because he only has a 30 minute lunch break.
They do not charge for extra veggies in the sandwiches!!! Lee’s will charge you for extra veggies.

If I could give zero stars for this place I would… The customer service is nonexistent here… From the employees to the employers, no one here understands what customer service means. I have never felt so angry and upset like this before. If you want the worst service, come to this place

I love this place. The food here is like dirt cheap and the quality is not bad either. Those ladies behind the counter are really nice, slightly obnoxious sometimes with their tones. That’s okay though; it’s a cultural thing. Come here if you want good food for cheap prices.

False advertisement. My drinks were dropped and I didn’t even get my free drinks. Most of the food is gone by 7pm. So I spent more time on the drive thru picking items that they haven’t ran out off. sucky service. mean lady at the drive through!!!

My first experience wasn’t bad as some of the other reviews are. The young lady who took my order didn’t understand English very well. I asked if they take ATM and she said no. I asked «you don’t take ATM?» She looked puzzled and then her co-​worker translated for her. Then she said that it’s a minimum $ 7 charge to use your ATM. Thankfully I had enough for my meal.
There were only 6 other people eating inside and it still took 20 min for my one bowl of soup.
I had the chicken noodle soup. I’ve had better but it was actually tasty and satisfying. I also ordered a couple of crispy egg rolls which were pretty tasty.
I may come back when I’m in a pinch as I live in the neighborhood. It’s close and very inexpensive.

This review is only for their morning manager’s customer service. She doesn’t smile and just has terrible customer service.

I know I shouldn’t eat out all the time, but this Banh Mi Che Cali is the best. I dine there at least 5 times a week. I had been a few of BMCC, but the services here are just over the top. They made couple special orders for me. They just made pork skin spring rolls (off menu items) for me today. I love them (the spring rolls) so much. Thank you.

Another BMCC in SGV. I go to this one because it’s close. Food is good and service is pretty decent. The prices are cheap ! Phở Ga for $ 3.99. And even though their board says bun bo hue is $ 5.95, they only charge $ 4.49. Can’t beat that!
Drinks are good. Their bobas are always the right consistency and they give you plenty of them.
The sandwich station looks clean. I always ask for extra pâté on my banh mi’s. They always comply with no extra charge. And if you watch the lady make them, you can have her cut the sandwiches in half for you before she wraps them up.
Parking is usually no problem and they offer drive-​thru! They’re opening up a market and bakery store right next door. That should be interesting.

Banh Mi Che Cali is consider by some as McDonald version of Vietnamese Food. Food here is very cheap and probably lowest in 626 in most of the selection.
This is smaller than other Banh Mi Che Cali location, also is less crowded which I prefer. It located in peck road in the busy section of El Monte. This was a usual location.
I only been here once and already eager to go back. I try their spring rolls and the 3 color desserts. Those were as good as I remember, the spring rolls has everything (pork, shrimp) it was in the mid $ 3 is a total steal, so is the 3 color dessert which is little bit over 2 bucks is almost half what you paid in the restaurant.
I would much rather goes here than Mcdonald and that’s the bottom line.

From my personal experience during the drive thru.
Banh Mi Che Cali is well known for its food and I’ve had it plenty of times. Recently, a new location opened near me and I’ve ventured out there to pick up some Vietnamese coffee for myself.
First visit: I usually go through the drive thru because I only get one thing which is the coffee and there is never a line. The lady was quite slow in responding and I had to wait many many minutes before I was told to pull up to the window and order there. Fine, got my coffee and went on my way.
Second visit: I wanted my coffee for myself and a few of my coworkers and once again, many many minutes waiting for someone to assist me. I finally gave up and went straight to the window where another vehicle was waiting. I finally got fed up ten minutes into waiting and called them and let the lady know I’d been waiting. She told the other car to move up a bit.
Here is why I’m giving it 4 stars– the lady who usually does the drive thru orders and I chatted for a bit. I could have been angry and yelling but you know what, I’ve done customer service. I understand that sometime it’s not their faults. Management won’t hire more help. She appreciated that I understood and that plenty of customers have already yelled at her. I didn’t need to add to it. I myself genuinely appreciated that she understood that it’s not our faults as customers. She took responsibility for the slowness.
Tips-​just don’t go through the drive thru. Go inside.

My first time here and I loved it! It’s great to Finally have a good, affordable place near me.
I ordered the bbq pork sandwich combo which included any sandwich, your Choice of boba and a side (salad, fries or onion rings) for only $ 5.75
Boba’s are 2.75 buy 1 get 1 free.
I honestly recommend the place. In El Monte, its hard to find a good phở place and they also have a drive thru.

They didn’t have the boiled peanuts here :(
Got #7 — Shrimp, Charboiled Meat and eggroll with vermicelli noodles to go — subpar. The shrimps and eggroll was decent, but the meat was chewy and the noodles were hard still. Even with the fish sauce poured over it, didn’t help. Ended up throwing away the rest of the food and eating only the proteins and egg roll. What a waste of $ 6.30.
Though I did like that they had unlimited to go bowls and utensils placed out there with the condiments if you need more. They also have the same drinks and Banh Mi Dac Biet deals like the one in Rosemead on Valley Blvd. Though, they can’t compare to that one.
Would only be coming here for drinks. The luncheon meats for the sandwiches didn’t look fresh.

The phở is Good & drinks too but that’s it!
Spring rolls are very sad to eat since most Viet food places make them food but I actually threw mine away:
Take out is sub par, I even got really cold Vermicelli noodles with my #27, so sad

They have gotten much better since the first time I went. It was probably because they had just opened and just trying to settle in.
I ordered the number 7, an order of spring rolls, egg rolls and an appetizer special (no, not everything belonged to me hehe).
They are pretty generous with their servings and I could not finish what I got (#7: shrimp, bbq pork and an egg roll over noodles). Food was fresh and delicious.
I’m very happy that they improved since this place is close to work and the food is pretty healthy. And, I love the fact that they have a drive thru!
Service is great and the cashiers are always so friendly and helpful.

3 stars —spring roll, basic
4 stars — combination beef phở, taste good plus cheap price
5 stars —beef stew with French bread. this is not your regular stew
4 stars — milk tea with pudding and jello
This place is a bit more pricy then the sister store in San Gabriel

YAY finally they open up a place near my work! food here is cheap but the quality is ok. You get what you pay for. its not bad. some food are still good. This use to be a chinese to go place.
I always go for their Special Noodle Combination Soup. $ 5.95 for a bowl of PHO?! comes with beef, tendon, tripe along with side condiments like bean sprouts, chili, lemon & basil leave. add all those into your soup and enjoy!
Chicken noodle soup is also good.
MY BF loves the chicken curry with rice whenever we come here. Chicken thigh meat is tender and falls off the bone. squeeze some lemon on top and enjoy with rice.
I also love their desserts! buy 2 get 1 free at $ 2.25 each or somewhere around there.
boba milk tea/​pudding milk tea is also buy 1 get 1 free at $ 2.75
i personally dont like their sandwiches. the flavor and meat is lacking so i rather go to the legit Vietnamese places to get the sandwiches.

Defiantly the place to go if your on a budget. Keep in mind just like many other Vietnamese restaurants the service is not the most friendly, organized or easy to understand but the speed of the preparation is decent.
Sandwiches: Are buy 2 get 1 free @ $ 6.00 they have to much mayonnaise and due to preparation being quick sometimes comes with surprise ingredients for example if you order BBQ Pork there might be chicken or other meats that are accidentally added during the process in fact I had a rubber band added inside my sandwich this morning. They should defiantly be a little more careful considering some people have allergies.
Phở: If you dine in the taste is great! However if you take it to go I would agree with the previous review that the ingredients including the meat and soup are not hot therefore you might want to warm them up at home.
Although the service and preparation of the food need more work, overall this place has the potential to get more customers if they treat their customers with some decency and take the time to do quality control before they deliver the food to the customer.
Nonetheless if your looking for economic food and don’t mind the service this place is defiantly the place for you.

A New Banh Mi place in El Monte. That’s a good thing. This location use to be a Chinese Fast Food. Now it’s taken over by Vietnamese/​Chinese. They pretty much offered the same menu as other location. One thing different is that they offer Chinese food in a Combo price package, similar to how Panda Express does it.
The food looked a bit Stale & dried out. It’s been sitting under the heat lamps for some time. Maybe because the location is still new & not too many people are aware of items offered here. Since the place is still fairly new, they seem to lack alot of things that other location had on display.
This location offers a Drive Thru. I haven’t tried it so I don’t know how efficient they are at the window. Boba Milk Tea is still buy 1 get 1 free. Sandwiches is also buy 2 get 1 free. Let’s give this place some more time to pick up & see what else is offered. The staff on the other hand is very friendly.