Gude Gude

I thought this place served up a pretty good bbq pork banhmi. It’s not the best you are going to get but you wouldn’t be sorry you came here. The place is crowded with people playing cards, so it is not as busy as it looks from the outside. The sandwich came on nice rusty bread with plenty of meat. Don’t know if I would be back but this quick stop off is good for a standard banhmi.

The bahn mis really aren’t that great and the price is really not a whole lot less than you’d pay for a much better one. The baguettes are terrible, the chicken was really oily (like fast food), and the cucumbers were stale. Steer clear.

Good small joint with cheap eats.
The bahn-​mi is pretty good at $ 4.
Chicken on a skewer are pretty big and delicious for $ 1.25 per stick.

Their quality has dropped a little, but it’s cheap and that means you can’t complain.

I must say I had low expectations when deciding to come into this place. I was just searching for the closest banhmi to me and saw that this place had solid reviews.
After walking into the place, I almost felt immediate regret, maybe it was the bum that was making a bunch of noise or maybe it was because the menu looks like something I would create when I was in the 5^th grade, but eventually I relented and ordered myself the banhmi.
It was actually surprisingly good. I guess this could count as Chinese style banhmi, The meat used in the sandwich reminded me of the same roast pork that comes in the roast pork buns that you get in a Chinese bakery. The sesame seed bun that it came with was a nice and welcomed touch that I never got anywhere else. I was a little turned off by the amount of mayo (?) in the sandwich but it was an overall good experience and will probably come back again just for the sesame seed bun.

awesome little no-​frills burger/​snack shop. everything is economical and still yummy. brings me back to my childhood (growing up in les/​soho/​chinatown) of after-​school mom and pop kinda joints tht you really cant find around anymore…

What do you do when you find yourself in the L.E.S., given a walkaway lunch hour and have $ 12 to your name?
You talk a nice long nap.
Seeing how I don’t trust sleeping around most people on set (pranks and actors do come hand in hand and finding yourself on YouTube with a condom in your mouth is not the kind of fame one might want) you do THE ONLY THING YOU CAN DO. You walk around aimlessly until the lunch hr finishes.
Or you can have a Unilocal brainstorm and search out places to go to.
I opted for the second choice.
I’m really glad I did because not only did I get food that was both satisfying to my mouth and to my wallet but I also apparently walked into a Dominican novella as there were 3 girls talking VERY loudly in Spanish about what? I sure hope not about the food I’m about to eat…
Platanos Con Salami and Que Lo Que-​ing ALL DAY!
I read some reviews about the $ 2 for 8 fried scallops and $ 4 Pork Baguettes. So, naturally that is what I ordered
The fried scallops would have been enough to tie me over until when I got home. They were decent checker (the board game) sized scallops with a nice golden crust. Great with tartar sauce!
The pork baguette was EFFIN good. The baguette was crunchy almost a little stiff if you know what I mean. The pork was the type that you might find in Chinese food as opposed to pulled pork. Good nonetheless. The carrots and sweet & sour turnip was an excellent touch to complete this sandwich. For $ 4? I should have bought TWO! And the portion was good. I was feeling good after just one sandwich which says a lot.
They do sell bubble tea/​slush but I probably wouldn’t get any drinks from L.E.S. aka Manhattan’s anus. But you never know… I might be thirsty as f – k next time around and just might take that risk.
They have enough seats for 12. 4 seats on each of the 2 tables they have and 4 stools for the solo artists.
Do yourself the favor and check this place out. You won’t regret it.
Oh and do wear something that you won’t mind smelling like burning oil after eating here. It will stick to you like curry. You will smell like McDonald’s fries. You’ve been warned.

This is a bubble tea place that sells Chinese-​style banh mi.
The deal on bubble teas (buy two $ 2.50 bubble teas and get one free), is great, but the drinks are just ok. The bubbles are nice and chewy. My mango tea tasted too much of artificial powder; the jasmin tea with no milk was better, but very light on flavor. The taro milk bubble tea was perhaps the one I like the most.
The choice of banh mi sandwiches is limited to two pork ones, and a chicken one. At just $ 4.00, however, they are a steal. I opted for a BBQ pork banh mi. The baguette was nice and crunchy, and the meat packed a lot of flavor. It definitely tasted like a classic Chinese BBQ pork dish. The pickled carrots were overly sweet, the single long slice of cucumber not as crunchy as I would have liked, and the sandwich could have used an extra spring of cilantro, but overall this was a very enjoyable (and cheap!) banh mi.
Grab a banh mi, a bubble tea, and eat it in the park in front while watching kids play basketball.

Does GUDE GUDE=GOODIE GOODIE!!!
HELL YEAH, this place offers a TON of comfort food goodies to satisfy your hunger!
This place is a hidden gem that serves snack style food items like Burgers, Hot Dogs, Fried Foods, Fish balls on sticks, Satays, Bubble Teas, Smoothies, etc.
I got the Pork Banh Mi ($ 4) and Fried Scallops (8 pieces for ONLY $ 2!!!) The Pork Banh Mi Sandwich was made fresh, HUGE and it was pretty good! Not the best but for $ 4, it seemed SOOO worth it!
Staff or the young Chinese guy behind the counter speaks fluent English and the place is very very casual and I saw a lot of kids coming in here for a quick snack or just to hang out. I even saw a group of young Chinese kids play Chess with this old Black man in one of the tables while having a snack.
If you’re looking for American comfort food like Fried items, a Vietnamese banh mi, Bubble tea, or any Asian snack food item in the area, this is the place to go to. It’s not a fancy or super clean (by this I mean like some tables have crumbs on them and such) but hell, it’s CHEAP and TASTY and where else will you get 8 pieces of scallops for only $ 2??? TOTAL WIN MY DEAR XIE XIE

Terrible. Terrible. Terrible. The tapioca balls were crunchy, and even sandy. The tea itself was a super-​sweet mess. The food sitting in their freezer all had freezer burn on it. Disgusting.

This place is awesome. Where else can you get a viet sub for only $ 4?! My roommate and I were craving banh mi’s during Hurricane Sandy and randomly happened to find this place. Boy, are we glad we did because we haven’t been able to stop talking about it. We got both the chicken bbq and pork bbq and both were SO good. For $ 4 you really can’t go wrong

$ 4 for a banh mi and $ 2.50 for a decent taro bubble tea? I’m there. Not much room to eat inside, but you can take it to the park across the street and eat. I’m intrigued by all their fried foods (a lot of teenagers seem to order those) but am delighted by having cheap banh mi so close by. A trendy purveyor near me sells them for $ 8.50, and since Gude Gude is half the price and equidistant, they win out.
For some reason, my boba has been overflowing despite the heat-​sealed lid twice now. Get extra napkins because I got unexpected lavender drops on my white shirt the first time.

Man, I can’t get enough of this place. Sometimes you just want to eat a bunch of cheap crap that your 16 year old self would love. The Western food here was a lot better than I expected.

Buy 2 Bubble Teas and get one FREE. This is what reeled me in to check this place out. Foursyth isn’t really a busy street since no cars really pass by. This is a little gem hidden along the stalls. They serve a lot of snack food such as sandwiches, hot dogs and bubble teas. They do have slushes and smoothies as well. On a hot day, something cold, sweet and refreshing really does the trick.
The prices are very affordable, but the slushes are a bit too sweet for me. Ask them to cut back on the syrup or add more ice to your drink. Other than that it’s cool spot.

Three IT guys walking up Forsyth St. and saw a new sign. They paused and the 1^st guy (me) say «Jude jude!»
The 2^nd one said «Dude Dude!»
The 3^rd said «You are both wrong, it is Tude Tude!»
All three were not ready sure because no one had written scripts for over two decades if at all!
They all walked in to ask the young guy working there.
Young guy, «You wrong, It’s «Goodie, Goodie. Sik muh ya?»
(Level 1 translation: Eat What?
Level 2 translation: Honorable Gentlemen, what would you like eat today, serving you is my pleasure!) Duh!
Banh Mi and bubble tea for everyone!
We walked in here only because of the confusing sign; it is actually the same name as the Gude Gude Bubble Tea place at 42 Eldridge but larger by a tiny bit.
The Banh Mi sandwiches ($ 3.50) turn out to be delicious, large and not too heavy on mayo. I had a lot of cucumbers and pickled radishes and carrots; my favorite part of the sandwish. It was even good after carrying all the way back to our office in Fin. Dist. The mango flavor tea ($ 2.25) I had ws refreshing not too sweet.
This is a good place for lunch and snacks but very little room to sit. Next time I’ll try eating in the park.

Today I was out and about in Chinatown, ordering lunch for the office. I had to pick up orders of phở on Grand Street and also Banh Mi. I was actually headed to Gude Gude Bubble Tea so people could try the Banh Mi there and I could try the Chicken Banh Mi. While walking down Forsyth Street however, I spotted a sign for Bubble Tea for $ 1.75 and decided to look to see what the place was. I thought I had lost track of my location because when I looked up the sign read «Gude Gude.» I thought I somehow made it all the way to Eldridge Street without realizing it. Turns out that there is actually another Gude Gude half a block and around the corner away from that location. I’m almost sure that they are owned by the same person as the name and the menu is exactly the same so for the rest of this review I’m just going to assume that they are.
I walked in and ordered a Pork Banh Mi for my colleague and a Chicken Banh Mi for myself. It took about 5 minutes to make both. I didn’t try the pork but I’m assuming it would be the same as the other location. My Chicken Banh Mi was delicious. The chicken was perfectly grilled and seasoned. The mayo in the sandwich was thick, just how I like it. They gave me two slices of cucumber and two sprigs of cilantro. I could do without either but no complaints here. The pickled carrots and daikon were pretty good too.
One thing I noticed about the Banh Mi I get at Gude Gude (both locations) is that the bread isn’t toasted. Normal Banh Mi from anywhere else comes with hard crusty bread that may or may not cut up the roof of your mouth. At Gude Gude the bread is always soft; inside and out. There are definitely pros and cons to the bread being soft. One pro is my mouth doesn’t get completely lacerated when enjoying my Banh Mi. Joe F. at the office claims the cuts along the roof of your mouth from a crusty Banh Mi is to stop you from eating more than one a day. So I guess «to each his own» would be a good phrase to put in here. A con would be that with the soft bread, any moisture from the pickled veggies easily soak into the bread and make it soggy. Also they don’t travel too well with soft bread if there are many orders as they’d get crushed.
I also took the opportunity to order a Bubble Milk Tea. Otherwise Kendra C. would chew my head off. It was alright for $ 1.75 but I felt like they put a little too much ice into the cup. I had a very difficult time drinking it because the Boba and ice chucks were about the same size as the opening in the straw and they kept getting stuck. Also there didn’t seem to be much milk in the cup. I watched the lady make it and when she put the cup under the machine for milk, it was under there for a split second and only a tiny shot of milk came out. The taste definitely wasn’t fully there. I definitely like the drinks are the other Gude Gude better.
One big difference I noticed was the staff here was a 30-​something year old Chinese man and woman as opposed to the teenagers at the other location. Maybe they were still in school? They just didn’t generally seem very friendly. One big con about this place is that there are tons of old people standing outside on the sidewalk smoking. The smoke tends to make its way in through the opened door and the inside of Gude Gude has a feint odor of cigarettes. I think there’s some kind of local old people hang out place next door or something because they are always out there smoking.
In summary, I think I’d rather walk that extra half a block and just go to the Gude Gude Bubble Tea on Eldridge Street instead. It’s usually filled with kids but at least I won’t be dying of second hand smoke while waiting for a Bubble Tea, Banh Mi, or other food. At the other location I can even walk over to get dumplings at Prosperity.