Xe May Sandwich Shop

Bread was soft, meats were unctuous, and pickled veg crisp. Exactly what I craved for lunch. Filled me up on the cheap.

I may be one the few out of the 400+ Unilocalers who found this place to be below stellar. I’m disappointed to have made this discovery since I was really craving a good banh mi sandwich and this place seemed great from the reviews.
So here goes: I ordered the super classic sandwich to go. By the time I got home, the bag containing the sandwich was soaked through from the pickle juices. The sandwich got pretty soggy from this. Now about the pickled veggies, about 50% of my sandwich stuffing consisted of the pickled carrot and boy was it pickled. The vinegar flavor was really strong, it empowered every bite I had. The bread, it had a stale texture to it. I’m used to a crunchy yet soft bread.
Anyway, this wasn’t a super classic experience but it is memorable.

Yummy banh mi sandwiches. I thought the highlight of their sandwiches were the quality of their meats. They tasted fresh, homemade and higher quality than other banh mi’s that I have had. Their pickled cucumber slices were interesting, and yummy. I love their spicy sauce, which added a wonderful punch to the sandwiches. My main suggestion would be to have more pickled vegetables in the sandwich. Considering how rich and flavorful the meats in their classic sandwich are, more vegetables would balance it out.
Other thing to note is that their sandwiches keep pretty well. I have had it both freshly made and 9 hours after a flight to the west coast. The bread didn’t get soggy. I would, however, recommend toasting it in the oven if you wait to eat it later.
It’s still good, and the flavors persist well.

Stumbled upon this shop wandering around. We initially ordered the lamb curry sandwich and then ordered a classic since it was so good. Staff is friendly and will make the sandwich to the spiciness you ask for. I’m not an expert in Vietnamese sandwiches but so far thi is the best I have had! Only negative is that it closes at 10pm. Wish it was open later

Tried the Lam’bretta, which is a Banh Mi varietal with lamb coconut curry instead of the traditional pork. All of their sandwiches come topped with delicious pickled carrots, a lightly spiced cucumber, and daikon, plus a spicy mix-​in of jalapenos +/​-​sriracha +/​-​chili garlic (all 3 is called extra spicy and if you like spicy, I recommend it– not overwhelming but definitely a kick).
Having been to Vietnam, I still have yet to fine the soft baguette banh mi I fell in love with there, but this is nonetheless a delicious substitute with some added variety. I also recommend going from 12 – 4 on the weekdays for the lunch special where you can add a snack (wish it was something Vietnamese– it’s just Nature Valley or Lays) and a drink (major plus– can get Basil Limeade Fizz, Cold or Hot Coffee, amongst others). The guy who took my order didn’t even offer the lunch special or even let me know that I could have gotten a fresh drink instead of a canned one– was kind of annoyed and also glad I read the Unilocal reviews in advance.

Small delightful sandwich shop. Cash only! I plan bank trips to make sure I have cash for this.
I don’t claim to be of Vietnamese decent nor too much experience with banh mi, but out of all the possible options in the East Village I find myself craving some banh mi. I think it’s great although it may liken to Chinese takeout food to Americans. Another option relatively nearby is Num Pang near Union Square which is supposedly slightly more authentic flavored but is more expensive and smaller portioned (and Cambodian, slightly different but pretty similar); Num Pang caters more to workforce around Union Square while Xe May gets more general diners and students from NYU and Cooper. Xe May’s most popular sandwich is the Lambretta. I get it extra spicy ;)
Xe May was a wonderful caterer for the first Hack Cooper two years ago and is a nice refreshment from Chipotle and pizza. That’s how I first feasted (ok maybe feasted is too much for a sandwich but it was a hackathon AYCE or get) on their sandwiches. I discovered their shops a semester later and have come back frequently. The first few times I missed the fact that they had a lunch special (now up in price :() for a sandwich and drink and chips or granola bar. I’m particularly partial to their hot coffee but the other drinks aren’t bad. The hot Vietnamese coffee is tasty, strong and unique. Try it, it’s strong coffee with condensed milk.
Tip: They have a lunch special and a frequent eaters card. Check out my picture for inflation

Being Vietnamese myself, I do hold my Banh Mi sandwiches to a higher standard. I’ve ordered from Xe May several times more specifically the Super Club Sandwich.
Bread — When it comes to the Banh Mi Bread, I’m looking for a crispy fresh crunch. I would say this came to a B+ on that criteria. The bread was a tiny stale in certain places and it wasn’t consistent each time I ordered.
Filling — The special meat that was used in the filling of the sandwich wasn’t bad. I could use a little more of the pickled vegetables.
Overall, Xe May will satisfy people who are not familiar with how a Banh Mi is supposed to taste but it will do. I would recommend for a quick bite with my non Vietnamese friends but I wouldn’t recommend for the natives.

Not sure what all the hype is about as I’ve had better banh mi sandwiches in the city. I dropped by the place Saturday evening for a quick bite during our wait for dinner. There were no other customers besides our group of 3. So therefore, I don’t understand why our order of just ONE banh mi sandwich took 20 minutes to make. The shop was almost empty.
We ordered the Super Cub Classic ($ 7.50). I was not impressed by the bread — I thought it was crusty and stale, making the sandwich a bit dry. I would have liked more meat and vegetables too. Did not think the Banh Mi was particularly special.

Banh Mi sandwiches are the new hotness around the city. Xe May has one of the largest menus of the tasty Vietnamese sandwich to be found. Go for the Sidecar, a fairly traditional version with beefsteak slabs, a pineapple chutney that isn’t overly sweet or overpowering, and plenty of daikon and carrot shredded up on a delicious roll. Make sure you get it spicy. The fresh jalapenos and sriracha counter the sweetness of the pineapple and only add to the experience. Go on, be brave! The bread can make or break a good sandwich, especially banh mi, and the bread here is perfectly crisp, but not hard, and soaks up the juices well. It’s a bit hipstery and the space is tiny, so an early lunch is suggested.

Quite the interesting place Xe May is. Usually at Vietnamese sandwich shops, you’ve got the classic banh mi, then very slight variations on it. Usually just swapping out the ham/​pâté for other meats like chicken or pork. That’s fine all things considered, as banh mi’s already a great sandwich.
Xe May goes a bit further with actually trying to create new fillings for the classic sandwich. I’m torn between whether I like The Sidecar (grilled beefsteak with pineapple chutney) or The Lam’bretta (coconut curry lamb) more. Either way, I haven’t found these delicious combinations anywhere else.
They offer a meal deal that has a sandwich, drink, and snack (chips or granola bar) for like $ 10, which is pretty decent for downtown lunch. The only thing that’s kind of annoying is that they’re cash only, but worth the hassle for a great little gem.

This place definitely hits the spot! We found this spot through Unilocal because I was craving banh mi, and yay Unilocalers, you once again surprise me in the best way possible.
First, the space: it’s a nice cozy shop that has a little counter and 4 – 5 bar stools. There’s also a bench to wait on inside if you’re getting an order to-​go. You order at the counter and they make it fresh in the back. At 12:30 PM on a Sunday, our order took about 5 minutes — super fast!
We both ordered the Super Cub Classic. They also have a few variations, which I’m sure are all delicious. They have 3 different levels of spicy, but I went with no spicy. The sandwich itself was delicious. Perfectly toasted and the meats were juicy. The carrots/​cucumber gave the sandwich fresh twist. My only gripe (and the reason I would have liked to give 4.5 stars instead of 5) was that the outside of my sandwich was a bit too crunchy and I felt like I might cut the inside of my mouth, but that’s just personal preference.
On weekdays from 12 – 4 PM, they have a lunch special for $ 10 that includes a sandwich (typically $ 7.50-$ 8ish dollars), a drink, and a bag of chips/​granola bar. There were a lot of delivery requests while we were there, so this must be a fantastic delivery option too.
Would definitely recommend as a quick, comfort option and would definitely consider coming back to either get the classic again or try something else off of their extensive menu!
Note to future patrons: this place is cash only!

Cash only place!
Given the fact this shop isnt in Chinatown or run by old asian folks…(it is run by younger Asian folks) i was a bit hestiant. I love banh mi and being from California, we have a good hold on how a banh mi should be… and since New York dont got a big community of vietnamese people, i had low expectations.
Came here first with the boyfriend and we ordered 2 (i dont like to share!)
he ordered «The Hog» and i ordered «The Duke»
Extra spicy for me — sriracha with jalapeños and something else?
Boyfriend — spicy was fine for him… loser
The sandwiches came and we forgot what was what… but after a few bites, youll know which is which.
The Hog — it was good but a little plain… still delicious and lightly charred… the creamy Sriracha helped with the burnt taste and i love blending all of that with the pickled daikon… and it is loaded with pickled daikon!
The Duke — yummy! saucy! i love! i know… not your typical banh mi choices but if that was the case, i would have went to Banh Mi Saigon. The meatballs were flavorful and i love the extra spicy jalapeños that kicks it up the notch!
Both of the sandwiches are delicious… the bread is lightly toasted on the outside but still soft on the inside, so youre not hurting your mouth. It is a little bit on the expensive side bbut you are in East Village… cant escape it.
Came back and tried the Classic and it was still good… meats were stacked! Pâté was on point… Bread…just like before… and you do get a good size portion!

TLDR: Xe May decided it would be fun to play a practical joke on me. They never intended to deliver my order but kept telling me it was «on its way» Probably because my order was small and was placed later in the day. At 10 mins to close, I called them and they said they’re not going to deliver my order.
TERRIBLE customer service. Ordered delivery from here and the guy never came. My credit card was charged but no food was ever delivered. No one called or contacted me. I called after an hour and the guy said the delivery guy had been back for a while and said he couldn’t find my place (Never been an issue. My work place is a huge hospital and my phone number was included with the order)
If you knew I didn’t get my food, why wouldn’t you do the reasonable thing and call me to inform me of this mishap? I asked him to resend the order, letting him know my address and phone number again. 30 minutes pass and no one comes. I call and am told the delivery guy left and my food should be there. At this point, the kid on the phone is sounding really shifty as if there were other people listening to him nearby. I told him that I have been waiting 1.5 hrs for my food. He then told me that he would just refund my food and we can forget about the order. CLEARLY, HE NEVER INTENDED TO DELIVER MY FOOD AND THE DELIVERY GUY NEVER LEFT. If he doesn’t need my business, that’s fine, but he should stop jerking me around by lying and saying that the food is coming when in fact it was not.
Xe May is a place run by irresponsible children who have no idea as to the concept of customer service. They disrespect their customers by playing practical jokes on them to get their shits and giggles. I will never order from here again and I hope no one else will either.
Grow your ass up and learn how to run a proper business.

The pork bahn mi is tasty and filling! With the scallion oil they use in it, it’s just so savory and flavorful.
Worth checking out for sure.

Pretty tasty sandwich but I wouldn’t go as far as deeming it the best banh mi I’ve ever had. I got here at around 4pm to pick up the Super Cub Classic for dinner at work. It was $ 7.50, which is a little pricey for a banh mi in my opinion but not unreasonable. Service was really nice but it did take quite a while for them to make my sandwich. This place is a hole in the wall with only one small table for 4 people to dine in and a tiny bench for those waiting to get their sandwiches as take-​out. I thought the sandwich tasted pretty good. The bread wasn’t too hard and balanced out the saltiness of the meats in the sandwich. The sour vegetables were very tasty. The mayo sauce that they put in the sandwich was delicious! Overall, pretty standard banh mi shop in the East Village that will definitely satisfy your cravings if you’re in the area!

My wife told me about this place and we were craving viet sandwich that day so we decided to come to this place. It is a little out of the way because of its distance from the train and you can easily miss it. We actually missed it because it is a hole in the wall and very small. They do have a couple of seats.
Me and my wife shared the super cub classic and the sidecar. We had their fresh basil limeade fizz to drink. The sandwiches are just amazing. Never had a viet sandwich like this before. Both were flavorful and unique in taste. I especially like the sidecar because it is like a viet version of the philly cheesesteak. The limeade fizz was very refreshing and good.
I think I will never look at viet sandwich the same again. They are a little more pricey but it is worth it because it tastes so good. Only if they were closer to the train. This could be my go to spot for viet sandwich.

This BahnMi shop is great. Happened upon it while getting dessert at snowdays (also a great find!) and thankfully decided to walk in. If the price point were slightly lower, if the wait wasn’t insane, if the area wasn’t the size of a peanut, if the lychee green tea (which is so good) wasn’t like ¾ ice this would be a 5 star. Any ONE of those things really. This place is good and I’d give it 5 stars any day if it were located outside of Manhattan probably (see namnam). Anyway:
The Food:
It’s good. The carrots and cucumbers were pickled exactly the right amount. They were crunchy, salty, vinegary, just like I like them and how they should be. The amount of vegetables to meat was spot on and the medium spicy level was pretty good. Not very spicy mind you, but sriracha is good. The bread was nice and crispy, the meats were all seasoned very well (I had the classic and friend had the hog), and the portions were decent. The lychee green tea was delicious! Not very sweet for those of you with a sweet tooth but it definitely has a lot of subtle flavors and is very refreshing to drink. ⁵⁄₅
The Venue:
Come during lunch or dinner time and prepare to be squashed. I mean like anchovies. If you want to avoid it, call ahead and order. Or come at like 3 PM when the lunch hours die down and dinner hours haven’t begun yet. It’s small, cute, and not many seats etc. Just, try not to eat here if possible. ⁴⁄₅
The Service:
I mean, there is no service. You order, you pick up your food, you eat. You throw things away. Nothing much here. The guys were nice though. -/​5
Overall:
I’d come here again for sure. But I’m calling ahead. Also, I’m getting the Hog.

3.5
Tiny little shop with an interesting menu. I was excited for the Mean green bahn mi which had tofu and mushrooms! It’s rare that shops mix tofu and mushrooms but they should! I ordered it on a whole wheat bread, which I’m glad was an option. And requested for medium spice, which I should have went a level higher. I loved that the bread was crunchy/​crispy.
Cons
–Only the middle of my sandwich was full, which is common but toward the end, it was just bread.
–It would have been perfect if they added more pickled carrots and cucumber.
–Sandwich was dry; this is the main reason why I didn’t give them a 4.

We went on Saint Mark’s place specifically to go to another restaurant, but foolishly didn’t check their hours. Walking away disappointed, we ran into Xe May with their lunch special. For $ 8.00, you get a banh mi, a snack, and a specialty drink. What a deal!
I ordered an iced lychee green tea and my partner ordered a Vietnamese iced coffee. Both were very flavorful, even though most of the cup was taken up by ice — hence, were finished before our food had arrived. It took at least 10 – 15 minutes to receive our order, but was definitely worth the wait. I ordered the Super Cub Classic and was in awe by its hefty portion. Make note: this is not your regular banh mi! This is definitely the supersized version and not everything Americanized is a bad thing. I am usually the person who asks for the doggy bag, but I scarfed this humongous beaut down as if I hadn’t seen food in weeks. The bread was fresh and perfectly crispy, the vegetables were pickled to my favor (although I wish there were more cucumbers in my sandwich), and the meat was ever so present.
Although Xe May one of those hole in the wall shops, it’s definitely one of those gentrified gems.

Great little sandwich shop. The spicy hog banh mi is the best banh mi I’ve had… you don’t realize how fresh carrots and cucumbers can make a world of difference in how a sandwich tastes. The bread is this perfectly baked French baguette that could tear parts of the roof of your mouth off if you aren’t careful, but it is delicious. And last, that pork they use is incredible, tender and full of flavor, and the spicyness of the sandwich was perfect… Great mix of jalapeños and sriracha sauce that makes you sweat just a little bit.
Overall great place and will definitely be back to try some Vietnamese tacos!

Sandwich dans la tendance un peu chère 8 $
Service rapide
Petite salle ou à emporter
Sandwich Lamb’retta extra