Bon Bon Vietnamese Sandwiches may not have the running of a sandwich shop down to a science. But who cares when everything is so heartfelt and sweet?
In an attempt to discipline Thai police officers who have committed minor transgressions such as showing up late or parking in the wrong place, Thai officials have begun forcing the offenders to wear Hello Kitty armbands for several days as penance. It’s a badge that Tim and Jenny Holloway of Bon Bon Vietnamese Sandwiches would wear with pride.
The interior of their North Avene store front is like a shiny anime toy box, all lime greens, aqua blues and mandarin oranges. Round-headed placidly-smiling knick-knacks abound. Bright colored snacks and candies line the shelves, all with a Vietnamese origin. In the blink of an eye you forget the grim connotations that Vietnam has for many Americans and embrace the notion that it might just be a land of sunshine and happiness where Hello Kitty holds sway.
The Holloways do nothing to diminish that sense of gentle sweetness. As ma and pa owners of this first-time enterprise their unaffected sincerity is everywhere in evidence, and if you can fault them for service that is not always prompt or for inventory levels that are not always up to snuff (meaning they sometimes run out of things) you can set that off against their open-hearted ambition to please.
Having opened in February inside friend Angie Lebedine’s shop My Gourmet Kitchen, they suspended operations in April when Lebedine moved out so they could expand to take over her space. Some might have called that poor planning, a loss of momentum, but it’s just the kind of innocent daring that make Tim and Jenny so endearing. This is not a business run from a management textbook; it’s a business run from the heart. One might call it sweet.
Sweet like the savory caramel sauce in which the ginger chicken is slowly simmered for the Ginger Chicken Bahn-Mi. A bahn-mi is a traditional Vietnamese sandwich made from a baguette of wheat and rice flower, filled with pork, chicken, ham or portobello, and topped with pickled carrots, daikon radish and cilantro. It’s a unique flavor treat, made all the more intriguing by the preparation of the fillings which can be marinated with garlic and hoisin sauce, simmered with salt and sweet seasonings, or drizzled with a savory lime marinade, depending on which sandwich you choose.
Bon-Bon has five bahn-mis to choose from, and each is worth trying. In addition, they offer traditional Vietnamese coffee, a unique coffee experience that has more in common with hot chocolate than espresso. Sugary sweet on first taste it finishes on a mildly roasted note. All that is good, but here’s the kicker.
This unique dining experience will set you back less than ten bucks.
The stretch of North Avenue between Damen and Western now boasts two of the most unique and satisfying budget dining restaurants in the city, Sultan’s Market and Bon Bon Vietnamese. But while Sultan’s is characterized by the brusque, no nonsense efficiency of a Lebanese market stall, Bon Bon is characterized by the sweet, cheerful guilelessness of a Pokemon adventure.
The Thai police may be ashamed to wear armbands featuring Hello Kitty but something tells me that before long a solid force of Bon Bon devotees will be forming who will have no such compunctions.
Bon Bon Vietnamese Sandwiches
2333 W. North Ave.
773-278-5800
Hours: 11am-8pm daily; Closed Monday
Features: Carryout, Cash Only
Avg Price of a Meal for Two Including Tax: $15
