Bánh Mì Mỹ Dung is a tiny sandwich shop disguised as a humble fruit stand – bananas in varying stages of ripeness hang from the awnings; stacks of boxes filled with green onions, mangoes, rambutans, Thai peppers, and leafy greens are lined up in front of the entrance. The store fits no more than 10 people at a time, but it may be one of the most popular locations to visit in Los Angeles’s Chinatown, and a favorite stop for guests on our Culinary Backstreets tour: Exploring America’s Culinary Frontier.
Chinh Le is the manager and face of the business, and in the far back corner is a small area where Chinh’s sister prepares the shop’s well-known sandwiches. This humble locale is the counterbalance to a neighborhood whose identity is currently in flux. Found steps away from a plaza that hosts chic restaurants attracting influencers and customers from across the nation, Mỹ Dung (a name left over from the previous owners, which translates to a female name meaning “Perfect Beauty”) attracts local Chinese community members as both a place to gather and to purchase fresh produce, sweetened condensed milk iced coffees, and affordable Vietnamese bánh mì sandwiches.
Mỹ Dung’s menu offers 12 bánh mì to choose from, each served with mayonnaise, pickled daikon, carrot, cucumber, cilantro, and a hint of jalapeño served on warm French bread filled with varying types of proteins. Chinh personally delivers the freshly made sandwiches to customers eating inside, standing outside to eat, or waiting in their car for curbside pickup.
Visitors to Bánh Mì Mỹ Dung include local community members who come to gossip, socialize, and spend time away from home. In between transactions, Chinh and his guests watch Catholic mass on TV during Saturday mornings, European soccer matches, and Vietnamese soap operas that have enough drama to make your wait time a minute or two longer. Chinh is a warm host, offering free food and discounts to unhoused and low-income neighbors. He also speaks multiple languages, including Vietnamese, English, Chinese, French, and Spanish. You can stay as long as you need at this shop, whether you buy food or not.
With the advent of social media, word has spread and customers from downtown and nearby neighborhoods have begun to come in and give Mỹ Dung a larger audience. During lunchtime, Mỹ Dung fills with a more diverse crowd, with customers visiting everywhere from the beach cities to the Valley. The shop’s success is due not only to the delicious sandwiches, but Chinh’s warm personality. He says, “I think I’ve got a bit of a funny bone. When I’m dealing with customers, I like to crack jokes and make them laugh.” Chinh will jokingly try to sell an entire case of fruit instead of one small item, or charge $10 for a piece of fruit instead of a few cents.
The charm of Bánh Mì Mỹ Dung is its small-town feel despite its location in the shadow of city hall in one of the most densely populated cities in the nation. This neighborhood of 7,000 people and the diverse cultural traditions they bring are at risk of displacement. Chinh recalls a few conversations he’s had with locals, saying, “I’ve heard some rumors from customers who come to my shop. From what I know, maybe in the future – not the near future, but possibly the distant future – Chinatown might not exist anymore.”
Just recently, Hillside Villa, a Chinatown apartment building with 124 residential units, and Dynasty Plaza, home to 100 small businesses, have won years-long battles to keep locals living and working in the area without rent hikes and evictions. But all new developments have been successfully stopped in Chinatown, and many new commercial and living spaces are currently being built to house chain restaurants and L.A. County administrative offices.
The most threatening project that impacts locals comes from the McCourt Group, who has proposed a transportation gondola to be built in Chinatown to take baseball fans to Dodger Stadium, along with a plan for continued infrastructure including hotels, retail, and entertainment costing up to billions of dollars. At a recent town hall meeting, locals voiced their fears about historic structures in Chinatown being damaged, the increase in noise pollution, the danger of machinery a few feet away from their homes, and the socioeconomic impact on the neighborhood whose population is only getting smaller.
With the World Cup coming to L.A. in 2026, the Super Bowl in 2027, and Olympics in 2028, Chinh chooses not to focus on the “what ifs” of the future, continuing to work as hard as he can each day in the successful sandwich shop. Three generations of his large extended family have worked at Mỹ Dung, Chinh proudly tells us: “It was destiny to work here. The job chose us.”
Chinh did not have a promising career in Vietnam, and without a college degree he was in search of new opportunities to provide for himself and his loved ones. Chinh’s extended family migrated to the United States before him and found success operating this shop for over 30 years. When it was time for them to retire, Chinh was given the opportunity to take over. “It all happened by chance,” Chinh recalls. “My younger brother moved here first and used to do business at Bánh Mì Mỹ Dung. So, when our family settled in this country in 2010, my sister and I were older immigrants but willing to learn the restaurant trade with him. Our English wasn’t great, but we figured we might be able to handle it.” Fifteen years later, Chinh is an experienced business owner, turning opportunity into success for himself and the community.
Although the Chinatown neighborhood is lacking a supermarket, community members have adapted to find most of life’s necessities at Bánh Mì Mỹ Dung, including a tight-knit community where locals can interact daily. Recently, Chinh’s young son has begun learning the family trade, interacting with customers and taking orders as his father watches proudly with a big smile. Bánh Mì Mỹ Dung thrives as a community gathering spot, but also gets recognized as one of the best sandwiches in Los Angeles. Speaking to his shop’s popularity inside and outside the community, Chinh says, “We try to do our best with what we’ve got, not really hoping for much, but just focusing on doing a good job [for the community] – whether success comes or not.”
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