Buc-ee's (Leeds, AL)

Off the I-20, Leeds, AL

 

Buc-ee’s is a chain of insanely big gas stations annex all-American food and crap stores that originated in Texas and now has more than 40 locations in the South, primarily in Texas though. It seems to cater primarily to the Average Joe, but of all racial backgrounds.

 

I get a Pulled Pork sandwich ($7.48), which is a fairly large soft bun filled with extremely tender and juicy pulled pork doused in a sweet sauce and with caramelized onions. It is very tasty but could have had more meat (particularly for that price).

 

VERDICT: 87/100

Tasty pulled pork sandwich in a carnivalesque setting.

Lee's Bakery (Atlanta, GA)

4005 Buford Hwy NE, Atlanta

 

Lee’s Bakery is situated in a run-down strip mall with mostly Asian and Hispanic restaurants. It is remarkably big and combines a Vietnamese restaurant, with the usual staples. The bakery seems to mainly consist of the small baguettes they use for the Bahn Mi sandwiches. It comes very highly recommended.

 

I get Vegetarian Eggs Rolls ($4.50) and a Bahn Mi Grilled Pork ($5.95). The egg rolls are remarkably big but also refried at too low heat, making them a big saggy and very fatty. The Bahn Mi is tasty but mainly because of the freshness of the vegetables — the bbq pork is tasty but not remarkable.

 

VERDICT: 88/100

Good Bahn Mi but not remarkable.

WestFood & Coffee (Yverdon-les-Bains, Switzerland)

 Rue Roger de Quinps 29, 1400 Yverdon-les-Bains, Switzerland

 

WestFood & Coffee is a new and hip US- and TexMex-type restaurant just outside of the shopping part of Yverdon-les-Bains, which does burgers and sandwiches but also nachos and chili as well as coffee.

 

I get the Large West Curry Chicken Sandwich (CHF 15.90 or ~$16.35), a long baguette with slices of spiced chicken, tomato, rucolah, and curry sauce. It tastes really fresh and tasty. 

 

I also get 5 Chicken Tenders (CHF 12 or ~$12.30), which comes with a choice of sauce. The tenders are big but thin, coated more tempura style, and a bit too dry.

 

VERDICT: 90/100

Great sandwiches in nice setting. Snacks are not all top.

Báhn Mì Vietnamien (Lausanne, Switzerland)

Chem. des Pêcheurs 7, 1007 Lausanne, Switzerland

 

Báhn Mì Vietnamien is a hole-in-wall that is kind of hidden on the outside of a larger restaurant at the lakefront in Lausanne. It is a small Vietnamese restaurant with a decent sized terrace with view of the harbor and lake. It serves a limited selection of the usual staples, sandwiches (Bahn Mi), soups (Pho), etc.

 

I get Nem (CHF 12 or ~$12.30) and a Bahn Mi Chicken (CHF 13 or ~$13.30) as well as a drink (CHF 5 or ~$5.15). The Nem (crunchy small spring rolls) are pretty good. The Bahn Mi comes on a long, thin regular baguette. It has pulled chicken on it but very little vegetables, which means that it lacks the fresh flavor.

 

VERDICT: 84/100

Quite steep price, although it is at a prime location in Lausanne, this is an acceptable but not remarkable Bahn Mi.

Bahn-mi-ba (Prague, Czech Republic)

 Rybná 26, 110 00 Staré Město, Prague, Czech Republic

 

Bahn-mi-ba is a small Vietnamese eatery in the heart of Prague, which has been around for quite a while and now also has some other branches in the city. The inside is modern and clean. They have sandwiches (Bahn mi), soups (pho) and bowls (bun).

 

I get a Bahn Mi Pork (110 CZK), which comes with all the usual toppings (they ask whether you want red chilis — yes please!). The sandwich is a bit flaky, the ingredients very fresh, and the pork comes in a salty sauce with sesame seeds. Makes for a bit sompy but tasty sandwich.

 

VERDICT: 87/100

Very nice Bahn Mi from a very beautiful small store.

Bánh Mī 135 (Duluth, GA)

 1630 Pleasant Hill Rd Ste 135B, Duluth, GA 30096

 

Bánh Mi 135 is a rather new Vietnamese sandwich shop in a shopping mall in Duluth, just north of Atlanta. It has a very limited menu, namely Bahn Mi, i.e. Vietnamese sandwiches, with pork, chicken, egg, and vegetables. All sandwiches are $5. The place itself is very new and has limited seating.

I get a Grilled Pork and a Shredded Chicken bahn mi. Both come on rather large, light, crunchy, and fresh sandwiches. The grilled pork is warm, tender and flavorful, although it has a bit of an aftertaste (cannot really identify the specific flavor). The shredded chicken has a bit of a curry flavor and is also tender. Both come with the usual vegetable condiments, which are exceptionally fresh (the cilantro has a particular great flavor).

 

 

VERDICT: 92/100

Bahn Mi 135 serves some of the best Vietnamese sandwiches I have ever had. It's the type of place I love: doing one thing and doing it really well.

 

Zimbe Dogs (Anderson, SC)

206 W Franklin St, Anderson, SC 29624

Zimbe Dogs is a small hole-in-the-wall just outside of downtown Anderson, where you order through the window. They serve a broad variety of hot dogs but also burgers, wings, and various sides. The owner is friendly and very entrepreneurial, telling me all the specials for the next day.

I get a Chili Dog ($2.50), a Fire Dog ($3), and a Mammoth ($4). The Chili Dogs is just a hot dog with chili, which tastes a bit too sweet. The wiener is a overpowered by the bun. The Fire Dog turns out to be a Chili Dog with some crusted Fritos Flamin' Hot Flavored Corn chips on them. Tastes largely the same, just crunchier. The Mammoth is a sloppy joe, in this case a soft and sweet bun with yet the same chili. I’m happy I added jalapeños to it, as it is too sweet for me.

VERDICT: 80/100

Old school hole-in-the-wall with decent hot dogs and broad selection of other stuff. The chili is a bit too sweet for me though.

Punta Cana Latin Grill (Athens, GA)

367 Prince Ave Ste 1, Athens, GA, United States, Georgia

 

Punta Cana Latin Grill is a Dominican restaurant just outside of downtown Athens, which serves a variety of more or less well-known Dominican street foods, including tacos, sandwiches, and empanadas, with a broad variety of different proteins, including chicharón and longaniza. Tostones and maduros also feature prominently on the menu.

I've eaten here several times. My favorite is the Punta Cana Sandwich ($8.99) with grilled tilapia, which is light and tasty, and comes with a side over lunch - the maduros are pretty good. The Riki Taki ($9.99) is classic streetfood, a big sandwich filled with ground beef, some vegetables, and massive loads of ketchup and mayo... tasty but very bingy. The Bandeja Punta Cana ($15,75) is a combination of 2 meats and 3 sides.

VERDICT: 82/100

Punta Cana offers Dominican streetfood, which is quite tasty but not subtle, as most dishes are decent but too geasy.

Il Forno (Sandy Springs, GA)

5680 Roswell Road, Sandy Springs, GA

 

Il Forno claims to serve "NY Pizza & Pasta" but is an odd mix of Italian, Bosnian, and Mediterranean in pizza place setting. I come here for the Lachmacun (Turkish pizza), but they no longer make it. They are also out of humus today.

 

So, I get the Inegol/Cevapi/Mici Meze ($8), which comes with bread, and the small House Salad ($5). The House Salad is everything you expect from a bad pizza place and I swear they have deep fried the cevapi.

 

VERDICT: 60/100

Given what they did with the good ingredients (cevapi and Bosnian bread), I don't even want to know what they do with bad ingredients (like the pizza)!

Huy’s Sandwiches (Norcross, GA)

 6100 Live Oak Pkwy, Norcross, GA

Rather big shop in a remote strip mall off I-85, just north of Atlanta, Huy’s Sandwiches is well-known for its Bahn Mi, Vietnamese sandwiches, which come with different types of meat as well as fish and egg.

 

I get a Bahn Mi with grilled pork $6.36). The bread is not too light or dense, a bit crispy, but the pork is very underwhelming. Part is poorly grilled bacon strips, part is pork chunks. The rest is fine but does not have too much flavor.

 

VERDICT: 80/100

Decent Bahn Mi but you can get much better in ATL.

Hlölla Bátar (Reykjavik, Iceland)

Hafnarstræti, 110 Reykjavík, Iceland

 

Sandwich stand on popular square in downtown Reykjavik that offers “boats”, that is sandwiches (6” or 12”) with mostly warm meats, lettuce and sauce.

 

I get the 6” Bacon Boat (ISK 1050 or ~$8). The sandwich is a toasted soft grain bread with a few strips of not crispy bacon, which mostly taste salty, while the lettuce and "Hlölla sauce" (mayo or aioli)  don’t change taste much.

 

VERDICT: 80/100

Decent but not remarkable. CRazy overpriced, of course, but this is Iceland.

Pho Ba Luu (Louisville, KY)

1019 E Main Street, Louisville, KY 40206-1840

 

Pho Ba Luu is a new hip Vietnamese “street food” place that serves most of the staples of Vietnamese restaurants in the US: bahn mie sandwiches, pho soups, spring rolls, etc. The setting is really nice and the people who work here are too.

 

I get the Vegetarian Spring Rolls ($5), which is a bit of a wrong choice, as I wanted the fried ones. They taste well though, even though I’m not a big fan of tofu, and the black bean sauce has a nice kick to it. The Bahn Mi Chicken ($9) comes on a big and quite dense baguette, which is too overpowering, and the chicken is cold. Overall, it is surprisingly disappointing.

 

VERDICT: 78/100

Maybe I choose wrong, but this place looks much better than it tastes.

The Goodie Shack (Burnside, KY)

7744 US-27, Burnside, KY 42519

 

The Goodie Shack claims to have “the best hot dog in the world”, so I decided to stop and check whether they are right. It’s an old shack that serves classic US snacks and milkshakes in an old-school setting.

 

I order a Chili Dog ($3) and a Tenderloin Sandwich ($5.50). The Chili Dog is the wrong choice as the chili is watery. The dog is snappy and the bun nicely soft and chewy, so I think a regular dog is probably pretty good. To my surprise, the tenderloin is fried on the griddle, not deep fried, and it is thick and juicy. On a hamburger bun with lettuce, good mayonnaise, and a thick slice of tomato, this is an excellent sandwich.

 

VERDICT: 83/100

Decent hot dog place but the tenderloin is a winner. 

Myami Bites (Greenville, SC)

 126 Augusta Street, Greenville, SC, 29601

 

Myami Bites is located in the same spot (Gather) as HenDough Chicken and Donuts, Gather, a funky collection of bars and little restaurants in downtown Greenville, SC.  offers a fairly limited menu of Cuban snacks and sandwiches. Despite the fact that I order just a sandwich, and there is just one person before me, it takes very long (ca. 15 minutes) before I finally get my food.

I get the Cuban ($11.99), which is a very thin sandwich with roasted pork, ham, pickles and mustard (I asked for no cheese), pressed to make it soft and warm inside. While it is very tender, and the pork has good taste, it is not remarkable and, obviously, overpriced.

82/100

While the quality of the Cuban sandwich is definitely good for a place outside of Miami, it is also seriously overpriced. 

 

Team Biscuits and Burgers (Athens, GA)

 745-B Danielsville Road, Athens, GA 30601

Team Biscuits and Burgers is a small drive-through place on the outskirts of Athens, Georgia, which serves, as you might have guessed, biscuits and burgers. In fact, they also serve chicken wings and some other all-American snacks (e.g. hot dogs, chicken tenders, and even pulled pork sandwiches), but biscuits and burgers are their thing. The biscuits come with a variety of meats, while the burgers are fairly basic (though they do have chicken and fish options).

I order a Bacon Cheese Burger ($5.15) without cheese, but instead get a Plain Burger with added Bacon ($5.30). Sigh! I also get a Bacon Biscuit ($3.09), as they are out of Sausage Biscuits, and side orders of French Fries ($1.99), for my son, and Onion Rings ($1.99), for me. Everything is prefab, with possible exception of biscuits and burgers. The fries are kind of saggy, the onion rings without much flavor, and the biscuit incredibly dry. The burger is the high point, which is relatively though, as it tastes quite fresh. It is a classic 1950s burger, with lettuce, tomato, onion, and pickles, and mayo and mustard. For that type of burger, quite food actually.

VERDICT: 70/100

Old-school drive-through with fairly mediocre, standard fare, but a decent 1950s burger.

Viva Chicken (Huntersville, NC)

9129 San Furr Road, Huntersville, NC 28078

 

Viva Chicken is a local chain of “Peruvian Rotisserie Joints” in the Charlotte area. It serves, you guessed it, Peruvian rotisserie chicken in 1/4, 1/2 and whole as well on ciabatta bread or in a sun-dried tomato wrap or on salads. The also do several Latin desserts and (sweet) drinks.

I get The Great ($8.50) on a ciabatta, which is pulled chicken from the rotisserie with lettuce and red onion and rocoto mayo. It is not mind-blowing but fresh and tasty and there are three free sauces that add some kick. As a side I get the chicken soup, which is a bit too light and mainly lives off the chicken. I also get alfajores ($4.50), three small short bread cookies filled with dulce de lecce and topped with powder sugar. They are good but not really worth the hefty price.

I FORGOT TO TAKE A PIC OF THE FOOD 😞

VERDICT: 86/100

Nice place for fresh and mostly healthy chicken-based lunch, but not particularly good to pig out.