Banh mi: The recent expansions of Chicago’s two best banh mi shops — Ba Le and Nhu Lan Saigon Subs — is confirmation that the Vietnamese sandwich has achieved critical mass. A bit of history: The baguette was introduced to Vietnam in the 19th century during its French colonial days. European and Southeast Asian ingredients merged into a sandwich with liver pate, pickled daikon radish, carrots and cilantro. Chicago’s banh mi scene is dominated by the two aforementioned shops. But as much love as I have for Ba Le, Nhu Lan remains one notch above. The reason is its terrific bread — brush-off-your-shirt flaky crust, sponge-soft interior, never more than a few hours fresh from the in-house oven. My two favorites are the No. 5 pork belly and No. 10 lemongrass tofu. (Pictured here is the No. 19 betel leaf-wrapped beef sausage known as bo la lot). Each sandwich here is $5.50 or under. Two locations at 2612 W. Lawrence Ave, 773-878-9898, and 602 W. Belmont Ave, 773-857-6868
