Stuffed with jalapeños, cilantro and pickled vegetables, Vietnamese-style sandwiches satisfy the taste buds of not only many Asian consumers, but also Hispanics, the owners of one California-based restaurant chain have discovered.
And they hope that in Houston, with its large Vietnamese and Hispanic populations, they can build on that success. Last March, Lee’s Sandwiches opened its 1st Houston restaurant on bustling Bellaire Boulevard in New Chinatown.
According to a 2004 survey by the Census Bureau, nearly 80,000 people of Vietnamese descent live in the Houston area. The Hispanic population has been pegged at 1.5 million, according to the bureau.
Combine the 2 large populations with the fact that many of Houston’s Asian residents had sampled sandwiches, ice cream and desserts at Lee’s outlets when visiting friends and relatives in Orange County, Calif. - home to the nation’s largest Vietnamese community - and it’s easy to see why the restaurant had a ready-made market when it opened. ‘People were waiting in line for an hour when we 1st opened,’ said Diem Truong (photo), general manager of the Houston restaurant, where children excitedly watch a machine churn out dough to make more than 300 baguettes an hour and customers sample traditional treats like ice cream made with durian, an exotic fruit popular among many Asian consumers…
… But it was also the city’s Hispanic market that appealed to Lee’s. ‘We find out that we share incredible parallels,’ said Ryan Nguyen Hubris, vice president for the private company that declined to release its revenues. At some of Lee’s restaurants in California, 80% of the customers are non-Asian, he said. At the Houston store, about 20% of its consumers are non-Asian. Blue-collar Hispanic workers frequent the restaurants because of the price tag - just $1.85 for a cured pork, pate or or tofu filled sandwich, Hubris said. That’s cheaper than some meals sold at taco trucks and Mexican restaurants. ‘Truthfully, the taquerias, most people perceive it’s supposed to be inexpensive, but it’s not,’ Hubris said. ‘Nobody just eats just one taco.’ But many consumers could eat just one sandwich served on a 10-inch baguette. Read about the Spanish-language ads and other planned stores.
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