Lee's Sandwiches International, Inc., is an American

fast food Fast food is a type of Mass production, mass-produced food designed for commercial resale, with a strong priority placed on speed of service. ''Fast food'' is a commercial term, limited to food sold in a restaurant or store with frozen, preheat ...

restaurant chain serving

Vietnamese cuisine Vietnamese cuisine encompasses the foods and beverages originated from Vietnam. Meals feature a combination of five fundamental tastes (): sweet, salty, bitter, sour, and Piquant, spicy. The distinctive nature of each dish reflects one or more ...

headquartered in

San Jose, California San Jose, officially the City of San José ( ; ), is a cultural, commercial, and political center within Silicon Valley and the San Francisco Bay Area. With a city population of 997,368 and a metropolitan area population of 1.95 million, it is ...

, with locations in several states and in

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

. Lee's Sandwiches specializes in , "European-style" baguette sandwiches, Vietnamese iced coffee, and Vietnamese dessert . It is credited with popularizing Vietnamese sandwiches and iced coffee among mainstream American consumers and inspiring several other Vietnamese-owned bakery chains.

History

Lee's Sandwiches was founded by the family, who owned a successful

sugar refinery A sugar refinery is a refinery which processes raw sugar from cane or sugar extracted from beets into white refined sugar. Cane sugar mills traditionally produce raw sugar, which is sugar that still contains molasses, giving it color ...

An Giang Province An Giang is a Provinces of Vietnam, province of Vietnam. It is located in the Mekong Delta, in the country's southwestern part. Geography An Giang is located in the upper reaches of the Mekong Delta. The Bassac River, Hậu Giang and Tiền R ...

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

before the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

and immigrated to the United States as boat people in July 1979. After having lived briefly in

New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...

and

Monterey, California Monterey ( ; ) is a city situated on the southern edge of Monterey Bay, on the Central Coast (California), Central Coast of California. Located in Monterey County, California, Monterey County, the city occupies a land area of and recorded a popu ...

, they settled in

, in 1980. Chieu Le () initially worked as a cook in a

food truck A food truck is a large motorized vehicle (such as a van or multi-stop truck) or trailer equipped to store, transport, cook, prepare, serve and/or sell food. Some food trucks, such as ice cream trucks, sell frozen or prepackaged food, but m ...

before purchasing one in 1981, from which he and his wife Yen () sold

hamburger A hamburger (or simply a burger) consists of fillings—usually a patty of ground meat, typically beef—placed inside a sliced bun or bread roll. The patties are often served with cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion, pickles, bacon, or chilis ...

burrito A burrito (, ) or burro in Mexico is, historically, a regional name, among others, for what is known as a taco, a tortilla filled with food, in other parts of the country. The term ''burrito'' was regional, specifically from Guanajuato, Guerre ...

chow mein ''Chow mein'' ( and , ; Cantonese Yale: ''cháaumihn'', Pinyin: ''chǎomiàn'') is a dish of Chinese stir-fried noodles with vegetables and sometimes meat or tofu. Over the centuries, variations of ''chǎomiàn'' were developed in many reg ...

, and to office workers on lunch breaks. The following year, Chieu's brother Henry () purchased his own food truck, and the two began a mobile catering distribution business. Founded in San Jose's

Little Saigon Little Saigon () is a name given to ethnic enclaves of overseas Vietnamese, expatriate Vietnamese mainly in English-speaking countries. (). Saigon is the former name of the capital of the former South Vietnam (now Ho Chi Minh City), where a lar ...

, they named it Lee Bros. Foodservice, Inc., anglicizing their surname to " Lee". It grew to serve more than 500 food trucks by 1985, many of them owned by Vietnamese immigrants. In 1983, Chieu and Henry's parents, and , began borrowing Chieu's truck on weekends to sell at the corner of 6th and Santa Clara streets, near the

San Jose State University San José State University (San Jose State or SJSU) is a Public university, public research university in San Jose, California. Established in 1857, SJSU is the List of oldest schools in California, oldest public university on the West Coast of ...

campus. The truck's popularity prompted complaints from nearby restaurants. In June 1983, they opened a traditional Vietnamese sandwich shop named Lee's Sandwiches at the same street corner. In 1988, Lee's Sandwiches moved to a larger space near King and Tully roads in the Vietnamese section of

East San Jose East Side San Jose (abbreviated as ESSJ), commonly called The East Side and less commonly as the East Valley, is the eastern region of the city of San Jose, California. The East Side is made up of numerous neighborhoods grouped into two larger ...

. On August 8, 2001, Chieu and his son Minh () opened the family's first American-style bakery-café in the

Westminster, California Westminster is a city in western Orange County, California, United States. Westminster was founded in 1870 by Rev. Lemuel Webber as a Presbyterian Temperance movement, temperance colony and was incorporated in 1957. Westminster is bordered by ...

. It featured an expanded menu including deli sandwiches, coffee, and desserts, with the goal of attracting Vietnamese and non-Vietnamese customers alike. There was some disagreement among family members about the new direction. However, the new store was a success. Within a year, the chain opened seven more locations and expanded to many other cities in

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. In 2005, Lee's Sandwiches became the first Vietnamese deli-cafe to franchise. By 2006, Lee's had become one of the fastest-growing fast food chains in the western United States. In March 2006, it opened its largest location, at , in

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

. A long line formed in anticipation of the grand opening of Lee's' first Houston location. On August 8, 2008, Lee's opened a café in

District 1, Ho Chi Minh City District 1 () is the central quận, urban district of Ho Chi Minh City, Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), the largest city in Vietnam. With a total area of the district has a population of 204,899 people as of 2010. It is the historical birthplace of th ...

, as part of a joint venture with a South Korean company. In August 2015, it opened a location near the Taipei station in

Taipei , nickname = The City of Azaleas , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Taiwan#Asia#Pacific Ocean#Earth , coordinates = , subdivision_type = Country ...

. ,

market research Market research is an organized effort to gather information about target markets and customers. It involves understanding who they are and what they need. It is an important component of business strategy and a major factor in maintaining com ...

firm Sundale Research listed Lee's Sandwiches among the 12 largest bakery-café chains in the United States. On August 8, 2017, the family opened a café named Lee's Coffee Roastery adjacent to a Lee's Sandwiches location in

. Many restaurants stopped dine-in service in March 2020 to combat the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, with

take-away A take-out (US, Canada, Philippines) or takeaway (UK, Ireland, Commonwealth) is a prepared meal or other food items purchased at a restaurant or fast food outlet with the intent to eat elsewhere. A concept found in many ancient cultures, take ...

and pickup service available.

Restaurants

, Lee's Sandwiches has 59 locations in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. They are located in cities with large

Vietnamese American Vietnamese Americans () are Americans of Vietnamese ancestry. They constitute a major part of all overseas Vietnamese. As of 2023, over 2.3 million people of Vietnamese descent live in the United States, making them the fourth largest Asian Ame ...

populations in

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a landlocked state in the Western United States. It borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the seventh-most extensive, th ...

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

, and

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

. One shop is located in front of the original location, next to San Jose City Hall. Lee's Sandwiches has locations in

food court A food court (in Asia-Pacific also called food hall or hawker centre) is generally an indoor plaza or common area within a facility that is contiguous with the counters of multiple food Vendor, vendors and provides a common area for self-serve di ...

s at the Asian Garden Mall in

, and the Cali Saigon Mall in

Garland, Texas Garland is a city in the U.S. state of Texas, located within Dallas County, Texas, Dallas County with portions extending into Collin County, Texas, Collin and Rockwall County, Texas, Rockwall counties. It is located northeast of Dallas and is a ...

. With locations in Westminster Mall in Westminster and Eastport Plaza in

Portland, Oregon Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...

, Lee's Sandwiches is one of the first Vietnamese businesses to enter mainstream malls and shopping centers.

References

External links

*
Franchising website

Lee's Coffee Roastery

Lee Bros. Foodservice
{{Food chains in Taiwan Restaurants in San Jose, California Economy of the Southwestern United States Regional restaurant chains in the United States Fast-food chains of the United States Fast-food franchises Restaurants established in 1983 Vietnamese restaurants in the United States Vietnamese-American culture in California 1983 establishments in California Bakery cafés Bakeries of California Companies based in San Jose, California American companies established in 1983

History

Restaurants

See also

References

External links