Photo by Kathy Tran.
Photo by Kathy Tran.
Photo by Kathy Tran.
Who makes the best sandwich in Oak Cliff?
Anyone who wants to find out has to consider Báhn Mi Station.
Duck confit and pork spend 24 hours marinating before they’re slow-roasted for eight or nine hours, cooled and pulled by hand for the sandwiches here.
Chicken-liver pâté is also made from scratch, before it’s slathered onto a toasted baguette, which is filled and topped with house-made pickled carrots and daikon.
The bread comes from a Vietnamese bakery in Carrollton. Six mornings a week, Báhn Mi Station owner Kevin Vivorakij drives from his home in Denton to pick up the bread before heading into his restaurant at Sylvan Thirty.
Vivorakij doesn’t eat duck, pork or chicken, because he is vegan. This sandwich shop also has some of the best vegan options around, such as jackfruit “crab cake” báhn mi and edamame falafel bao buns.
The Bowllery, Vivorakij’s previous restaurant, opened in Denton in 2012; it was profitable during the academic year, but summers and breaks were slow.
“It was almost like a seasonal business,” Vivorakij says.
He wanted to leave The Bowllery’s outdated shopping center and find a place with foot traffic. When he saw the space at Sylvan Thirty, he thought it was the restaurant of his dreams.
“I thought it looked like a train station, and that’s what gave me the idea for the name,” he says.
But business was slow for the first year after Báhn Mi Station opened, in February 2019. And it was not foot traffic that buoyed the business but Uber Eats.
Inside the restaurant, which takes up a corner of the development’s southernmost building, the dining room is immaculate and empty. High ceilings, walls of windows and professional design touches (such as an oversized menu and inviting banquettes) embody Vivorakij’s vision for his ideal restaurant after 20 years in the business. There is self-serve water and contactless ordering via two points of sale. No detail is missed.
“Every day, I look at everything I can improve,” Vivorakij says.
Terminals chime with Uber Eats orders, and drivers pop in to pick up orders. Vivorakij says signing an exclusive contract with one delivery service saved him some money. And delivery services are what pulled his place into the black, starting with pandemic-related stay-at-home orders in March 2020.
The restaurant went from losing money in 2019 to being overwhelmed with orders. Báhn Mi Station is now among the top restaurants of Uber Eats’ in Dallas/Fort Worth region.
Grilled lemongrass chicken, brisket in coconut curry and buffalo un-chicken are among the creative báhn mi fillings. The bao bun menu includes five-spice pork belly, soft-shell crab, “vietucky” fried chicken and smoked salmon.
Sides like red curry mac & cheese or smothered Viet fries are worth the indulgence, along with vegan mozzarella sticks. Besides that, greenery — raw pad thai, avocado and chickpea on kale or a báhn mi salad.
For dessert, there’s vegan soft serve in flavors like matcha or black charcoal.
Vivorakij has a wife and son. He grew up in Hong Kong and came to the United States for college and wound up working in restaurants. He was working part time at a Chinese restaurant when the owner asked if Vivorakij wanted to buy it. He had some savings, so he went for it. Vivorakij has also owned a seafood restaurant and a burger place.
“Restaurants are very hard work,” he says. “You can’t depend on a manager or staff. You have to be there every day.”
One thing Báhn Mi Station is not going to have is soup. Every time the weather turns colder, people ask why he doesn’t serve pho Vivorakij says.
This is not a Vietnamese restaurant he says. It’s a sandwich shop inspired by báhn mi.
“I want to focus on one thing that’s good and not have too many items,” he says.
Báhn Mi Station, 1818 Sylvan Ave., 972.629.9908, bahnmistationdallas.com
