Phê

Phê is the coffee shop of Mắm, the Vietnamese restaurant next door that has made the NYT's 100 Best list since 2024 and got shut down this summer over its sidewalk stools. It's set up as a Saigon street stand that sells cà phê (the name comes from this, also means high) and, like Mắm, has low plastic stools.

On Fridays through Sundays, there is a line that goes all the way down Grand St, leading people to think it's a pop-up, as those are the only days they serve food. This has kept it out of the summer's line discourse and off DamnLines, the live-cam line tracker site. Bánh Anh Em, which opened in April 2025, is the only other bánh mì line in the city (average wait time of 44 minutes on DamnLines). Phê started building that June.

Fridays have actual bánh mì sandwiches: ham, crispy pork and tofu. The bread is baked in the basement. The longest lines (2 hours) are on Saturday and Sunday as they're the only place in New York found serving a full bánh mì chảo set: pâté, chả lụa, beef, a fried egg and a wedge of Laughing Cow in an individual cast-iron pan cooked on burners in the back yard, with unlimited bread for dipping or assembling.