Charming cafe with above average food.

A good sandwich shop with a cheeky name.

Banh mi basically means bread, and just like the Louisiana po’boy or just about any other sub sandwich you can name, the bread is the key element. It is essentially a mini baguette — the banh mi’s roots stem from the French colonization. I could describe to you what a perfect baguette for a banh mi would look and taste like, but instead, just go to Banh Mi Nha Trang and see for yourself.

BMNT is a well-hidden little shop among the many other Vietnamese owned and focused businesses in in the Mills 50 district. The tiny storefront is tucked inside an alcove of about a dozen shops. The signage is not great — I walked past it twice while trying to find it. And once you’re inside, it doesn’t look much like a restaurant. It’s almost like a slapdash operation or a pop-up sandwich shop.

Banh mi is all that the shop does, and when they’re this good there’s little reason for it to do anything else. What’s more, the sandwiches are all just $3.50. I challenge you to find a better sandwich of any type that is a better value in town.

Although it is pot themed the food contains no THC or CBD. But the sandwiches are good anyway.

There’s more to the name here than just a play on a historical figure. John Montagu, the 11th Earl of Sandwich, is involved in the business, although the project was started by his son Orlando, who is not in line to inherit the title. There’s another Earl involved: Robert Earl, founder of Planet Hollywood. Legend has it, of course, that it was the fourth Earl of Sandwich who came up with the idea of slapping meat between some bread. The usual story is that he was a gambler and didn’t want to put down his cards, but Lord Sandwich, the current one, told me over sherries in the House of Parliament a few years ago, that his ancestor was also a womanizer and it may have been a lady in his other hand. Whatever, the sandwiches here are very good and impressively thick. You may actually need both hands. The 4th Earl would not approve.

The last time I had the sandwich known as the Abigail, it was at George’s Gourmet Cookie’s in a small storefront space at the corner of Lee Road and Orlando Avenue in what was then the Kmart-anchored shopping plaza. The sandwich, a take on a reuben, was revelatory. And even though it was in 2016 that I had it, that sandwich came to mind often – usually anytime I ordered a reuben elsewhere only to be disappointed in comparison.

Sometime during the haze of the pandemic, George’s moved to Park Avenue, taking over the former Brandywine Deli space. Gourmet Cookies was dropped from the name, but not from the menu, and it is now known as George’s Cafe.

A downtown salad assemblage concept, offering fresh lunchtime options.

Serious grilled cheese sandwiches.

Pammie’s Sammies is a rockin’ little sandwich shop a half block off of Plant Street. The rockin’ part (more classic than hard) comes from the musical theme of the decor and overall ambience. The walls are decorated with guitars and band posters mixed among such eclectic miscellanea as wooden chairs nailed upside-down to the ceiling, a bank of unconnected beer taps (also upside down), and sundry works of local art.

A quick-serve restaurant that not only serves a decent slice of pizza pie but also has very good sandwiches.