Ba Le Dorchester

My go to spot since i was a kid and my folks always took us weekly. This family continually tries to offer more things, hot foods, traditional dishes, spring rolls, smoothies, sugar can drinks, viet subs (banh mi) literally the bread and butter Let's go! And snack foods you don't find at the supermarket. You can also pickup pate and butter by the quart if you want to make your own banh mi's at home along with all the other ingredients.My go to sub is always the Nem Nuong with extra butter pate and nuoc mam, hanh etc. gimme 2x one for now to eat outside and one for later haha. Not to mention a lot of banh mi joints don't offer this sub. And the baguettes always fresh, baked in house especially if you go earlier in day / lunch! Service may seem like the line is long, but honestly it moves quick, staff always been A1 in my experience and they some the coolest folks I've met. Much love. Always be back. Thank you. We always grab extra pastries, beef jerky, chicken jerky, goi, etc

Such value!!!! And everything is named in Vietnamese so you know it's authenticFood shop with really good and cheap banh mi! It's casual small shop that gets pretty crowded but the wait is worth it. The banh mi had great flavor and nice crunchy bread, the only thing is that the bread is so big it's hard to bite. But still rly tastyI just wish I could understand the rest of the menu so that I could try more things :)

Vietnamese food in Dorchester! This is not a sit-down place, more of a grab and go food court counter vibe - trays of hot food ready to be scooped into tupperware, bakery items, drinks, and some pre-packaged meals and desserts. They're known for their banh mis which are delicious and light on the wallet (my go-to is the pork bbq), but their rice plates and noodle dishes are definitely worth a try too. Everything is reasonably priced and I always spend less than I would typically expect for a meal around Boston (I think, occasionally, they will genuinely forget to charge you for items). Service moves pretty fast, and (depending on the staff that day) ordering can feel a little hectic if you don't read and/or speak Vietnamese, and/or are not familiar with what they are serving - the first time I went, my friend and I just pointed at things that looked good (it actually worked out very well, and we had a really good meal). This is one of my go-to's for a quick takeout moment. My go-to order here is the Pork BBQ Banh Mi, an order of the Bo Lat Lot as a side (so so flavorful), and the Pork and Shrimp Rice Noodle (it's served with a sauce that you pour over everything and it's really umami and fish saucy with some sweetness it balance it out).

Had to come back for my favorite bahn mi spot in Boston so far. Got the bbq pork, some rice rolls, sticky desserts, egg tarts, etc. Love getting things from here, it's always super fresh and food is 5/5!!

Cheap and so tasty. I always go to Ba Le when in Dorchester. I leave with a heavy bag stuffed with goodies for the next few days for $27-35. The line doesn't take too long. Tons of options to explore. The reasons I don't do much are 1) I love my go-tos. 2) lack of English signs (or any signage; though they've recently added some which is helpful. I wish they'd label everything). I always get a Banh mi sandwich. I've tried several meats and most like the chicken and bbq pork. My other go-tos are:- (dark colored) bbq pork (fresh vermicelli wrap) spring rolls, though I've also enjoyed the mixed with 1 pork, 1 shrimp, and 1 with a spam-like slice- pork floss buns: I've seen as many as 4 types. I just discovered the one with shredded seaweed as mochi inside! It's a bigger, flatter version of the pair of rounds that I always get at Taiwan Bakery - all the other baked goods I've had were delicious; they seem to rotate the offeringsThere are a variety of other goodies in front of the glass along the whole line. These are not very well organized and very few are labeled. I would definitely try more of these if I knew what was in it.They give free banh muffins sandwiches and Vietnamese iced coffee to military service members. Rare and nice to see this.

Finally got a chance to drive out of the city to this spot! It's more than just a Banh Mi shop, they have tons of other food and treats! We came at 10AM on a Wednesday, they had everything made hot and fresh. I originally wanted to try their banh mi but ended up buying tons of other food! Banh Mi- Chicken and Dac Biet: 5/5! Fresh ingredients made to order. You can ask them to add or remove any ingredients to your order also. Banh Cuon: 5/5, this is a must for anyone who's never tried. Difficult to find a place that has this fresh. It was made perfect, comes with crispy cha gio (roll), cha lua (ham), veggies, nuoc cham, and you can ask to make it spicy with garlic chili! Xoi man- savory sticky rice 5/5: this was already prepackaged and ready to go. It was still warm! Some of the best I've had in a long time! I got extra and even had some next day, and it was still so good. They also honor military deals and discounts! Just show ID! If you can make it out here it is well worth!! Very cheap, so fresh, amazing for lunches! This is set up more like a deli. You just grab and go, nowhere to sit and dine. You'll need to street park but plenty of free parking on the street immediately to the right of the store.

There was a long line and so worth the wait. We ordered the traditional cold cut banh mi, grilled pork banh mi, to go pork vermicelli and coffee. Everything was delicious. The only challenge was finding parking.

Ba le used to be the place to go for a good banh mi and sugarcane juice. I grew up coming here with family. I remember when one banh mi used to be $3 and now it's over $10 I think the quality has certainly gotten worse over the years with their gaining of popularity amongst westerners. Cutting corners on quality to keep up with cost and demand was not the way to go. Now that banh mi is trending in the food world, there are plenty of other places to grab a good banh mi - some places have even better quality with a cheaper price tag. (Ie: banh mi Boston in quincy and downtown, banh mi le in quincy, lumi in braintree, chau's in Dorchester and randolph) It's not that I don't like the banh mi here, it's just not worth the price tag in my humble opinion. It is, however, a great one stop shop for viet snacks when you're in a pinch. They actually get packaged foods shipped in from Vietnam and California directly. The desserts, baked goods, and drinks are decent. Although, again - some of it is still ridiculously overpriced though because you can go down the street to truong thinh and get it cheaper.

I got the Banh Mi from here and it was 10/10. It's one of their sandwiches and it was very good. The service was fast and the workers were very friendly and easy to talk to. They were very helpful when it came to helping me navigating the menu and suggesting food items. Definitely recommend trying the Banh Mi from here, it's worth all the hype and seriously good! I would try the one with the bbq meats (#2)

Impeccable. A nationally acclaimed banh mi institution (I think) for a reason. Although I routinely come for the banh mi (my American tongue shamelessly pronounces this "bon me"), I am always prone to entertain myself with a novel treat, such as the Weiner bun or cheesy bread. The Vietnamese really know how to do their empty carbs right. As I approach the Garden of Eden that is the sandwich station next to the register, the other food on the hot bar also catches my eye, but I never have the confidence to push the language barrier in guessing the name of the delicious looking meat-noodle concoction overflowing the metal tray. My go to sancwich is always the bbq beef banh mi. The beef has an amazing unique grilled flavor and soaks up the special mayo perfectly (make sure to ask for extra mayo, you'll thank me later). A typical order includes anywhere from 10-15 sandwiches which are slowly munched on throughout the following week, and man do those things taste good cold. For around $7/sandwich, a deal like this is hard to find these days, and you know from the speed and precision at which the women behind the counter prepare the sandwiches that you are getting utmost authenticity and flavor. Whenever passing through Boston, I will always make sure to parallel park (perhaps illegally next to a fire hydrant) on Dorchester Ave to pop into Ba Le and buy a bag full of nostalgia.