Cali Banh Mi - Garnet Ave

Ordered a large catering order that they messed up. Missing 2 of my orders that I did online. I was rightfully frustrated and instead of being apologetic, the brunette girl at the front was giving me so much attitude and not being helpful at all.Not recommending this place ever. I'm Vietnamese and wanted to support a Viet business, but not after this experience. Hire people that know how to handle a situation that your business got wrong and be nice about it instead of sarcastic and rude. I feel like this is the type of person to mess with your food too. Don't even trust it to eat it.Also, instead of correcting the order and doing it right away, she waited another 20 minutes after I insisted that they make it, and I t he end my order was over 40min late.

Fast casual banh mi. I got the BBQ pork banh mi. They bake their own bread, very good. Quick friendly service, lots of drink choices.

Visited Cali Banh Mi for the first time and opted for the dac biet banh mi and spicy noodle. The soup's broth lacked depth and was disappointingly lukewarm. The unconventional "bun Bo hue" was decent, generously loaded with meat, though not your traditional Vietnamese flavor.The banh mi was massive, boasting ample meat, but there was an elusive missing element that left me undecided. It's not the typical Vietnamese cuisine, but I acknowledge the attempt to showcase our culture. The modern ambiance was pleasant, the service was ok. Overall a 3-star experience--just okay.

Love this hole in the wall! I have tried a banh mi from here before and it was really good. Today I had a vietnamese coffee and a pack of macaroons. So tasty!

Cali Banh Mi did a great job of renovating the former space occupied by Muscle Mill Grill on Garnet Ave. The updated light fixtures and new paint inside made a big difference to the ambiance as it felt cozier than before. If you aren't heading westbound on Balboa Ave, then a better option to arrive here would be to pull into the McDonald's driveway on Mission Bay Dr and then park in the corner adjacent to the outdoor patio of this suite. There were four reserved parking spaces for CBM in that area.The menu was surprisingly extensive with traditional Vietnamese, American deli style, and breakfast banh mi sandwiches available in addition to boba drinks, spring rolls, salads, energy and Cali bowls, fried rice, and desserts. I ordered the classic Shrimp and Pork Spring Rolls along with a savory BBQ Pork Vietnamese Banh Mi. Each item was a good value for the serving size. A standard peanut dipping sauce came with the spring rolls. The banh mi was on a legitimate French baguette and not some other type of bread.The outdoor patio doubled the on-site seating capacity and was a feature that the other CBM locations don't have. You may have to take a circuitous route if you are coming from a particular direction (e.g. north or west). Otherwise, it's great to have a Vietnamese sandwich shop in this neighborhood so you don't have to drive to their Convoy District or Point Loma locations.

What a feast. Doc ordered wonderful items for lunch. Huge generous portions that were each delicious. A treasure trove of flavors and their fried rice and steak bowl blew me away. The veggies in the dishes were fresh, brightly colored and even the way they were placed in the containers that Grub Hub delivered were excellent.Thank you Doc for a wonderful satisfying yummy meal, SO much for lunch!

I've had a lot of banh mi's before and this one was alright. The service was wonderful though and I think the inside is very clean and has a nice aesthetic. Definitely a nice spot to go for lunch.

Overall thoughts: the Banh Mi are a good size; long and stuffed with a decent amount of meat and other fillings. I wish the pickled veggies had a more potent pickled flavorSavory BBQ Pork Sandwich: 9/10 a solid banh mi, can't go wrong with this one. This is the one you should recommend your white friends orderLemongrass Ribeye Sandwich: 9.5/10 this one was just slightlyyy better than the bbq pork imo (hence the additional 0.5) Super flavorful!! A good one if you enjoy lemongrassDac Biet: 8/10 always a classic, you can really taste the Pate which I enjoy. The protein is cut super thin and the vegetables add the perfect balanceTraditional Pork and Shrimp Roll w/ Peanut Sauce: 3/10 I've had A LOT of pork and shrimp spring rolls in my lifetime and these don't even come close to the ones my momma makes. They didn't feel/taste super fresh and didn't have much flavor to them which was emphasized by the fact that the peanut sauce was not good

We order from here all the time for lunch and it's usually very good with fast delivery, but today something was in our Ribeye Bowl - see photo. I am really hoping that it's just string used in the cooking process and that they accidentally forgot to remove it. Thinking about the alternative (i.e., what else it looks like) made me sick (actually). Needless to say, we won't be able to order here for a while. We ordered online via ChowNow, and are hoping for a full refund.

Oh my gosh what a gem!! The food is so fresh and always flavorful! We had a super sweet cashier who was helpful in ordering out first time when we had questions and asked about her recommendations :)Plenty of inside seating and super modern- but also super cozy outside seating that is pet friendly! We got the Cali bowls and something of note is almost all of their food comes in reusable to go containers which was a perk for us taking them home :) We recommend the Cali Bowls for food but if you're craving boba or genuine Vietnamese Iced coffee this has is your place :)