Cafe de Bella

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WHYYYYYYYYYY!!!
wait for it again…
WHYYYYYYYYYYY!!!
ugh, yes they closed. this is god saying, ‘you know what stephen? this is what you get for (insert a myriad of sins i’ve committed). i’m taking banh mi away from you.‘
seriously i have never had a banh mi this good in my entire life. .. and now i never will again, ugh!
ugh!

CLOSED!
Apparently, it’s going to become a Cajun place or something.
Too bad. I liked that I could walk to veggie Banh Mi.

This review is only for their Bahn Mi.
Holy crap, their sandwiches are awesome! The first time I went there, I had their classic sandwich and I was hooked. They have a really good portion of vegetables, spicy jalapeños, and they actually have real pâté! I have been to several places around Texas that served Bahn Mi and I have to say that this is probably the best sandwich I’ve ever had.
When I went there, there was only one wait staff. She was really friendly and helpful. The space is almost club-​like because apparently they have dances and whatnot occasionally. The serve alcohol now and their prices are really reasonable. I had their Lycheetini and it was amazing! It tasted like sweet lychee juice and decent vodka. haha.
This is a really cute place to bring your friends and get cheap grub and drinks. After you get slammed, there’s no shame in doing some karaōke.

We came here for lunch again today. The bahn mi sandwiches are much better than they were a year ago.
The tofu was quite good, but its different than it used to be. They put a sauce on it that made it tastier.
They have also scaled back on the mayo (yeah!).
The husband got the grilled pork bahn mi again this time. Oh, was that puppy good. We split our sandwiches. The pork was much better than the one he had last time. It was savory and warm, and just a big bundle of yum.
The only partial disappointment was the dumplings. We got them, and while they were good, they showed up to the table hot… as in after they sat there for 5 minutes and I finally took one, I had to spit it out because it was still so steaming hot it burned my tongue. Tastewise, they were the most boring part of the meal because while the filling was ample, it didn’t have any zing.

Just get the tofu bahn mi and some of their ridiculously cheap drinks (they just started serving alcohol), and you won’t be disappointed.

I have given a previous review for this little café. It was middle of the road. While the food was good enough, the service was always lacking.
Today, the service was ridiculous. I called in an order for the House Special Lo Mein with wonton soup. The gentleman taking the call said, «Hot and sour soup?» I said, «No, wonton soup.»
I picked up my order and later found it was hot and sour soup. I called, and the gentleman said the ticket had «hot and sour soup» written on it. I said, «I know. I had to correct you on the phone. I said wonton soup twice.» He went back and forth from asking me to bring the hot and sour soup in to get my wonton soup to saying he knew I had told him hot and sour soup.
Talk about ridiculous. This is not the first time, nor the second time, nor the third time my order has been wrong. But it’s close by and convenient, between my office and my home… plus I really liked the Bahn Mi.
Now, I will never go back and never refer them to anyone ever again.

Underrated. Excellent banh mi at a great price. Friendly staff. And yet, those tables always seem to be empty while I have to wait a goddamned hour for a not-​as-​good, not-​as-​cheap banh mi (though admittedly still quite good and cheap) at Lulu B’s that I called ahead for.

Apparently, seeing the other reviews, the only thing to order here is the banh mi. I, however, was avoiding bread, so I ordered off the main part of the menu. I got the sesame shrimp, which turned out to be heavily breaded and fried. It didn’t taste that good– it was soggy and flavorless. Kind of like shrimp donuts. Also the sauce was a bit syrupy.
My dining companion got chicken with broccoli. Feeling sorry for my low carb plight, he let me try some. Again, the sauce was a bit sweet and thick, but the garlic and ginger made it not too bad.
The food gets a two stars and the price and board games get it another half star. I’ll round up to 3 because my dining companion thought his smoothy was good.
I wasn’t crazy about the loud TV, but that seems standard for Vietnamese restaurants. The tecno music they were playing was funny — my friend and I remarked that it sounded like we were in Oilcan Harry’s.
I might be talked into trying it again because it’s so cheap, but I wouldn’t particularly recommend it.

I love, love, love vietnames sandwiches (banh mi). Growing up in Houston, I was spoiled with almost limitless tasty options when I needed a fix, but now that I am in Austin, the options have seriously dwindled. Thank goodness for Café Bella, who offers a pretty tasty version to fill my belly at a reasonable (for Austin) price. The bread is soooo good and fresh and they will cater make your order (I can’t stand cilantro and they are good about leaving it off for me). Usually, the sandwich is enough for 2 meals for me, though sometimes it is tough to stop eating after just half because it is so tasty.
The restaurant has gone through a few face lifts sine opening not too long ago. It seems the owners can’t quite decide what «look» they want, but the restaurant is always clean, the food is always consistently good and the service is fairly attentive. They used to have really tasty pizzas and salads as well (the American half of the restaurant) though I am not sure if they still offer them. Either way, Café Bella offers up a little surprise of flavor from an unexpected location in a strip center.

Inconspicuously located near other Vietnamese restaurants it’s easy to overlook. Little would one know that a café with modern uncomfortable seating would be home to a pretty good Vietnamese sandwich.
Unlike other banh mi places, they use the french baguette roll rather than a french roll. Their bread was pretty good overall nice crunchy outside and soft inside. I got the sandwich with pâté and cha lua (pork meatloaf) and it was all delicious. There was good bread to mayo ratio although sometimes it was unevenly spread so I had some mayo glops. I probably could have used more pickled carrots and daikon but that’s just a personal preference. The sandwich was good overall and I would definitely have it again.
The true sandwich test was that I left the sandwich in my car while we went to a karaōke joint. When I came out, not only the delicious smell had seeped into the fabric of my car, I took a single bite and the bread was still a great texture and the filling still warm and delicious.
A good sandwich overall whether you eat it then, later or after it’s been sitting in a car for a few hours.

The bhanh mi sandwich was good. Great bread. The sandwich was large and cheap. The other offerings don’t look very traditional, but I have not tried them. My mango smoothie was also good, although it needed a little more mango flavor.

I only ever get the bhan mi sandwiches and that alone gets this place a good rating from me. The bbq pork one is my favorite with the shrimp a close second. The sandwiches are simple but big on a crusty baguette with simple and fresh fixings on them.
The price is right on them too. When I lived in LA there were quite a few of these types of coffee and sandwich places and I am glad I found a good one in Austin.

My friend and I moseyed into this place because Phở Van was crowded. I have to say, I was impressed. I got the Bun w/​chargrilled pork. My friend had some phở or something like that and some springrolls. What we liked was that everything was FRESH.
The spring rolls had crisp greens and the rice paper was soft and supple. The Bun had a nice mix of pork loin along w/​cracklins. I never had crunchy cracklins in my bun before and it was really good. Capped the meal off w/​Café sua da. Really, I can’t complain.
The only reason why I don’t give it a 5 star is the TV’s were on a Time Warner advertisement the entire time and the atmospheric MUZAK was atrocious. I have no idea what the hell they were playing in that café, sort of a blend of Jap-​O-​pop mixed with reggae?

A second visit to Café de Bella with husband and in-​laws gave us four different banh mi to try. This time in addition to the grilled shrimp and the grilled pork, we ordered the pork and pâté and the grilled chicken. My in-​laws didn’t want mayonnaise or jalapenos, and their request was pleasantly accommodated.
The flavors were as fresh as on our first visit, and the bread was still that perfect combination of crusty exterior and soft warm interior. And while some other reviewers have complained about too much mayo, I didn’t find that to be the case on either visit.
All of the sandwiches we had were good, plus we tried the egg rolls as an appetizer and they were completely fresh and bursting with flavor. The pork-​and-​pâté sandwich pales a little in comparison to the grilled selections, especially because my husband and I have now decided that the grilled pork banh mi Is It. Terrific flavor, amazing sandwich. We tussled over who got the last bite.

Another review… I was the lone customer in the restaurant while I suspect that was the owner, Thu P, quietly typing away his response to our reviews in the half booth.
1−2pm on Friday Jan 2^nd, 2009…
Ordered the Thit Nuong Vermicelli bowl (bun thit nuong). Green leaf lettuce, rice vermicelli, cilantro, bean sprouts, julienne cucumber and carrot, and the perfect nuoc cham (might be strong to those not accustomed to it). The marinated and grilled pork was sliced thin and was on the dry side and slightly chewy. It’s supposed to be like this apparently, and I liked the texture contrast with all the other ingredients. The only other slightly off-​key feature was the lack of chopped peanuts and … is that bacon? Sure enough — pieces of crumbled crispy bacon in it’s place. Interesting twist. Waitress did ask if I wanted peanuts after I was halfway through.
Also got the Vietnamese crepes. I decided on them at the last second and ordered it without even looking at the menu. I thought I’d get banh xeo but I got banh coun instead. 4 large parcels of pork and 8 – 10 other ingredients (standard) separated by thin slices of pork roll so they didn’t stick together. Served with a nest of julienne cucumber and a couple small dishes of more nuoc cham. These were tasty but a little on the soft side. I kinda like the ones I get from near the cash registers at Hong Kong Market or sometimes MT super where they’ve been sitting out all day at room temp (how do they get away with that?) and the rice batter has had a chance to firm up and get a little chewy. They also have the banana wrappers. This plate at CdB also lacked the customary peanut garnish; I guess they’re afraid to serve peanuts — allergies?
The presentation of all the dishes is quite attractive. Perfectly round half-​basketball stainless steel bowls for the bun bowls, and too-​modern, but practical plates for the banh coun with little square dishes of more nuoc cham (fish sauce). Everything in the place screams Ikea. And if you don’t hear it screaming, then look under the bowls, plates, chairs, tables, etc… It literally says Ikea on most everything in the room.
I give the bun thit nuong an 8.5 and the crepes a 7.
And the nuoc cham a 9.5. I drank what was leftover in all three bowls that were served to the table.
I hope this place stays in business. It’s my newest favorite Vietnamese place in town. I’ve visited twice in the last week even though it’s about 3 – 4 hours off of my normal beaten-​to-​death routes.
Again, Here is the menu: (right click image to rotate using Adobe plug-​in. I’ll figure this scanner out eventually)
(second link might be broken — blame yahoo)
–sw

Here’s the thing about Café de Bella, it’s new and trying to figure itself out. This place is in my ‘hood and so I’m rooting for it to succeed.
Pluses:
–Delicious Bahn Mi, big enough to split between 2 people
–Fun décor with board and card games for your lounging pleasure
–Variety of drinks, food, ice cream, bubble tea, etc.
–A multi-​lingual open mic night starting in November (full disclosure… started by me)
–Open late for North Central
Minuses:
–Still working out service protocols (though when I’ve gone there with a group, they were extremely attentive)
–Maybe trying to do a little too much too fast, so everything is not always in stock
All in all, I’m going to keep up my patronage, because I met the owner Tina and you’ve got to respect entrepreneurs who try to show love for North Central. I think in time, they’ll find their groove. They’re working on their liquor license, so I think that might add a more loungy hang out vibe to the place.
–

I can’t eat anything here.
so I can’t offer you anything on their food.
But after the destruction of good flows juices by the FDA.
I might add that despite the odd atmosphere. They juice pineapple, apple, melons, etc. FRESH. on ice.
and it’s not some powdered flavoring like in bubble teas.
fresh pineapple juiced right on the spot is heaven …

Suuuper cute place in off ohlen/​183. Like Michelle C. I waited for this place to open for months and was so glad to find a place so close to my house that served bahn mi (which is probably my «stranded on a desert island» food). The interior is very pleasing to the senses – calming colors, very modern, high ceilings, clean and new. Tempting sweet pies behind the counter. The service was decent. At first, it seemed as if I had found my new spot.
There was no bubble tea and I was sad… but I quickly forgave and decided what I really wanted was a killer vietnamese sammich. I ordered the bbq pork Bahn Mi. I’m no expert, I’m just a mexican girl who likes good food, but I mean, BBQ pork bahn mi is a staple, no? if you’re going to serve the vietnamese sandwich, do it well.
1. Don’t be fooled by the giant french bread. Size does not matter as I quickly learned.
2. WHY ALL THE MAYO? Its like they ran out of pork and filled in the gaps with cream. Yuck.
3. Seasoning, people! Mayo is not a flavor sub. This could have been as simple as adding a few jalapenos and more cucumber.
Oh man, I was so disappointed. Next time I go to a place called «Café de Bella» I will not order Vietnamese food. Lesson learned.
p. s. Michelle, I am pretty sure their ice cream is not Amy’s. They just use the Amy’s cups.

I was so excited when I saw that a new banh mi (Vietnamese sandwich) place had arrived in this little hub of Asian food goodness. Unfortunately, I don’t think Café de Bella quite lives up to its potential.
The general vibe is more dessert/​drink shop than really restaurant — sort of along the lines of Coco’s. You order at the counter, and most of what you see on display is desserts. There’s a refrigerated counter with pre-​made desserts and an ice cream display from which they dispense Amy’s ice cream. In addition, they offer smoothies, shaved ice with fruit toppings, and a wide variety of fruit juices. The fruit juices included some interesting offerings like sugar cane juice, canteloupe juice, honeydew juice, and young coconut juice, among others. I think they must also offer coffee drinks, as there is a steaming mug of coffee in their logo; I guess I must have zoned that out because I don’t drink coffee.
Food-​wise, Café de Bella serves banh mi, regular sandwiches, and salads. I ordered a banh mi ($ 3.79). First of all, it was HUGE — probably close to 12″ long — much larger than any other banh mi I can ever remember having. It had all the key ingredients and was generally very good, but something about it seemed just the tiniest bit off — I think they might lightly butter the top of the bread before they grill it, and I always think butter tastes strange in banh mi. That said, it was still quite good, and while I prefer the banh mi at Thanh Nhi, I wouldn’t hesitate to eat another of Café de Bella’s to save myself some driving time.
The real issue I had here was the service. I can’t put my finger on exactly why, but it was mildly annoying in general. And they don’t really have the flow down. First, we ordered a smoothie and the woman behind the counter assumed without asking that we wanted a 24 oz one rather than a 16 oz one, a technique which I’ve always hated. Also, the smoothie didn’t appear until ten minutes or so after the banh mi came out (my ice water appeared slightly earlier, about five minutes after the banh mi). This meant that we were left to choose between letting our sandwiches sit there getting cold or eating them without drinks. It wasn’t at all crowded and there didn’t seem to be any good reason why it took so long, other than the glacially slow pace at which the person making the smoothies seemed to be moving.
Another thing I found weird is that they have these frequent diner punch cards sitting at the register that say you get a free entrée after you purchase five. On the card, it says that «any sandwich» counts as an entrée. But when I tried to get the card punched, I was told that I couldn’t get a punch for a banh mi — only for a «regular» sandwich. No big deal, really, but certainly odd and again, a little annoying.
Another tidbit that may be of interest to some — they don’t carry Splenda. They do have something called «Shape» that is also in yellow packets, but I couldn’t tell if it was a Splenda ripoff, or not. Also, the whole time we were there, they were playing this loud, frenetic dance music that would have been fine if I were in a club, but was a bit much for a café.
Maybe this place will improve after they’ve had some time to iron out the kinks. I hope so, because I loves me some banh mi, and Café de Bella is a pretty convenient place to pick one up.

I went to Café de Bella today based on a Chowhound recommendation and got a #8 Bahn Mi. What a great sandwich! Next time, though, I’m taking someone with me so we can split it. It doesn’t look like a huge amount of food, but it is so filling. Light, crusty french bread with pâté, pork roll, sweet pickled onion, shredded carrot, pepper, cucumber, homemade mayo, and cracked pepper. It normally comes with cilantro, but I opted to get it without since I’m one of those people that thinks cilantro tastes like soap. I cannot believe this sandwich has a menu price of $ 3.79. It’s amazing.
I also got a large watermelon juice. This is the most refreshing thing I have ever had. Light, naturally sweet, and cool. I ended up getting a second one without ice because I knew I would drink most of the first one in the car on the way home.
I can’t wait to go back and try the other sandwiches and juices. They also have a variety of smoothie flavors, including durian and avacado.
So far I’m only giving it 4 stars because I’ve only been there once and haven’t tried anything else. They also have American sandwiches, pizza, coffee, tea, and a few desserts that looked absolutely sinful.
Further revision: 8÷22÷08
I took my girlfriend there for lunch a few days ago. I got the #4 Bahn Mi (meatball) and my girlfriend got the Ham Panini. Her sandwich was on pumpernickel with shaved ham, dijon mustard, spinach leaves, green apple, and Havarti cheese. She also got a strawberry juice.
All the food was great. However, it took forever to get to us. My sandwich came out after 15 minutes or so, but hers took almost 30. We were the only customers in the place. Also, her juice came out with my sandwich and while she was encouraging me to start eating, I would have liked a drink to go with it.
Also, there was a super uncomfortable conversation happening between a young woman, her father, and another woman who appeared to be the manager of the place. The father was yelling at the manager about his daughter not getting her paycheck and. .. yeah. So uncomfortable. The girl working the counter looked really embarrassed about it. She was also running back and forth to the kitchen to find out why our food was taking forever, so it wasn’t her fault in the slightest. She ended up giving us some free peanut butter chocolate cookies to make up for it, which I thought was sweet. I still love the food here, but I’m more likely to call it in WAY in advance, like 20 minutes and just take it to go.
For the tense atmosphere and seemingly endless wait, I’m taking this down to 3 stars.