Ba Le Bakery

This was actually my second visit here, and I have to say over all I liked the experience. The sandwiches still have the same positive effect they’ve had the first time I tried it; a unique twist that’s western friendly (not like that mattered). Back tracking, the customer service was timely enough to keep me coming back.

I’ve only had sandwiches here (Tank Noddle across the street is the best phở). They are amazing and flavorful. Get the BBQ pork and lemongrass pork. Cost around 10 bucks for two.

Whenever I am in the area I try to stop by. Every single sandwich that I have tried has been delicious. I have not tried any of their desserts but they do look good as well. This place is definitely worth checking out.

One of the longest-​lasting in a sea of Vietnamese joints clustered in the Argyle neighborhood, Ba Le gets there through sheer persistence and one overwhelming quality. It’s not great food — this stuff is good, but not transcendent. It’s not atmosphere — it’s definitely cavernous convenience store style. But what Ba Le has going for it is that it’s cheap as fuuuuuuuuck: you get decent-​quality sandwiches, very good bakery items, big drinks, and lots of grocery and deli items for next to nothin’. Ten bucks will get you a huge banh mi and enough sides to stuff you; twenty will buy you close to a week’s worth of meals. Lots of bangs for your buck!

I had a good impression of Ba Le Bakery when I lived in Chicago four years ago and decided to drop in for a quick dinner. Got the combo meal with beef noodle soup and pork cake banh mi. Soup was a little on the salty side but stayed light with lots of fresh herbs and tender meat bits. Sandwich was also very good although heavy on the jalapenos and the bread was just a bit more chewier than I like. I also like the prepared-​food options — I bought two big zhongzi (is what Chinese call them), those pyramids of steamed sticky rice and fillings wrapped in banana leaves for just a little over $ 5 and got a fruity creamy dessert cup of pudding.
I should note that the café is spacious, well-​lit, and clean. Stays open relatively late and there might even be wi-​fi? I want to compare with Little Saigon Baguette up the street.

I have been coming to this place for years. It’s damn good if you love a different kind of something to eat.
Watch out for those fresh Hot Jalapeño Peppers on that Sammich from Vietnam baby! Woo!
You have to realize how lucky you all are to be living in Chicago. There aren’t many places that can do it like Ba Le Bakery.

I loooooove this place. This is my family’s hot spot to grab a banh mi. The prices are reasonable compared to the neighboring restaurants who also serve banh mi. I love how the bread is always warm and crisp when I get it! My personal favorite is the cha tom with a side of vietnamese café sua da (iced coffee) that’s a solid meal right there.
The macaroons are not my personal favorite, but their bakery section with the eggsrolls definitely is delicious!
Highly recommend if you’re in a hurry and for a cheap eat! The bread is amazing here!

Ordered the banh mi bi chay (vegetarian) and Viet iced coffee.
The banh mi was alright. It had tofu which was pretty bland with little flavor. I’m also used to banh mi seasoned with soy sauce but it didn’t seem like this one had any. The quality of the bread was also okay; I prefer the bread to be more crispy than it was. Iced coffee was a pretty big portion and decent!
To be fair, I did just come back from a summer in Vietnam so my expectations are higher than average. Will probably be back due to the lack of Viet food places in the area!

Just a head’s up: this review is for their macarons/​bakery section and not for their sandwiches.
Walking into Ba Le is an experience: the smell is so overwhelming that you get a whiff even before you enter the building. And no, it’s not a homey, bread-​baking kind of smell. The smell is what I imagine the Ninja Turtles’ hideout smells like, in addition to walking into the bathroom after Oktoberfest with The Klumps.
There was a long line, which was all over the place, so it was hard to discern who to talk to in order to get macarons. These macarons looked super cute, especially in the display, and there were at least 20 different flavors. I was most intrigued by the blood orange one.
I finally ventured over to the cashier and waited in line after several rude, entitled patrons, and asked who I can talk to in order to get some macarons. The cashier said to her, and then she picked up a tray of food and turned her back to me, fiddling around with some items behind the counter, ignoring me for a few beats before going over to the macaron case. Okay…
I chose 6 macarons from the case and she put them in a small plastic container. It came to around $ 10, which seems fair. I was used to the macarons at Sucre in New Orleans, which are heavenly, so you can imagine that I had high hopes for these.
When we got home, I opened the box and grabbed a macaron. It squished under the light pressure I applied with my thumb and forefinger. All of the macarons were mushy. They were in a refrigerated case. The first rule of Macaron Club is you do not put macarons in the fridge case. I smelled it, and it smelled like the aforementioned sewer/​cabbage farts aroma that I was greeted with… nay, socked in the nose with… when I arrived in front of the store. I chalked it up to «hey, maybe this one isn’t my thing», so I put that one back and tried another.
Disgusting. Every single one of these macarons were awful. I understand how tough it is to make a macaron: it’s nothing short of a miracle to get the cookies to set properly, let alone not break in half when you ice them. These had the taste and texture of a bag of Cheez-​Its that was left in a storm drain, then scooped out and let dry on a picnic table at the zoo, but not before a goat peed on it. My poor stomach took forever to settle and I couldn’t get the taste out of my mouth.
I didn’t try any of their other cakes or their chocolates, but something tells me that I wouldn’t much care for those either.

One of the best Banh Mi’s joints in chicago!!! Very generous in their portion and reasonable in price. At least for the area! I always get the banh mi thit nuong or dac biet. they’re both really good and flavorful! love their banh mi special buy 5 get 1 free! I always end up ordering 10 and going home with a dozen!
they also have other goodies inside their shop too. the vietnamese snacks are always good!
one thing that i didn’t care for too much were their macaroons. i know that ba le bakery is trying to be a little fancy by adding macaroons and their logo is an effile tower but they should really just stick to banh mi! Their macaroons were not fresh and deff. not good at all! they deff. tasted old and stale. such a disappointment considering its $ 1.65 for one tiny macaroon.
overall, great hot food! pass on the macaroons and chocolate. stick what they’re really known for.

Sweet little Vietnamese bakery and sandwich shop! We only got the macarons since we just had lunch but this seemed like a fantastic place to grab a bite to eat! Service was great, and I loved the sections with pork loaf and other Vietnamese goodies!
They were out of both the sugar cane drink and the chrysanthemum tea when we were there though, but hope to be back in the future!

I am a fan of the prices. For what the sandwiches cost, the taste is good and the portions are filling for a small person. You might be a bit hungry if you can eat a lot.
I ordered a vegan chicken sandwich, and I was impressed by the combination of flavors. I was a little disappointed by high sodium content. My stomach did not feel too good afterwards.
I also ordered the Vietnamese iced coffee. It is very bold but it’s very sweet. The combination of sweet and bitter (bitterness from the coffee) is awesome. You should ask for less ice though– they stuffed my cup to the brim with ice, so I sipped like 4 times and the coffee was gone.
My friends really enjoyed the sandwich meals, which come with a small phở soup and a drink. I think they cost around 8 bucks! Not bad at all!
A great place for «to go» items as well like baguettes (1.50 for 3 small baguettes! and petite macarons. They also serve interesting Vietnamese desserts that are packaged delightfully.

Rarely do people associate «clean, modern, and high-​tech» with anything Vietnamese. Well, these three (3) adjectives are appropriate to describe the Ba Le Bakery, located in the Arygle/​Vietnamese town, part of the Uptown neighborhood.
I recalled my last visit at Ba Le over one (1) year ago. I didn’t join Unilocal at that time, but this place left me a good first impression.
I would say Ba Le is a «combination shop.» It has an awesome digital board listing all the banh mi options. In addition, there’s a mini deli mart and a bakery to distract you from just getting «one thing.» Do you remember that famous We*dy’s commercial some years ago? «Only one thing??» I would have to say it’s pretty easy to walk out the store with a few items in your hands.
If you’re a Vegan, with a capital «V,» you’re in luck because choices are plenty. Hubby ordered the avocado veggie. For $ 4.95, you can have a guilt-​free meal with all of these wholesome vegetables.
I had the meat ball banh mi. While they weren’t extraordinarily, out-​of-​the-​world delicious, they were pretty tasty. Personally, I think banh mi should be a great replacement for typical Western-​style fast food, for it’s easy to carry on the road, filling yet not stuffy, and health-​conscious!
I was drooling over those bejeweled macarons. Each piece was $ 1.65. I would say the price was reasonable in comparison to most bakeries in the city (charging $ 2 to $ 2.50 in average). Well, macarons are one of my favorite dessert. I was a bit sad to pass them up this time, but I knew it wouldn’t be long until my next visit to Ba Le.
The precise location of Ba Le is on the corner of Broadway and Winnemac. The closest transit station is the CTA Argyle Red Line station, approximately one (1) block east to Ba Le.

I’ve been here multiple times during visits to Chicago. They are known for their bahn mi sandwiches but they also have other stuff like summer rolls, sugar cane shrimp, bottled beverages, rice puddings, and a large selection of baked goods. Its kind of like a Vietnamese fast food restaurant.
Everything i have had has been good. I almost always get a bahn mi to go. Try it. You will like it.

Even though there are a ton of Vietnamese options in the neighborhood, I usually do Tank Noodle. I felt like giving them a break (I had some last night) and tried this spot out today. It was not exceptional, but was not bad either. A-​OK fits my experience pretty well. Getting a free extra macaroon didn’t hurt either.
I’ve read some complain about the price and maybe they got something different than I did. $ 5 for a bánh mì seems average now a days. Sure you can find some for $ 3 or $ 4, but $ 5 for the Chinese Pork one I got and the Turkey my dad got seemed reasonable. Both were good with my favorite part being the bread. I’m hard to please when it comes to bread. Their’s today was crispy while also being soft and it had that rich buttery flavor that I feel it should have. They were a little light on the meat. The macaroons where a bit too sweet for my liking, but the texture was good.
The décor reminds me of some fast food type shops I’ve been to in Europe. They have a lot of pre-​made stuff to grab if you’re on the go. They also pretty much have everything you’d need to build your own bánh mì like ham, pâté, different sizes of french bread and a plethora of other items. Service was quick and nice too.

This is an adorable Vietnamese bakery/​food to go place in Argyle that I love. Whenever I am in the area, I always stop by to pick up a few treats to take home.
Highlights:
CA PHE SUA DA (Vietnamese Iced Coffee) — ~$ 4; FYI: It is REALLY strong. If you need a wake up call, this is it. I drank about a quarter of the cup and it got me wired. I would suggest diluting it with water if you can’t handle caffeine. But it gets the job done, I was wide awake and very productive after drinking this.
BANH MI (Vietnamese sandwich) — ~4−5; I like the #1, which is a combo of all the types of pâté and ham in the sandwich. It is a good size for one meal and it is very filling.
CHE (Vietnamese desserts) — ~$ 3 – 5; the store has a wide selection of che in the fridge and they are all so colorful. I would suggest the taro (khoai mon) or the che thai because those are my personal fave.
The store also sells a wide variety of Vietnamese to go food that are pre-​packaged and the quality seems fresh! They also sell macarons for less than $ 2/​macaron, which is quite a steal but note, majority of the macarons have cracks in them so if you are thinking of getting them as gifts, have the worker select the prettier ones.
The place also offers ample tables and seats for you to sit down and enjoy your food and drink and socialize.
And unlike other Vietnamese to go places that are more «hole in the wall» type places, this place is very clean! The workers are friendly and service is fast!

I’ve had lots of Vietnamese sandwiches but never like the ones here. What made it stand out was the bread. It was easy to bite into but with a little gooey factor like french baguettes have. Had the BBQ Pork and meat was flavorful and had the perfect amount of vegetables to complement. I had no problem devouring one to myself! So yummy!
As for the pastries… I tried the macarons and they were pretty basic. I couldn’t remember any flavors in particular. I recommend to just stick to the sandwiches.

Neighborhood place. Thou shall not trek.
Where is the rib eye hiding for $ 7.95? The Banh Mi sandwiches continues to have chunks of veggie mega fillers (see photo, cucumber and tomato). The main reason for 1-​star less.
Good to see that the modified business model has added affordable ($ 3-​$ 7) good hearty grab-​n-​go meals. Assorted pastry sale for $ 2.
VENUE — plenty of seating. One of the places in the hood where you can hang out a bit. Slacks on cleanup.

A lot of the bakeries in the Argyle area are run-​down and on the unsanitary side, but not Ba Le! This bakery is cleaner, better designed, as well as more tech-​savvy than most of its neighboring businesses, and the food is sooooo good.
Ba Le offers a huge variety of foods, from phở and banh mi to macarons and cakes. On the left side of the restaurant, you will find rows and rows of a variety of Vietnamese desserts, all of which are already packed in to-​go cups. I bought a pudding-​like taro dessert (Che Khoai Mon. $ 2.25) to take home, and I found that it was delicious and even contained chunks of real taro in a slightly milky purée.
During my first visit here, I had a phở and BBQ pork bahn mi lunch combo (I couldn’t decide which, so I had to opt for both), which was about $ 7. The bahn mi was toasted to perfection and very tasty. I’ve had the bahn mi at Tank and I honestly think the sandwiches here are much more flavorful. The phở was very comforting and just left me wishing I had more. The Vietnamese iced coffee is good and it comes in quite a large size, but it is quite strong so beware of the caffeine!
If you’re craving good Vietnamese food/​snacks and you want a relatively clean environment, Ba Le is the way to go. It’s also great if you’re in a rush — they have spring rolls and many other yummy snacks that are meant to be taken on the go!

This review is for the macarons.
For the most part, I love the macarons from Ba Le. I love how they got it right. The outer shell was crispy but not dry. The fillings were consistent and not too sweet. For $ 1.65 per macaron, the value can’t be beat. However I had 2 or 3 macarons that were absolute disaster. They were hard!!! I’m pretty forgiving when it comes to pastries but these macarons, I tell you, unforgivable! That is why I’m only giving Ba Le 3 stars for the macarons. With that said, however, I know I’ll be back. I really can’t resist esp with that price. $ 1.65 for a good macaron is a steal.