Lee’s Sandwiches..It’s All in The Bread

Lee’s Sandwiches
3300 N. Classen Blvd.
Oklahoma City, OK 73118
405.601.2161
website and menu

Every time I drive through the Asian district, I pass the large white building sporting the Lee’s Sandwiches sign and am intrigued by the descriptives on either side…”Euro-Asian Sandwiches, Baguettes and Croissants, Coffees, Desserts, Smoothies, Ice Cream”.

Recently, our daughter-in-law Laura called me and screamed “You have to try Lee’s!”

Well, okay, maybe not screamed, but she was very boisterous to be sure.

I mentally filed away the thought and then 2 more weeks of life just blew right past me.  Then, Monday night at our small group, one of the young ladies randomly said, “Hey Katie, have you tried Lee’s? I love that place!”

Mr. Wonderful and I visited it the next day.

Walking into the large building, it is bright and airy and almost aesthetically clean.

You have to wait in line to order at the counter, and during the entire lunch hour, the line just got longer.  People were streaming in and out and the place filled up quickly.  Signs of enormous popularity.

Approaching the counter, you’ll be distracted from the menu by the glass clase under the counter.

This counter is filled with all of those things I try so hard to avoid…like giant muffins and monstrous chocolate croissants!

To the left as the counter makes an “L” you will also see another glass case that will strike your interest..

In this case, you will see a variety of fried egg rolls, and meat-filled pastries like these Pate Chaud (meat-filled puff pastry for $1.25).  I was so tempted by these little flaky round pastries!

But I was there for one of the sandwiches.  They are categorized as “Asian Sandwiches” on the menu, but if you know a thing or two about food, you’ll know that they are usually called Banh Mi.

A Banh Mi is a Vietnamese sandwich that combines the French influence in Vietnam, the baguette, with roasted or grilled pork, pickled vegetables, cilantro, liver pate and some heat, usually provided by peppers.

Lee’s offers up several varieties of this sandwich (see them on the menu here) with everything from pork to chicken, to vegetarian to …yes, there are even sardines.

We tried two different varieties of Lee’s Asian Sandwiches.  I ordered the Pork and Pate.

And Mr. Wonderful ordered the Grilled Pork.

His was hot, mine was cold, my meet was chilled, his was almost like a mild BBQ saucey meat.

Both were delicious and had layers of julliened veggies (pickled daikon and carrots), which can also be purchased in Lee’s deli cases.

There were stems of cilantro laid over the meat, sliced onions and also what appeared to be giant slices of jalepeno, but Mr. W bravely took a bite and let me know they weren’t hot at all.  They were, in fact, a mystery to me as they tasted like a combination of green pepper and jalepeno.  My sandwich had some silky pate spread down one side. Oh my gosh, was I in heaven with this!

These were so good, and at $2.75 for both halves of the sandwich, a plain ol bargain!

But the star of these sandwiches was the bread.  The bread is perhaps the best baguette I’ve had in Oklahoma City.  This bread is crusty on the outside and soft on the inside and amazing. While we sat and watched customers filter in and out of the restaurant, we couldn’t help but notice that almost everyone who came in left with 2 baguettes under their arms.  Behind the counter is a cooling rack being continually filled with these glorious baguettes fresh from the oven.

They are stuffed into a paper bag and sent home with customers.  I sent Mr. W up to investigate, and he returned with these.

At buy one, get one free, these crusty-hot babies are a bargain (2/$1.75).  I am hooked and will find it hard to like any store-bought bread again. I can’t truly explain how good it is.  I can just tell you try it and you’ll be hooked like us.

All of this is made on-spot in their Baguette factory.

Also I should add that right inside the door is a countertop full of day old bread for sale – a whole bag for $1.25 or something…if you need day old bread for anything like bread pudding, etc., this would be a great option.

We also ordered drinks – Lee’s offers some delicious and unique drinks like freshly squeezed juices, Italian soda’s, Thai type coffees and smoothies.  I opted for the Thai tea, and Mr. W got the  iced lattee coffee.

Mr. W commented several times during our meal, that he would much rather have this than the iced coffee you can get at that “other popular coffee place” that serves frozen coffee drinks.

Lee’s also has, from what I’ve heard, really good ice cream in this case.

It is not your typical menu for ice cream flavors…some sound very interesting.

Then of course, there are the large selections of pastries, which look delicious.  And there is also this machine.

This machine produces little “Corn cakes” that are filled with custard and I really wanted to try these fresh and hot, but alas, according to the man behind the counter, this only happens at 11 a.m.  But there are some packaged cold ones at the counter. You can get them in boxes of 20 and 24 to take out or eat at the store.

So, the next day, Mr. Wonderful called me at work and said “I want another Banh Mi sandwich!”.   And did I mention the fact that he purchased one to go to take to work with him when we left as well?

I think you’ll find if you try Lee’s, you’ll walk away happy as well!