Pick of The Week: We Suki Suki

By Tom Maicon at February 20, 2012 | 1:40 pm | Print

I have always said that every neighborhood needs a good banh mi sandwich shop. Well, that’s exactly what residents of East Atlanta Village got last week when We Suki Suki (479 Flat Shoals Ave, East Atlanta Village, Tel: 678.431.7729) opened its doors.

This tiny Vietnamese deli — call it a dive — doesn’t have a single table or chair, or even a bathroom for that matter. Like the space, the menu is extremely limited. The thrill here is a $4 banh mi (Vietnamese-style sub) that is as good, if not better than any you’ll find on Buford Highway — obviously to be eaten on foot while taking in the funky neighborhood sites, or sitting on the hood of your car. Think of it as a stationary food truck.

The banh mi at this cheap deli is topped with carrots, daikon, fresh cilantro, long slivers of jalapeno, a smear of mayonnaise and a squirt of Sriracha. It’s all placed on warm fresh-baked crusty French baguette that is light as air.

We sampled all three offerings: tofu, chicken and dac biet (Vietnamese cold cuts), and came to the conclusion that all were very good, especially the dac biet and tofu, the latter being a creamy grilled organic tofu.

Bubble teas are made from scratch — not the junk we’ve become accustomed to on Buford Highway — so be patient.

We stopped in early for lunch but were told that later in the day they would be offering a shaking beef banh mi and that they plan to run at least one daily special.

Q (owner) is a high-energy brand launcher by trade. She told me she was originally sent to America to launch Tiger beer. Now, many years later, she opens We Suki Suki in hopes to one day pass a successful banh mi business onto her two young children. Not a bad recession proof business, if you ask me.

Now that we are apparently opening neighborhood banh mi shops, is it too much to ask that someone open one in my neighborhood?

Hey, it doesn’t hurt to ask.

Tom Eats banh-mi, dac biet, East Atlanta Village, Q, We Suki Suki