History
Lee's Sandwiches was started by the Le (Vietnamese: Lê) family in San Jose, California, after immigrating from Vietnam to San Jose in 1980. After several years of working in a catering truck, Chieu Le and Henry Le operated their own truck and later began their own mobile catering distribution business named Lee Bros. Foodservices, Inc. They anglicized their surname to "Lee" for business purposes. In 1983, Chieu and Henry's parents had success selling bánh mì from their truck, and they decided to open a permanent store originally called Saigon Gourmet. Then in 2001, the family modernized their traditional Vietnamese bakery-cafes to today's concept of Lee's Sandwiches . They eventually expanded to many other cities in California and were the first to franchise the Vietnamese deli-cafe concept.
By 2006, they have expanded into Arizona, Texas, and Oklahoma and continued to focus on areas with significant Vietnamese-American populations. They have plans to expand in the Pacific states of Nevada, Oregon, and Washington.
In March 2006, the largest Lee's Sandwiches location opened in Houston, Texas at 10,000 square feet. Prior to then, many Houstonians had visited Orange County, California, and ate at other Lee's Sandwiches there. A manager of the first Lee's location in Houston said that many people were waiting in line before the Houston restaurant opened.
Many locations feature Wi-Fi and drive-through services. Many locations also have computer monitors that call out order numbers in both Vietnamese and English. In addition, most restaurants feature a large flashing neon-sign that lights up to show customers that hot baguettes are being served at the time, similar to the "Hot Doughnuts Now" sign at Krispy Kreme.
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