New West Columbia restaurant pushing two increasingly popular Vietnamese dishes to open
Another spot specializing in Vietnam’s signature sandwich is set to open west of the Congaree River.
Pho and Banh Mi has announced itself as the next tenant in the spot previously occupied by Olde Country Buffet, with signs having been installed both above the space and along the road at the Westland Square shopping center at 2250 Sunset Blvd.
The restaurant, which indicates with picture-heavy banners that it will emphasize its two titular dishes, said a couple weeks ago that it should be opening in short order.
Since then, signs for the restaurant have been installed above the storefront and along the road.
Word on what exactly the menu will look like — apart from leaning on banh mi sandwiches and pho beef noodle soup — hasn’t yet been offered. The restaurant’s owners didn’t immediately respond to a recent call from The State.
As of March 5, the restaurant had yet to open, and the voicemail box for the number listed on its signage had yet to be set up.
Traditionally, banh mi sandwiches come on a crispy baguette that is filled with meats like ham and pork sausage, cilantro, cucumber and pickled vegetables. Pho, which typically leans on beef as its meat and broth, features rice noodles and herbs as signature elements.
Banh mi sandwiches and Asian noodle soups already have a popular home in the Cayce/West Columbia area at the conjoined restaurants Little Bee Bun Mee and Duke’s Pad Thai along Knox Abbott Drive, with the banh mi-emphasizing half of that equation opening last summer.
Banh mi restaurants have been popping up frequently in the Columbia area of late, as the New Orleans-rooted Banh Mi Boys opened a location on Whaley Street last summer, and Paris Banh Mi opened off Clemson Road opened off Clemson Road in December.
The sandwiches are also used to diversify the offerings at a couple popular, barbecue-leaning restaurants, as Transmission Arcade on Columbia’s Main Street frequently features a banh mi wrap and West Columbia’s City Limits Barbeque has been serving a pork belly banh mi as part of its weekly “Freestyle Sunday” services.
