If we’re being honest, I never thought I’d see the day.
It’s been three years since a small coming-soon sign for D’s Banh Mi appeared on the bright-red building at 38th Street and Longfellow Avenue, the longtime home of Dave's Popcorn (and then, for a few years, Milkjam). It’s been two years since D’s Banh Mi actually did open, sort of, briefly offering delivery via Instagram DM and email to a limited zone of its south Minneapolis neighborhood.
And since then? Well, the old snack shack has been a source of ample confusion over the last few years. We’ve heard tell of folks wandering into the nearby Duck Duck Coffee to ask if they knew anything about where to pick up the banh mi they’d ordered (why would they?), and neighbors have reported banh mi-crazed locals banging on their windows and doors (yes, seriously). During that time, the D’s trio—brothers Dylan Tran, Dyon Tran, and Dustin Nguyen—continued working on opening the Vietnamese restaurant's storefront. They even got close, before a car hit a power line pole earlier this year and started a fire inside, destroying the roof and causing “severe damages” to the building.
So when a friend sent me this recent post announcing their actual opening… well, I didn’t look at it too closely or discuss it with anyone, lest doing so should jinx D’s debut. I kept my mouth closed and read every subsequent update about the planned August 7 opening with my eyes slightly averted, not wanting to startle the restaurant and cause it to retreat into its baguette shell. I did not comment enthusiastically.
Even this morning, on the 1.1-mile walk to D’s, I didn’t let my hopes rise above “cautiously optimistic.” What if an extremely localized storm flooded the restaurant in the middle of the night? What if a pack of wild dogs got in and ate all the bread and pickled veg?
But there it was, buzzing by 10:52 a.m., with every picnic table occupied as I approached the walk-up window. “I just drove by and saw all these people and thought, ‘Maybe I’ll eat there!’” I overheard one visitor from North Carolina explain as we waited for our food.
I already know I like D’s Banh Mi; it made my year-end roundup of new restaurants I enjoyed in 2023, though I noted at the time that “getting your hands on one is no easy feat.” The menu looks like it’s grown a bit since then, with a half dozen sandwiches, some sides, and noodle bowls (lemongrass chicken, curry shrimp) available. I don’t recall seeing a curry tofu banh mi ($14), on the menu back in 2023, so I ordered one today; it slides thick slices of sauce-slathered tofu on soft but crusty bread, with a bed of crunchy pickled vegetables. There’s a nut-based vegan paté on here rounding out the flavor, and intermittent pops of heat (from red thai chilis) and cool freshness (thanks to the mint). It’s as massive as I remember, nearly forearm-sized, and as filling. In flavor and texture, it’s just a tremendously satisfying sandwich.
Some confusion persists. Right now, D’s is giving out numbers that correspond with orders, but only verbally, leading to lots of instances of, “Am I 13? I think we were 15.” You know? It wouldn’t be D’s without it. Hey, at least the snack shack is back in action, a truth that this blog post surely will not curse.
Now the good people of south Minneapolis can stop wondering whether D’s will ever open and turn their attention to more important matters. For example, what the fuck is going on with “Satisfy Eats”?
D’s Banh Mi
Address: 1848 E. 38th St., Minneapolis
Hours: Tuesday-Sunday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m.
