A Vietnamese restaurant from D.C. will soon make its Arlington debut in Ballston, serving banh mi, pho and other family recipes at affordable prices.
Simply Banh Mi plans to open its second location at 801 N. Quincy Street in a few weeks, owner John Tran told ARLnow. It will replace a similar restaurant that closed at that location in February: Lee’s Sandwiches, which bills itself as the “World’s Largest Bánh Mì Chain.”
Simply Banh Mi got its start about 10 years ago, in the basement of Tran’s mother’s bridal shop in Georgetown.
It was a turbulent time for Tran, who had been laid off and whose wife was battling cancer as the couple raised two young kids — although life has improved for the family since then.
“I kind of foolishly was like, ‘I want to open up my own restaurant because my mom has good recipes’ and ‘How hard could it be to make sandwiches?'” he said.
With recipes from his mother — cookbook author and dress designer Diana My Tran — the restaurant caught on, eventually becoming well-known for being one of the area’s only halal options for Vietnamese cuisine.
The restaurant began selling halal meats shortly after opening, when Tran’s sister purchased them while shopping for supplies.
“It took one dude who came in to have the halal pho, and he put us up on his Instagram, Facebook and all this business,” Tran said. “Next thing you know, we’re serving Muslims during Ramadan.”
Nowadays, the restaurant has a pared-down menu offering customizable entrees starting at $8.75, pho noodle soups starting at $12.50, appetizers including spring rolls and egg rolls, and drinks like Vietnamese iced coffee and bubble tea.
While the D.C. location is exclusively for carryout and delivery, the Ballston space includes a dining area, Tran said.
Tran joked that, despite the restaurant’s success, cooking isn’t something that comes naturally to him.
“True to the moniker, I try to keep it as simple as possible,” he said. “Everything that I serve, more or less, was the way I ate it as a kid.”
Simply Banh Mi connects to customers through its quirky website, which advertises “dc’s best vietnamese food with admittedly dc’s crappiest website.”
“we deal in good eats, not so much in the interwebs, marketing, design or anything else polished,” the website reads. “anyhoo, great food. great service. we’re working on the rest. hopefully we can make a living at this… looking at you web visitor!”
Tran said the website is a “pretty accurate representation of who I am.”
“I’ve had customers come in and say ‘I really love your website,'” he said. “‘Now that I’ve met you, I can imagine that’s exactly how you sound.’ Well, good — truth in advertising!”
Tran looks forward to building relationships with future regulars in Arlington, and added that the Georgetown location may temporarily close as the new shop opens.
“All my time is spent here or tending to my family,” Tran said. “You develop these friendships. I think that’s super cool.”
Simply Banh Mi plans to offer dine-in, carryout, delivery and catering services in Arlington. Tran said his mother is also considering offering her wisdom through private cooking classes, too.
Looking ahead, Arlington residents can expect one thing, Tran said: “The best damn food I can make — based on my mother’s recipe.”
