Lee’s Sandwiches is a Vietnamese sandwich restaurant locatef on the El Camino Real in Sunnyvale just east of Mary Avenue. I decided to drop in for lunch today to check it out, as I’ve often been curious about it. I was in the mood for a deli-style ham and cheese sandwich, so I went in to see what they’ve got.
The restaurant has a few small round tables as well as a bar-like counter along the window overlooking the parking lot and the street. It has a tile floor, and although it’s small and fairly utilitarian, it has a comfortable feel to it. They have a large, colorful menu on the wall behind the counter, with each sandwich illustrated on a large square panel. They have a number of Vietnamese sandwiches as well as a good selection of what their web site refers to as “Euro Sandwiches”. Chips are located on shelves under the counter, the top of which is covered with various food items on styrofoam trays, mostly the sort of meat-and-rice or meat-and-noodles dishes you’d expect to find at a roach coach. To the left is a drink refrigerator which mostly contains Asian beverages (both packaged and fresh) which I found unidentifiable. Fortunately they have a small selection of American drinks for ignorant Americans like me, such as Arizona iced tea, Snapple, and Vitamin Water.
I ordered a ham and cheese sandwich on a baguette (#21) and picked up an Arizona iced tea and a bag of “Dirty” potato chips to go with it. I paid and then found a seat at a small round table with two wooden chairs, and set up my laptop to do some reading and chatting while I waited for my sandwich. A few minutes later it arrived in a cardboard tray with a hot pepper and a couple of pickle wedges. The pickles looked very seedy, so I skipped them in deference to my dietary restrictions. The sandwich was a pretty basic ham and cheddar with lettuce and tomato on it (I lucked out on one half and got a slice of tomato with no seeds, so I was able to eat it, but the other slice was very seedy, so I removed it). There were two packets of mustard with it, but I didn’t feel it needed any. The sandwich was surprisingly moist and flavorful without it.
I enjoyed my meal, but found that when it was gone, I was still hungry. So I returned to the counter and selected a tray of chow mein and a bottle of Snapple. The chow mein noodles were thin and there were a lot of bean sprouts and green onions in it, so that it was only about half noodles. It was well-prepared and tasted good, but it wasn’t to my taste (I prefer thicker noodles and fewer vegetables).
Overall, Lee’s is a decent place to get a sandwich, especially if (like me) you like to have a few different places to go so that you don’t always have sandwiches made the same way. I get tired of always having Togo’s or always having Subway, so it’s nice that Lee’s is nearby so that I have another choice of sandwich style. I give it four stars out of five. Check it out if you’re in the area and looking for a sandwich, but don’t feel like going to the Subway across the street.