A cult-favorite $8 bánh mì that disappeared from San Francisco's Tenderloin earlier this year has turned up again, this time behind a new storefront in the Inner Richmond. Banh Mi A Mui, now open at 3401 Geary Blvd. at Beaumont, is run by the same team that closed Sing Sing Coffee Shop on Hyde Street, and it's selling the identical combination sandwich that made the old spot a favorite among regulars and critics alike.
According to the San Francisco Chronicle, Sing Sing was a bánh mì shop in the Tenderloin that had long been favored by Chronicle food writers before it closed earlier this year. The Chronicle reports that Sing Sing shut down after a city attorney's office crackdown on gambling and drug activity in neighborhood convenience stores. The owners later opened Banh Mi A Mui in Laurel Heights.
In a response posted to the restaurant's Yelp page, the business confirmed its lineage directly, writing, “we are absolutely correct, we are the former Sing Sing Coffee shop.” The same post offered a glimpse of why the owners moved on from Hyde Street, stating that conditions there were difficult: “With the SFPD not able to do anything about the dozens of drug addicts camping on Hyde st. It was not a safe nor clean location,” according to the Yelp listing. That account reflects the business's own characterization of its former location rather than an independently verified description of conditions there.
The Sandwich That Followed Them Across Town
Whatever the full story behind the move, the sandwich itself hasn't changed. Tablehopper reports that fans of the bánh mì from the closed Sing Sing Coffee Shop on Hyde can now find their famed $8 đặc biệt at the new address, alongside four additional bánh mì options on the menu, according to Tablehopper. The house combination layers pork belly, head cheese, and chả lụa pork sausage with aioli, pâté, cucumber, pickled carrots, cilantro, and jalapeño, per the same newsletter. Banh Mi A Mui is open daily from 7:30 a.m. to 6 p.m., the outlet notes.
The Infatuation's review backs up the sandwich's staying power, describing it as stuffed with pâté, cold cuts, and a glistening swath of mayo, just as it was at the old Hyde Street spot. Of the five sandwiches on the current menu, the reviewer wrote, “this is the one to get,” according to The Infatuation. The outlet separately noted that bánh mì has seemingly mounted a coordinated expansion effort across San Francisco in recent months, suggesting Banh Mi A Mui's debut lands amid a broader citywide appetite for the sandwich.
Beyond the Specials Board
Banh Mi A Mui isn't stopping at its signature combination. The shop is also running a promotion allowing customers to buy five sandwiches and get a sixth free, according to the Chronicle's reporting, a detail that suggests the owners are leaning into volume as they rebuild a following in a new neighborhood. For longtime Sing Sing regulars mourning the loss of their Tenderloin lunch spot, the move to Laurel Heights means a short trip across town rather than a permanent goodbye to the $8 sandwich they loved.
