Cairns vendors selling hundreds of bánh mì daily amid food craze
From Vietnamese street corners to Australian food sensation – how a simple sandwich sparked a cultural revolution in Cairns' food scene.
Local bánh mì vendors are selling hundreds of the Vietnamese rolls daily as Cairns embraces the humble street food that has become an Australian culinary sensation.
Cairns has a strong contingent of bánh mì enthusiasts, with a Cairns Post call out for the best bánh mì drawing more than 100 responses.
Thi Thi Vietnamese Food Bar at Rusty’s Markets was the favourite.
“We sell about 200 each day, sometimes more, sometimes less,” owner Thi Thi Nguyen said.
“When I opened, it was very slow.
“After two years, it picked up a little bit, but then Covid came and it dropped off again.
“Since Covid it’s been going up.”
Bánh mì stores began popping up in Australia in the 1980s after an influx of Vietnamese migration to the country.
Fast food giant KFC recently released a Zinger bánh mì, with group marketing director Sally Spriggs calling the bánh mì a “much loved Aussie go-to”.
“At KFC, we love putting our own spin on iconic flavours,” she said.
Ms Nguyen, who hails from Ho Chi Minh City, operated a food stall for 10 years at Rusty’s before switching to a bánh mì stall in 2014.
Everything is homemade – the meat, pickled vegetables, pâté, mayonnaise and even the bread rolls, which are made by Ms Nguyen’s son.
“I wanted to serve bánh mì for Australian people, so they know Vietnamese food,” Ms Nguyen said.
“And I want people to feel how they feel eating a bánh mì in Vietnam.”
Operating with a staff of just three, they open at 6am and often sell out as early as 1pm, Ms Nguyen said.
Thanh Thanh Vietnamese Food at Earlville Shopping Town was another favourite in Cairns, with one commenter calling it “the best bánh mì in the southern hemisphere.”
“My grandmother sold bánh mì on the street in Saigon when I was a kid, so I learnt from watching her,” owner Dung Nguyen said.
“When I was a teenager I would get up at 4am to pick up the rolls and drop them off to her – it’s a great memory.”
Mr Nguyen said they experienced a huge increase in bánh mì sales since opening in 2019, going from selling 20 to 30 per day to between 80 and 100 in 2025 to mostly locals.
Mr Nguyen said he wasn’t sure what caused the uptick.
“When I arrived in Cairns in 1993, there were about three other Vietnamese families,” he said.
“Everywhere I go I see bánh mì now, even online.”
Mr Nguyen said Thanh Thanh’s most popular bánh mì options were sliced pork, a traditional Vietnamese option, and pork belly, which they introduced to cater to Western Australian tastes.
“We started doing chicken and egg, because a lot of people are vegetarian, and pork belly – Australians really like pork belly,” he said.
Mr Nguyen said he wanted customers to feel like they were in Vietnam.
“A lot of tourists, they go to Vietnam and eat bánh mì and they like it, so that’s why we try to do,” he said.
“I wanted to have a store like in Vietnam, where everyone meets, grabs the roll – it’s quick.”
Other reader favourites included Vietnam Pho Pho, Pho Viet and Nón Lá Kitchen.
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Originally published as Cairns vendors selling hundreds of bánh mì daily amid food craze
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