Lee's Sandwiches

{{Infobox company

| name = Lee’s Sandwiches International, Inc.

| trade_name = Lee’s Sandwiches

| logo = Lee's Sandwiches logo.svg

| logo_size = 200px

| image =

| image_size =

| image_caption = A Panera Bread restaurant in Windermere, Florida

| predecessor = Lee Bros. Foodservice, Inc.

| type = Private

| founders = Chieu Lê

| area_served = {{plainlist|

}}

| key_people = {{plainlist|

Chieu Le (Chief Executive Officer)
Jimmy Le (Vice President){{cite news|title=They reach safe harbor, then their ship comes in|first=Lori|last=Basheda|work=Los Angeles Times|date=May 16, 2015|access-date=June 28, 2018|url=http://www.latimes.com/tn-wknd-et-0517-lees-sandwhiches-20150516-story.html}}
Tom Quách (Chief Operating Officer){{cite news|title=Bánh mì Việt thành công trên đất Mỹ|trans-title=Vietnamese sandwiches see success on American soil|author=Nguyễn Hoàng|work=BBC Vietnamese|publisher=BBC News|date=May 6, 2015|access-date=June 30, 2018|url=https://www.bbc.com/vietnamese/business/2015/05/150505_lee_sandwiches_orange_county|language=vi}}

}}

| industry = Restaurants

| genre = Fast Casual

| products = Bánh mì, Vietnamese iced coffee, chè, desserts

| foundation = {{Start date and age|1983|6}}
San Jose, California, United States{{cite news|title=Le Van Ba, the Ray Kroc of Vietnamese sandwiches, dead at 79|first=Mike|last=Swift|work=San Jose Mercury News|publisher=MediaNews Group|date=November 25, 2010|access-date=June 28, 2018|url=https://www.mercurynews.com/2010/11/25/le-van-ba-the-ray-kroc-of-vietnamese-sandwiches-dead-at-79/}}

| hq_location_city = San Jose, California

| hq_location_country = United States

| num_locations = 61{{cite web|title=Stores|publisher=Lee's Sandwiches|access-date=June 28, 2018|url=http://www.leesandwiches.com/main.php?act=store|archive-date=June 29, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180629102407/http://www.leesandwiches.com/main.php?act=store|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|title=Stores: Taiwan|publisher=Lee's Sandwiches|access-date=July 1, 2018|url=http://www.leesandwiches.com/main.php?act=store&naid=1|archive-date=July 2, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180702035514/http://www.leesandwiches.com/main.php?act=store&naid=1|url-status=dead}}

| num_locations_year = 2021

| revenue = {{increase}} US$32 million (2021)

| num_employees = 2,000 (2021)

| website = {{URL|leesandwiches.com}}

| footnotes =

}}

Lee's Sandwiches International, Inc., is an American fast food restaurant chain serving Vietnamese cuisine headquartered in San Jose, California, with locations in several states and in Taiwan. Lee's Sandwiches specializes in {{lang|vi|bánh mì}}, "European-style" baguette sandwiches, Vietnamese iced coffee, and Vietnamese dessert {{lang|vi|chè}}.{{cite news | title = Lee's Sandwiches – Alhambra | work = Gastronomer | date = July 10, 2009 | access-date = October 28, 2011 | url = http://gastronomyblog.com/2009/07/10/lees-sandwiches-alhambra/ }} It is credited with popularizing Vietnamese sandwiches and iced coffee among mainstream American consumers and inspiring several other Vietnamese-owned bakery chains.{{cite journal|title=The Marvel of Bánh Mì|first=Andrew|last=Lam|author-link=Andrew Lam|journal=The Cairo Review of Global Affairs|publisher=American University in Cairo|year=2015|issue=18|pages=64–71|access-date=May 8, 2017|url=https://www.thecairoreview.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/CR18-Lam.pdf}}{{cite news|title=Người lập ra các tiệm bánh mì Lee's Sandwiches không còn nữa|trans-title=Founder of Lee's Sandwiches chain is gone|author=Huy Phương|work=Voice of America|date=December 4, 2010|access-date=June 28, 2018|url=https://www.voatiengviet.com/a/lee-andwiches-12-4-10-111319159/889401.html|language=vi}}{{cite news|title=Rạng danh bánh mì Việt|trans-title=Bringing honor upon the Vietnamese sandwich|author=Ngô Minh Trí|location=Ho Chi Minh City|work=Thanh Niên|publisher=Vietnam United Youth League|date=December 23, 2012|access-date=June 30, 2018|url=https://beta.thanhnien.vn/van-hoa/rang-danh-banh-mi-viet-45013.html|language=vi|archive-date=May 19, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210519091314/https://beta.thanhnien.vn/van-hoa/rang-danh-banh-mi-viet-45013.html|url-status=dead}}

History

File:Lee Bros. Foodservice.jpg

File:Leessandwichinsidewestminster.JPG.]]

Lee's Sandwiches was founded by the {{lang|vi|Lê|italic=no}} family, who owned a successful sugar refinery in An Giang Province in Vietnam before the Vietnam War and immigrated to the United States as boat people in July 1979.{{cite news|title=Doanh Nhân Lê Văn Bá Từ Những Ổ Bánh Mì Thịt Nguội Đến Thương Hiệu Lee's Sandwiches|trans-title=Businessman Lê Văn Bá Went from Cold-Cut Bánh Mì to Lee's Sandwiches Stores|author=Trần Củng Sơn|location=Westminster, California|work=Việt Báo Daily News|date=December 4, 2010|access-date=June 28, 2018|url=https://vietbao.com/a117135/doanh-nhan-le-van-ba-tu-nhung-o-banh-mi-thit-nguoi-den-thuong-hieu-lee-39-s-sandwiches|language=vi}}{{cite news|title=Chieu Van Le and Yen Ngoc Quach Le, Lee Brothers Foodservices|work=Silicon Valley Business Journal|publisher=American City Business Journals|date=May 4, 2003|access-date=June 28, 2018|url=https://www.bizjournals.com/sanjose/stories/2003/05/05/focus10.html}} After having lived briefly in New Mexico and Monterey, California, they settled in San Jose, California, in 1980.

Chieu Le ({{lang|vi|Lê Văn Chiêu|italic=no}}) initially worked as a cook in a food truck before purchasing one in 1981, from which he and his wife Yen ({{lang|vi|Quách Ngọc Yến|italic=no}}) sold hamburgers, burritos, chow mein, and {{lang|vi|bánh mì}} to office workers on lunch breaks. The following year, Chieu's brother Henry ({{lang|vi|Lê Văn Hướng|italic=no}}) purchased his own food truck, and the two began a mobile catering distribution business.{{cite news|title=Vietnamese Sandwiches Make Chieu Le a Millionaire|first=Gerrye|last=Wong|work=AsianWeek|date=April 18, 2006|access-date=July 1, 2018|url=http://leesandwiches.com/mobile/home.php?act=newdetail&id=78|via=Lee's Sandwiches|archive-date=July 1, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180701111735/http://leesandwiches.com/mobile/home.php?act=newdetail&id=78|url-status=dead}} Founded in San Jose's Little Saigon, they named it Lee Bros. Foodservice, Inc., anglicizing their surname to "Lee". It grew to serve more than 500 food trucks by 1985, many of them owned by Vietnamese immigrants.

In 1983, Chieu and Henry's parents, {{lang|vi|Lê Văn Bá|italic=no}} and {{lang|vi|Nguyễn Thị Hạnh|italic=no}}, began borrowing Chieu's truck on weekends to sell {{lang|vi|bánh mì}} at the corner of 6th and Santa Clara streets, near the San Jose State University campus. The truck's popularity prompted complaints from nearby restaurants. In June 1983, they opened a traditional Vietnamese sandwich shop named Lee's Sandwiches at the same street corner.{{cite news|title=Lê Văn Hướng - chủ Lee's Sandwiches ở Mỹ, qua đời vì ung thư gan|trans-title=Henry Le - owner of Lee's Sandwiches in the U.S., dies of liver cancer|author=Thủy Tiên|location=Hanoi|work=Người tiêu dùng|publisher=Vietnam Standards and Consumers Association|date=October 14, 2016|access-date=June 28, 2018|url=http://www.nguoitieudung.com.vn/le-van-huong--chu-lees-sandwiches-o-my-qua-doi-vi-ung-thu-gan-d48122.html|language=vi|archive-date=June 28, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180628124909/http://www.nguoitieudung.com.vn/le-van-huong--chu-lees-sandwiches-o-my-qua-doi-vi-ung-thu-gan-d48122.html|url-status=dead}} In 1988, Lee's Sandwiches moved to a larger space near King and Tully roads in the Vietnamese section of East San Jose.{{cite web|title=Lee's Sandwiches Fact Sheet|publisher=Lee's Sandwiches|access-date=October 28, 2011|url=http://leesandwiches.com/ls_FactSheet.php|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080615021249/http://leesandwiches.com/ls_FactSheet.php|archive-date=June 15, 2008}}

On August 8, 2001, Chieu and his son Minh ({{lang|vi|Lê Chiêu Minh|italic=no}}) opened the family's first American-style bakery-café in the Little Saigon of Westminster, California. It featured an expanded menu including deli sandwiches, coffee, and desserts, with the goal of attracting Vietnamese and non-Vietnamese customers alike.{{cite news|title=Lee's Sandwiches|first=Howard|last=Seftel|location=Phoenix, Arizona|newspaper=The Arizona Republic|date=July 28, 2005|access-date=November 17, 2009|url=http://www.azcentral.com/ent/dining/articles/0728taste0728.html}} There was some disagreement among family members about the new direction.{{cite magazine|title=Sandwich shops add slice of Americana|magazine=Outlook|publisher=Vietnam News Agency|volume=1|issue=2|date=2004|pages=26–27|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IGpuAAAAMAAJ|via=Google Books}} However, the new store was a success. Within a year, the chain opened seven more locations and expanded to many other cities in California. In 2005, Lee's Sandwiches became the first Vietnamese deli-cafe to franchise.{{cite news|title=In Pictures: 20 Trends Sweeping The Globe|first=Elisabeth|last=Eaves|date=January 9, 2008|access-date=October 28, 2011|url=https://www.forbes.com/2008/01/09/internet-culture-global-forbeslife-globalpop08-cx_ee_0109pop_slide_11.html}}

File:Lee's Sandwiches fare.jpeg}}, and iced coffee.]]

By 2006, Lee's had become one of the fastest-growing fast food chains in the western United States. In March 2006, it opened its largest location, at {{convert|10000|sqft}}, in Houston. A long line formed in anticipation of the grand opening of Lee's' first Houston location.{{cite news|title=Vietnamese restaurant chain lures other ethnic groups|first=Jenalia|last=Moreno|newspaper=Houston Chronicle|date=July 27, 2006|access-date=November 17, 2009|url=http://www.chron.com/CDA/archives/archive.mpl?id=2006_4159974|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121016171925/http://www.chron.com/CDA/archives/archive.mpl?id=2006_4159974|url-status=dead|archive-date=October 16, 2012}}

On August 8, 2008, Lee's opened a café in District 1, Ho Chi Minh City, as part of a joint venture with a South Korean company. In August 2015, it opened a location near the Taipei station in Taipei, Taiwan.{{cite press release|title=Lee's Sandwiches Goes International - Opens First Shop in Taiwan|publisher=Lee's Sandwiches|date=August 5, 2015|url=http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/lees-sandwiches-goes-international--opens-first-shop-in-taiwan-300123768.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170228165526/https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/lees-sandwiches-goes-international--opens-first-shop-in-taiwan-300123768.html|archive-date=February 28, 2017|access-date=December 1, 2019}} {{As of|2017|4}}, market research firm Sundale Research listed Lee's Sandwiches among the 12 largest bakery-café chains in the United States.{{cite web|title=State of the Industry: Retail Bakeries in the U.S.|date=April 2017|page=10|access-date=July 1, 2018|url=https://higherlogicdownload.s3.amazonaws.com/RETAILBAKERSOFAMERICA/97ac63b2-d4f2-4f60-9c8a-a904b93d7a4a/UploadedImages/Retail_Bakeries_Analysis_2017_.pdf}} On August 8, 2017, the {{lang|vi|Lê|italic=no}} family opened a café named Lee's Coffee Roastery adjacent to a Lee's Sandwiches location in Westminster, California.{{cite news|title=4 new coffee houses in Orange County include a Lee's roastery|first=Nancy|last=Luna|location=Anaheim, California|work=Orange County Register|publisher=Digital First Media|date=August 10, 2017|access-date=June 28, 2018|url=https://www.ocregister.com/2017/08/10/cafes-galore-4-new-coffee-houses-in-orange-county-include-a-lees-roastery/}}

Many restaurants stopped dine-in service in March 2020 to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, with take-away and pickup service available.

Restaurants

File:LeesSandwichesBellaireHouston.JPG, Houston, Texas, is the chain's largest location at {{convert|10000|sqft}}. The store bakes up to 300 baguettes per hour.]]

{{As of|2018}}, Lee's Sandwiches has 59 locations in the United States. They are located in cities with large Vietnamese American populations in Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas, and Virginia. One shop is located in front of the original location, next to San Jose City Hall. Lee's Sandwiches has locations in food courts at the Asian Garden Mall in Westminster, California, and the Cali Saigon Mall in Garland, Texas. With locations in Westminster Mall in Westminster and Eastport Plaza in Portland, Oregon, Lee's Sandwiches is one of the first Vietnamese businesses to enter mainstream malls and shopping centers.