Vietnamese pan-fried bread shop causes customers to line up for hours in the US.

Less than two months after opening, Jerald Head and Nhung Dao’s pan-fried bread in New York has been consistently sold out, with customers waiting 1-2 hours for their turn to buy.

At 10:50 AM on Sunday, Wendy, a Hong Kong resident of New York, arrived at the Phê restaurant to queue for pan-fried bread, an hour before opening time. After nearly two hours of waiting, Wendy finally sat down and enjoyed her $28 (over 700,000 VND) portion of pan-fried bread.

Wendy is not an isolated case. Less than two months after adding pan-fried bread to their weekend menu, Jerald Head and Nhung Dao’s Phê restaurant in the Lower East Side of Manhattan, New York, has been constantly overwhelmed. Jerald Head, the owner of Phê, said they only serve about 400 portions of pan-fried bread between 12 PM and 4 PM on Saturdays and Sundays.

“On some days, many customers still line up outside even after the kitchen has sold out,” Jerald said.

Pan-fried bread at Phê restaurant, New York. Photo: Sonal Shah

Phê is a new concept by chef couple Jerald Head and Nhung Đào, owners of Mắm NYC restaurant, which gained attention for its vermicelli with fermented shrimp paste and its Vietnamese-style plastic chairs and tables in New York. After three years of stable operation, they opened Phê right next to their old restaurant, serving Vietnamese coffee and sandwiches.

In early June, Jerald and Nhung added pan-fried bread to their weekend menu. A month later, a series of videos on social media showing long lines of customers sitting on low plastic chairs eating pan-fried bread attracted millions of views.

Jerald said the idea of ​​opening a restaurant and bringing pan-fried bread to New York sparked a visit to Vietnam in 2025. He and a friend explored eateries in Ho Chi Minh City and visited a long-standing pan-fried bread shop in Bàn Cờ ward (formerly District 3). At the time, the shop was still under construction, and Jerald thought pan-fried bread would be “an interesting dish to introduce to New Yorkers.”

To add pan-fried bread to the menu, Jerald and his wife spent 2-3 months researching and perfecting the recipe. The biggest challenge when cooking Vietnamese food in New York was sourcing the ingredients. Instead of using pre-made ingredients, they made their own bread, pâté, Vietnamese sausage, and sauce. A batch of about 65 loaves of bread takes 30-40 minutes to shape but requires 4-5 hours of dough proofing. The pâté is prepared from many ingredients and steamed for about 4 hours. The sliced ​​beef is marinated before grilling, and the sauce is also cooked separately.

To ensure the dish truly reflects the Vietnamese spirit, Jerald imported cast iron pans and tableware from Vietnam, and used some Vietnamese ingredients such as Binh Thuan black pepper.

“Street food vendors in Vietnam always make things look so easy. They can buy bread directly from the oven, and buy pâté or Vietnamese sausage from specialized producers, which simplifies many steps,” he said.

A portion of pan-fried bread at Phê costs $28 (over 700,000 VND), and the restaurant doesn’t accept tips. Besides pan-fried bread served on weekends, the restaurant sells sandwiches on Fridays until they run out and serves coffee on weekdays.

“The taste is authentic, just like in Vietnam. Many people will question the price, but this is New York, and the ingredients are handcrafted,” Jerald said.

The price of the dish is calculated using a common New York restaurant formula: Take the total cost of ingredients multiplied by 5, two parts for labor, two parts for operating costs such as rent, insurance, utilities, and taxes, and one part for the cost of ingredients.

After the pan-fried bread became a phenomenon, the biggest challenge for Jerald and his wife was maintaining their staff. In just four hours of weekend service, their two restaurants served over 400 customers each day. He continuously recruited more staff, kept employees motivated, and refined operational procedures. Furthermore, the rapid increase in customers meant the restaurants didn’t have time to adjust procedures, train staff, or prepare personnel before the craze exploded.

“Everything went from 0 km/h to 100 km/h too quickly,” Jerald said, explaining that 400 loaves of bread couldn’t keep up with the weekly surge in customers. He also didn’t want customers to wait too long for their food.

Customer Wendy said that despite having to queue for an hour, the quality of the pan-fried bread and the atmosphere at Phê restaurant were worth the price and worth returning to. “You should come back when the craze dies down,” Wendy said.

A video showcasing pan-fried banh mi in New York has garnered over 1.7 million views. Video: Alcira Barr

According to some diners, the restaurant’s appeal also stems from the experience upon entering. The back courtyard is furnished with low plastic tables and chairs, familiar in Vietnamese eateries. The banh mi portions are served on trays. The cast-iron pan is still piping hot when brought to the table, with the characteristic sizzling sound of the meat cooking.

In early July, Alcira Barr, a Mexican, visited the Phê restaurant in New York and commented that it felt like being in Vietnam. A video documenting Alcira’s experience has attracted over a million views in less than a week since its release.