Cheap Date: Baguette Box
These aren’t your standard banh mi sandwiches.
Posted by: Nick Feldman on Sep 23, 2009 at 07:00AM
2 Comments
Surya Manickam prepares to dive in to her grilled Asian eggplant sandwich.
View Slideshow »The crispy drunken chicken baguette is loaded with signature pieces of battered chicken and caramelized onions.
View Slideshow »The grilled Asian eggplant sandwich, with feta cheese, caramelized onion, and tomato.
View Slideshow »Dog art—of them, not by them—hangs on the walls of Capitol Hill’s Baguette Box.
View Slideshow »Open late, Baguette Box caters to out-and-about Pike/Pine wanderers.
View Slideshow »Customers eat under the watchful eyes of one of the restaurant’s many dog-inspired paintings.
View Slideshow »A customer writes in his notebook after chowing down a baguette.
In 2004, a brilliant idea struck Monsoon co-owner Eric Banh: Why not use his impeccable flair for Vietnamese cuisine to make affordable, Asian-inspired sandwiches? The result: Baguette Box, now a Capitol Hill staple, with a newer outpost in Fremont.
The menu offers a wide variety of a la carte sandwich options—both vegan and carnivorous—and they all run around just $7—a great price considering their gourmet touches. These aren’t your standard banh mi sandwiches; baguettes supplied by Pike Place Market staple Le Panier are slathered in inventive sauces—apricot aoli, cucumber yogurt—then stuffed to the gills with marinated meats and perfectly paired veggies. If you’re crazy enough to skip the carbs, salads range from $8.20 to $8.95; sides like their famous hand-cut fries (the truffled ones = wowza), are priced between $2.80 and $4.00.
With a $10 bill, I opted for the crispy drunken chicken baguette, rife with signature pieces of battered meat and caramelized onions ($7.20), and a soda to wash it down ($1.50).
Sean Pham, who has worked at the Baguette Box on Capitol Hill for about six months, has a handful of suggestions for newcomers: “For a first-timer? I’d have to recommend the crispy drunken chicken, then the crispy organic tofu and avocado, then the painted hills lemongrass steak. Those are usually the top three.”
More cheap eatin’: Citizen in Queen Anne
Tags: Cheap Eats, Cheap Date, Baguette Box
Truffle fries. Not to be missed.
Lemongrass Steak…delish! Sometimes (meaning always) I really want to order two of them. A friend came there with me, looked around at the canine decor, and asked if they served dog…he loved the food too.