Featured photo: A combination bánh mì from All in the Phamily.
One thing about the food and drink scene in Shreveport-Bossier: when change happens, it almost never happens at a slow, steady pace. The sudden proliferation of really good Vietnamese bánh mì sandwiches – served at only one or two places until recently – is just the latest example of this kind of change.
All in the Phamily, a new Vietnamese café located in the Pierremont Office Park at 920 Pierremont Road (directly across Atlanta Street from Cuban Liquor), serves very good, inexpensive bánh mì as well as phở (traditional Vietnamese rice noodle soup), rice platters, noodle salads and more. All in the Phamily chef Jacqueline “Jackie” Pham is a popular presence at local farmers’ markets, where she and her family can often be found selling everything from curried shrimp to bánh bao (steamed buns stuffed with sausage and a hard-boiled egg – sort of the “sausage and egg biscuit” of Vietnam). Pham opened All in the Phamily in October 2015. The restaurant hours are currently 7 a.m.-6 p.m., Monday through Friday, with American options like breakfast sandwiches available during the breakfast hours.
I like a steaming bowl of phở as much as the next person, but the best things I’ve eaten from All in the Phamily are the roasted pork belly bánh mì ($4.75) and those hard-to-find breakfast steamed buns ($3.25). Bánh mì sandwiches at All in the Phamily are served on an exceptionally crunchy French loaf and do include the smear of pâté (chicken liver, I think) that lends the sandwich so much of its savory flavor.
If you’re an adventurous eater, it’s worth following the All in the Phamily Facebook page in order to keep up with the daily specials that Pham prepares, which can be extremely creative and fun. I’m kind of obsessive when it comes to Vietnamese food, so I check in regularly – as I write this post, for example, the lunch special is a Vietnamese take on stuffed shrimp. The restaurant also offers military and senior discounts.
Local soup reporter Jonathan Toups of Toups on Soups and Heliopolis recently filed a video report from All in the Phamily, which I’ll embed below (heads up, it’s rated PG-13 for brief strong language):
