Vietnamese Food Truck Saigon Le Vendeur Starts Slinging Banh Mi in Downtown Austin

Saigon Le Vendeur, the newly minted Eater 38 food truck, opened its second location in downtown Austin. The Vietnamese truck will be found in the corner lot at Congress Avenue and 3rd Street, taking over Snap Kitchen’s space, which is now closed, as noted by an eagle-eyed tipster.

Chef and owner Tebi Nguyen’s downtown menu will be limited to just four banh mi, which could include the original cold cuts with pate spicy chicken, pork, and tofu options. The downtown Saigon is open from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on the weekdays.

Saigon’s East 7th Street food truck will remain open. It will also continue to operate its truck at the Sustainable Food Center’s downtown farmers market on Guadalupe Street on Saturdays.

Healthy fast-casual food company Snap Kitchen did shutter its downtown food truck, though it’s unclear as to when it closed. There are still seven locations in Austin, with the nearest one on West 6th Street in Clarksville. The company had expanded into Chicago, but closed all of its shops late last year. There are also locations in Houston, Dallas, and Philadelphia.

Nguyen also opened up a brick-and-mortar restaurant up in North Shoal Creek in April. Le Bleu serves banh mi, vermicelli bowls, summer rolls, and chicken wings. He opened the food truck in 2013.

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