Will banh mi become Toronto's sandwich of the year for 2026?

Banh mi restaurants are popping up like mushrooms in Toronto lately. Could the sudden surge point to the Vietnamese staple becoming the city's new sandwich fixation of the year?

The city of Toronto adores its sandwiches, like any self-respecting major city does.

While, technically speaking, the peameal bacon sandwich is largely recognized as our local between-bread specialty, when it comes to Toronto consumers, the decade has been defined by the Italian deli sandwich, reaching especially steep levels of saturation in 2025.

Interest in deli meat-stuffed, burrata-slathered sandwiches doesn't seem to be on the decline, to be sure, but, in recent months, a surprising number of banh mi shops have also been opening their doors.

Admittedly, I likely spend more time than the average person thinking about sandwiches, but with every new banh mi shop that opens its doors in Toronto, it's been nagging at me: what sandwich will be the city's next big fixation when we tire of mortadella and prosciutto? 

With new additions like Oi Banh Mi, Rose's Viet Subs, Banh Mi Nana and Viet Sandwich all opening in the latter half of 2025 and all drawing major attention from the city's foodies, there's a compelling case to be made that the banh mi is next in line.

The sandwich format, served on a slightly softer, shorter version of a baguette slathered with Vietnamese butter and frequently pate, is filled with various proteins, from cold cuts like steamed pork loaf to sausage or crispy pork belly, topped off with pickled vegetables and cilantro.

It's rich and fresh, fatty and sharp all at once. It's compact, light, and satisfying. Ultimately, what else could one look for in a sandwich?

But the question still stands: could the humble banh mi have what it takes to dethrone Toronto's current heavyweight champ, the Italian deli sandwich, to become the city's go-to sandwich?

It's helpful, perhaps, to look at the 2024 and 2025 Italian sandwich influx to understand what could be happening with banh mi.

Italian sandwiches have existed in Toronto for as long as Italian people have lived here, and it's the same story with banh mi and the city's Vietnamese population. Frequently relegated to mom-and-pop shops, the respective sandwiches have historically served niche audiences or once-in-a-while diners. 

It wasn't until a new wave of Italian deli sandwich shops descended on the city around the late twenty-teens and early '20s, boasting aesthetically retro branding and Instagrammable sandwiches that the city's food-focused and trend-conscious population immediately latched onto.

The Italian deli sandwich was reborn as the ultimate symbol of casual coolness: the perfect bite to bring to an afternoon at Trinity Bellwoods.

Lambo's Deli, Grandma Loves You, Good Behaviour and Elm Street Deli were all among the early standouts that got people talking, while longstanding staples like La Salumeria, Belly Busters and Chubby's Subs all got a welcome boost thanks to the boom.

Over the years that followed, even more Italian sandwich shops have popped up across the city, each putting its own distinctive spin on its offerings. We've reached a point, following the latter half of 2025, when a particularly dense cohort arrived in Toronto, that there are almost too many of note to list.

It stands to reason, like when you listen to a song so many times it loses all the lustre that made you want to listen to it on repeat in the first place, that the Toronto masses could eventually tire of the Italian sandwich — at least in the volume it's currently available.

Are we approaching maximum saturation? And if so, what will take the throne next?

If, as in the case of the Italian sandwich, a rapid volume of restaurants serving distinct variations on the same rotation of sandwiches opening around the same time is the metric, then banh mi seems like the clear front-runner.

A new banh mi restaurant seems to open its doors every week in the city these days, and though, with the impending closure of Ca Phe Rang, the city is decidedly low on intentionally aesthetic trend-tapping banh mi shops, the reality doesn't feel far off.

Especially now that there's a Matty Matheson-shaped hole in the market.

For all their similarities, banh mi has an extra ace up its sleeve that may just help it get over the finishing line: they're cheap. Where a truly exceptional Italian sandwich could run you upwards of $20, there are more than a few banh mi shops in the city selling their sammies for anywhere between $5 and $10.

At Chinatown's Banh Mi Nguyen Huong and Banh Mi Trung Son in North York, you can get them for just $4.

Sure, there are distinct differences that need to be acknowledged: Italian sandwiches are often larger and more densely-packed than banh mi, but with the cost of living in the city being what it is — and, might I add, banh mi being as delicious as they are — the more affordable the sandwich, the better chance it has at achieving glory these days.

So, will banh mi become Toronto's sandwich fixation of 2026? Only time will tell, but I, for one, am on board.