Banh Mi Factory & Pho Washington Twp Opens. Beautiful Vietnamese/French Café

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The Banh Mi Factory Sewell (Washington Township) celebrates their soft opening Thursday August 29th. I visited today and it is truly a beautiful Vietnamese cafe with in-house bakery, banh mi sandwiches, pho noodle soup, milk/fruit tea drinks and more.

It’s a strikingly beautiful space which has the feel of a five-star hotel cafe but at “normal” price points of any area café, pho restaurant or milk/fruit tea store.

The location is in the Washington Center Shoppes “Acme” shopping center on Egg Harbor Road. 42Freeway first wrote about them in May of this year.

While August 29th marks the “soft opening”, the official Grand Opening is September 8th. A Facebook Event says for that event they will have amazing deals on all of their products (Facebook Event)

The new Banh Mi Factory is owned by husband (Vu) and wife (Van) who live locally in Gloucester County. In my visit today I spent almost an hour with Van learning about the new café/restaurant, getting the full tour… and trying their amazing teas and pho soup!

I plan on stopping back tomorrow to check out their delicious baked goods and banh mi sandwiches.

If you’re unfamiliar with banh mi, it is a sandwich created on a baguette which has a thin crispy outer crust but a soft and airy inside texture. Sliced lengthwise like a hoagie, it is filled with a variety of ingredients which typically include meat, pickled vegetables, and chili peppers.

I have had banh mi before and I can’t wait to try their version which is on a fresh “in-store” baked baguette!

There’s a lot to like about this new restaurant cafe, and honestly I don’t think there’s anything like it in Gloucester County.

The roots of the restaurant are a Vietnamese Cafe but if you weren’t aware, France has had a big influence on Vietnam going back to the 17th century when French Catholic ministries first came to the country.

France eventually colonized Vietnam in the 19th century, which further introduced French architecture, cuisine and other facets to the Vietnamese people/

For the Banh Mi Factory, it creates a beautiful and perfect cultural fusion… which like I said doesnt really exist at this level in Gloucester County. Considering the fresh baked goods, sandwiches and soups and eye-pleasing interior… Banh Mi Factory is somewhat like an International version of Panera!

Immediately on entering the new Sewell cafe you’re going to say “wow” as it truly is a beautifully designed space, perfectly balancing modern styles and classic French undertones… with a mixture of mid-century modern blended in, maybe? Well I am no Art Vandelay (Seinfeld reference!)

There are no plain painted walls in the space. Every surface has been considered and styled to match the theme… as I said the Banh Mi Factory feels like something you would find in a high quality hotel.

And a key goal of Banh Mi Factory is to make everything in house daily, for ultimate freshness. Baguettes and croissants are a big part of the menu offering, and they are baked fresh in-house each day.

Even the flavorful pho soup broth is made fresh daily, and during my visit I could see they were preparing soup broth for tomorrows likely busy first day.

Milk and fruit teas are made to order but they have a really cool innovative to-go jar which is a clear plastic container which they can press an aluminum “soda can” style pull top lid onto the top… keeping your to go drink as fresh as possible.

Since I showed up the day before the opening, they were not baking anything so I could not try the banh mi sandwiches.

But Van prepared several of their delicious drinks for me to try, as well as a giant bowl of beef pho noodle soup.

For the drinks I tried Brown Sugar Boba Tea and a Tropical Fruit Tea… as well as what I think was a Vietnamese iced-coffee (I’ll have to double check with him tomorrow!)

The teas are beautifully prepared and look like something that should be in a marketing brochure! Trust me when I tell you they were as delicious as they looked.

As I was taking photos of the inside I asked Von if I could grab a photo of the bakery ovens and the kitchen… I felt it was important to show people that they really are making these products right there in the Washington Township cafe.

And with that Van asked me if I wanted to try some of the pho noodle soup. umm ummm.. of course!

What she brought me was a massive bowl of soup with fresh rice noodles, incredibly tender beef and a broth just bursting with flavor.

People are always looking for something new and unique.. with amazing tastes while at a great value… and I think Washington Township will really enjoy having Banh Mi Factory in town.