Beef

V-Nam Cafe Pulls a Henry’s, Allegedly Rips Off Baoguette Menu

Photo: Helen Rosner

Again with the bánh mì ripoffs? The recently opened (and even more recently temporarily shuttered) V-Nam Cafe appears to have taken a page from the Henry’s playbook: According to Eater, V-Nam’s owner is a former employee of Michael “Bao” Huynh’s Baoguette, and his menu is so similar to his former place of employment that Huynh is threatening to sue.

To be fair, there’s only so much variation a bánh mì menu can really have, but V-Nam had the audacity to actually include items called the Baoguette and the Sloppy Bao — that’s basically the Vietnamese sandwich equivalent of putting up a burger shingle and selling a ShackBurger. For his part, Huynh is out for blood: For the next 45 days, he’s offering would-be V-Nam Cafe customers 20 percent off and free soft serve for anyone who brings the rival menu into Baoguette.

Baoguette Alum Opens Suspiciously Baoguette-Like Restaurant [Eater NY]

V-Nam Cafe Pulls a Henry’s, Allegedly Rips Off Baoguette Menu