Dinosaurs Vietnamese Sandwiches

Very yummy and convenient. Wish they had more outdoor seating for nice days!

Dinosaurs sandwich was SUPER BOMB!
I got the special with a vietnamese coffee for a total of $ 12!
The bread was warmed and incredibly crunchy. They loaded the pâté and the meat! The vegetables were crunchy and fresh. I’m not much of a spicy person so it was nice that there were 1 or 2 jalepenos that gave this sandwich the perfect kick. The sandwich was so big that I had to split it in 3!
We came around 12pm on a Wednesday but the line wasn’t too bad. They have super fast service and friendly staff. If you decide to order online, make sure to order around 30+ minutes beforehand!

The lines can be crazy. Order on Unilocal Eat 24 a half hour in advance. I like the shaking beef with crispy tofu. Perfect sandwich size. Yum!

So delicious. I love banh mi. However, I would love it if there was a place to eat it on site. Unfortunately, there’s no real nice outdoor places to eat around here and since I’m here for jury duty, I have an 1.5 hrs to kill.
Great location for jury duty though as its only across the street from the hall of justice.
You can order and pick up as well.

Best bahn mi in SoMa. Toasted bread, ample veggies and pâté, quality meats, and a great taste. A tad spendy but what isn’t in SoMa?

This is also a great lunch option near 850 Bryant if you’ve got jury duty! I had the yummy, grilled chicken bahn mi, plus the popular and refreshing watermelon litchi drink with little bits of litchi jelly — mmm hmm! The food was so good that I ordered some spring rolls with shrimp, fried tofu and hoisin sauce to go — great combo! The quality of ingredients was so fresh — loved it! If you check in on Unilocal,use your 10% off dealio because I saw it too late after I spent all my lunch money — the lady at the register wouldn’t budge. I understand but I tried anyway. They have one table and a little corner seat literally just big enough for one person’s butt cheeks to fit (not too comfy). They have 3 other shops! I never heard of this place before coming to jury duty so I will need to find the other 3 shops because I got released and won’t be back in this area for at least another year hee hee!

Love their summer rolls. Fresh ingredients, fat rolls, tasty sauce, great as a light lunch.

I had better but it wasn’t bad. I got the pork and it didn’t have any type of flavor just meat and the sandwhich is small to me. Most of the filling in the sandwhich is the pickled that can be overwhelming.

As sandwiches go, I was not impressed. Ordered Pork Sandwich, the meat was tough and put on in large slices. It should be shredded and tender. Way too much mayo. Also what exactly makes it «vietnamese»? Carrots and jalapenos? Come on…

Excellent banh mi in a no frills sandwich shop.
The grilled chicken (⁴⁄₅) — incredibly flavorful and the portion was quite filling without anything else.
The Vietnamese ice coffee (⁴⁄₅) — strong as expected of this type
Not the best I’ve ever had but definitely a very satisfying choice and you won’t be disappointed.

DINOSAURS! They always make really good shrimp spring rolls. I love the idea of having green apple in it. It’s so refreshing! Probably one of my favorite Vietnamese sandwich shops in the Bay Area.
I always have to stop by here every time I’m in San Francisco.

Got my first sandwich from Dinosaurs. Upon arriving at this tiny hole in the wall sandwich shop near the SF Courthouse with a line out the door — and I realized that I had a PRO TIP that all the hipsters in line did not: ORDER ONLINE! My sandwich was already waiting for me when I got there! Good tofu banh mi — a bit dry and bland — wish there was more spice to it, will find out if I can get more of the salad/​peppers next time.

The manager of Dinosaurs reached out to me and apologized for what occurred the other day. Glad he reached out and offered to fix the issue. Thanks Dinosaurs!
All I really needed was an apology and not an excuse…

I didn’t get to eat in there but I ordered delivery for a group of 12 people. They arrived slightly late but the service was very good. Everyone was happy with their sandwiches and it even came with a free bottle of Sriracha! The only con is I wish they put more meat into their sandwiches. I recommend the Shaking Beef or their Pork sandwiches!

I’m not usually a fan of fusion Banh Mi — but Dinosaurs manages to pull it off — especially with the Shaking Beef Banh Mi. Its thinly sliced marinated beef topped with loads of pickled carrots, daikon radish, and cilantro. Finished with just the right amount of mayo and jalapenos and sandwiched between freshly toasted French bread — it has become my go to quick and safe (know its gonna be good) lunch.

This month long jury duty stint has come in pretty handy by both letting me skip work for the majority of the week, and also helping me check off a bunch of my Unilocal bookmarks!
Though today was a cold and rainy one, I decided it was time to venture away from my favorite steaming hot bowl of phở from Turtle Tower and try out something completely different. I kid, I kid, I can never get enough Vietnamese food, so I went for a long walk under my green umbrella and finally made up my mind to grab a bahn mi. I was considering Grab ‘n Go but felt like splurging a little at Dinos.
The place is very tiny so you just order to go. The menu, basic but with everything one would need from a Vietnamese sando place. I considered the Grilled Pork bahn mi, but the kindly cashier suggested the Special ($ 7.39), which is roast pork, fancy pork loaf, lots of pâté (yummm), and the usual veggies. I got extra jalapenos which I recommend to anyone who likes four or more slices for your whole sandi. Loaded up on the Sriracha and napkins, nestled into my new favorite coffee spot, Roma, down the block, and tucked right into my massive meat morsel of magic (like that?).
While Dinos is on the pricey side for banh mi, I think it’s totally worth it. I was full all day from this meal, my tastebuds were satisfied, all was well in the mini world of my lunch hour. Also, if you check in on your Unilocal app, you get 10% off, which I didn’t notice until after I paid, but I will be using in the coming days.

I tried the chicken bahn mi sandwich with fried tofu added.
The chicken was pretty tasty but the shredded fried tofu didn’t do anything for me.
Friendly and fast service – I’d check it out again and try some other proteins next time

Sandwiches are not bad and pretty packed with meat & veggies. Just a little pricier than what I would prefer to pay for banh mi. Not sure if I could bring myself to fork over $ 9 for a sandwich when I can get 3 for the same price in SJ… All the other snacks are also very pricey too.
Good option for something on the go. No seating or tables at this establishment so not an ideal place for a sit down lunch.

A little pricey when you consider the size of the place, the side street it’s located on, and the fact that you can find a quality banh mi for under $ 5. That said, the sandwich was stuffed with meats and fresh vegetables, and the bread was both soft and crispy. The real winner here was the avocado shake — wow, a new leader in the clubhouse called SF. Creamy, strong avocado taste, and even half sweetness was enough. I’m coming back for this and next time I’ll try the spicy tofu or portobello options.
Pinball machine in house for 25¢??? What!!!

When it comes to eating Vietnamese sandwiches I’m generally pretty easy to please. As long as the bread is good and the components are fresh I’ll have very few complaints. That said I was quite thrilled when I found out through Unilocal of course that Dinosaurs had opened their 4^th shop less than two blocks away from my work.
I’ve long been a fan of Dinosaurs and I frequented their original location in the Castro quite a bit from 2010 when they opened until 2012; however, subsequent changes to my work schedule have limited my visits since. The meatball sandwich had been my favorite of their sandwiches. I don’t know what it is about ground meat formed into balls but no matter the type of cuisine I love meatballs.
Not having been to any Dinosaurs location in over a year I was excited to see a larger menu than I remembered featuring 2 types of salads, 3 types of spring rolls, 8 types of sandwiches and 5 specialty drinks.
On my first visit I had, of course, the Meatball sandwich (
). The French baguette they use here was toasted perfectly exhibiting a nice exterior crunch and the softness of fresh bread on the inside. Piled high with pickled carrot and daikon, slices of crisp jalapenos, fresh cilantro and a crisp cucumber spear with just a smear of mayo and ground pepper the meatballs were every bit as tasty as I remembered with just the right amount of firmness to hold it all together.
One Vietnamese sandwich rarely fills me up, and at most places I go it takes about two sandwiches to do the job. So far on my many visits to this Dinosaurs I’ve found that one and a half would be perfect for my midday appetite.
In addition to the Meatball sandwich I’ve also ordered:
The Special (
) with three types of pork products piled high.
Shaking Beef (
) with its super tasty beef sauteed with chopped onions.
Grilled Chicken (
) with a lemongrass infused chicken thigh.
The Roasted Portobello (
) comes with veganaise instead of mayo, but a check of the ingredients found that it was soy based. That’s something I can’t have in my diet so the kind folks here have omitted it and given me the regular mayo at my request. I’m a big fan of mushrooms so it’s no surprise that this is probably my second favorite sandwich here.
I’ve enjoyed the fresh spring rolls also. The spring rolls come 3 to an order and you can have it with a choice of 3 sauces — peanut, hoisin or lime fish sauce. My go to sauce is the peanut which has bits of peanut in it, doesn’t have an oily residue like some places and has a mild spicyness to it. The spring rolls are mostly pre-​made and chilled, but sometimes when they’re out of the pre-​made ones they will make fresh ones for you. I’ve had both the Pork & Shrimp (
) and the Chicken & Shrimp (
) and both are delicious and filling.
The Shrimp Papaya Salad (
) combines shrimp, crunchy daikon, carrots and green papaya with grape tomatoes and a little Thai basil. Crushed peanuts, deep-​fried scallions and a lime fish sauce dressing are included separately to add onto your salad.
To date I’ve tried only one of their specialty drinks. The Watermelon Litchi Smoothie (
) is a blend of fresh watermelon, crushed ice and possibly a sweetener served over bits of fragrant lychee jelly. The frozen concoction freezes the jelly just enough so what is normally a soft jelly comes up slightly firm. It’s a refreshing drink that I’ve enjoyed on multiple visits.
In an area of the City where good eats is very limited I’m so happy to have Dinosaurs 4 so close by.