Duc’s Place

Reviews

• Stephanie N.

  star star star star star 14 June 2026

  Sitting here working and drinking an avocado shake and can't believe I haven't reviewed this lovely place yet. Here's my ode to the avocado shake. I absolutely crave these avocado shakes. They're the perfect combination of coconut-creamy and just a hint sweet, with the irreplaceable taste of fresh avocado. So perfect. Addictive even, if you're like me and find foods that are just a tad sweet and subtly flavorful addictive. Sometimes this is all I want for lunch/dinner. They even have soursop(!) and durian(!!), and while I found the soursop quite lovely I keep coming back for avocado. As a bonus, it's also the best value smoothie made with real ingredients in New Haven. The iced coffee also has a nice deep caramelly note and is just the right amount sweet. I haven't had the Bahn Mi in a long time, but I also remember very fresh and light flavors. Friends who have had it more recently attest to good flavors/authenticity.
  
  And I agree with the reviewer below--a small business by a very cool dude. He put his heart into this place and is so friendly to every customer, it just adds that extra something special to my already delightful smoothie. A gem in New Haven.

• Ling J.

  star star star star star_border 13 June 2026

  I love this neighborhood Vietnamese sandwich shop. I've been wanting to come here since summer and found they were on summer vacations early Aug. How cool is that that the restaurant actually takes care of its employees and let them off for summer vacation. We finally got to taste their food after it re-opened. We went on a Friday, so apart from their regular menu, we also got to taste their pho which is a Friday special only. I had a lemongrass grilled pork sandwich and my hubby had a classic banh mi. The grilled pork sandwich really stood out and it was made to order with freshly grilled pork with very flavorful marinates. The tender pork was caramelized from the grill and had beautiful grilling marks on them. The pho was okay, it came with several meat topping such as steak, brisket and meatballs. It was probably the meatiest broth I've had but it fell missing spices to cut down the richness from the broth. And comparing to other restaurants who are specialized in pho, they don't give you as much broth and no homemade chili oil either. Overall it is a quite sold place for take out and a quick dining in.
  
  The lady who took our order was not particularly helpful as it took her a long time to get our orders straight - perhaps we were ordering too much and had customized requests. But she was very nice and was able to accommodate us eventually. P.S. they bake baguette in house if you'd like to buy their bread.

• Fox E.

  star star star star star 12 June 2026

  You may like my reviews cause I give no F**KS
  Or you may think I'm an idiot and "FOX E SUCKS!"
  My career may end more suddenly than ANDREW LUCK'S
  But I'll still keep coming back to eat at DUC'S
  
  WHAT
  
  The bread at Duc's is very popular... but then bread is very popular with Ducks, so it makes sense.
  
  This is a really adorable little sandwich shop in New Haven which has great products and really lovely service. Some of the nicest people I met in Connecticut for sure, and I've met plenty of people in Connecticut. I usually don't stop around here, I just use it as a stopover to "Connect" from Boston and Providence to NYC. Get it. Get it.
  
  I would definitely come back here when in town, and I'm not surprised that it's really popular with the students.
  
  So it is an excellent Vietnamese place which has good drinks and good Banh Mi sandwiches and is one of my favourite places to stop when in New Haven, hitting up Yale and hanging out with my Yale girls, especially because of the wonderful service.
  
  You don't get a lot of Vietnamese food in these parts, and when you do it's often not so good and overly Americanized - this is great and pretty authentic, it's both affordable and excellent, and I have no choice and am honoured to be able to give it a five star rating.
  
  If they spoil the broth, that's from too many COOKS
  The Real World lost its charm: too many PUCKS
  But I know a Banh Mi that won't cost you a hundred BUCKS
  It's yummy and authentic and it's here at DUC'S
  
  WHAT

• Christopher D.

  star star star star star_border 8 June 2026

  Stopped in for a banh mi, it was a small but very clean place. Their menu is simple, but has several varieties of banh mi. Their sign says the baguettes are made in house daily.
  
  I got the regular cold cut banh mi. The baguette was crispy in the outside and soft on the inside. There were plenty of pickled vegetables and the cold cuts were good. I would have liked a little more cilantro and mayo, but overall very good.
  
  They also have several smoothies and Vietnamese coffee (both hot and iced). And pho on Fridays.
  
  Overall, a good banh mi that I will return for.

• Justin H.

  star star star star_border star_border 5 June 2026

  We got to Duc's Place around 1 PM on July 3rd to try out their Banh Mi. We were excited to hear about this business because it's hard to find Banh Mi in CT.
  
  This place was quaint and clean, with a few tables to sit. The girl at the register was nice and welcomed us as we walked in. We tried to order a variety of Banh Mi, but half of the options were unavailable which was disappointing. They also ended up closing early because they had a catering order that morning which was inconvenient for many customers who came in.
  
  We ordered 3 classic Banh Mi (because that's all you could really order besides fish), and some Ca Phe Sua Da (Vietnamese Iced Coffee). There was a very long wait to get the sandwiches (about 20 min from ordering) which I was a little surprised about I'm used to getting Banh Mi in Boston, NYC, and Vietnam where it takes seconds to prepare each sandwich.
  
  The Vietnamese coffee was excellent. We also tried the avocado shake which was delicious. It was very creamy and smooth. The Banh Mi was not bad. Overall it had good flavor but we felt it was lacking some additional flavors that we typically taste in a traditional Banh Mi. We would have liked much more cilantro (instead of just 1 stem), adding in mayonnaise, and adding in the other deli meat commonly seen in Banh Mi.
  
  Overall not a bad place for Banh Mi as it's the only one in the area.