Charleston Street Hero: The Best Sandwiches in Town

One of the best places to eat in Charleston doesn’t have tables or chairs. In a town perfect for walking it’s a sandwich made for pedestrians. Every Saturday Charleston Street Hero serves up Vietnamese tacos and banh mi sandwiches so good it will change your mind about what “street meat” really is.

Jason Sakran and Jeremy Spencer met working in an Irish pub in Syracuse, New York. They’ve been foodies and friends ever since. That was 20 years ago. These days you can find them every Saturday at the downtown Farmers’ Market selling the best sandwiches in Charleston.

Jason discovered banh mi, a Vietnamese-style sandwich, the same way most of Charleston Street Hero’s customers do: he happened upon it. He was in D.C. at the time and ordered the unique hoagie on a whim. Like so many banh mi converts he couldn’t get the unique combination of flavors out of his mind.

“Jason wouldn’t stop talking about this sandwich,” said Jeremy. “He couldn’t remember the name of it exactly. He just remembered it was Vietnamese.” So they searched, found a recipe and began experimenting.

Banh mi is as unique to Vietnam as it is to the person who’s making it. It’s like meatloaf or fried chicken; every grandmother thinks she makes the best and every recipe is slightly different.

“We took sandwiches to a concert in North Carolina,” said Jeremy, “We basically gave them away and asked people would you buy this?” They got the answers they wanted.

Both Jason and Jeremy are entrepreneurial spirits. Jeremy, at one point in his life, sold t-shirts at Phish concerts and “did very well for himself.” Jason sold hand warmers at the Presidential Inauguration in 2008 and as Jeremy puts it, “made a killing.”

With years of food and beverage industry experience between them, neither was surprised that sandwiches were next.

First came the five spice pork banh mi. Then the lemongrass ginger chicken. Soon, Jason, a former vegetarian, conceived the tofu banh mi, which is “the only tofu I’ll eat,” says Jeremy. Next came the brunch banh mi with Canadian bacon and an over-medium runny egg. Finally, the Farmers’ Market special that stuck: Meathouse pâté and ham.

Serving Vietnamese tacos were Jason’s idea. “I knew people came to the Farmers’ Market to try a bit of everything. By offering a taco they’d be able to get a taste of our flavors,” he said. “We hope that’ll hook them to bring them back for the banh mi,” added Jeremy. Both the tacos and banh mis are assembled with care, speed and crispy fried shallots, holy basil, cilantro, and pickled cucumber and carrots.

Charleston Street Hero opened for business on opening day of the downtown Farmer’s Market. They picked Charleston for their venture because “there was nothing like it here,” says Jason. “We were prepared with enough to make 60 banh mis and 50 tacos,” he said “We sold out in three hours.” With each week, they’re selling more.

Visiting the Farmers’ Market back in April I saw a sign for banh mi for the first time in my five years in Charleston. I made my way towards Charleston Street Hero’s tent and knew immediately the long line was a good sign, especially for street fare. In oppressive summertime heat without a refrigerator (or other appliances) your ingredients have to be fresh. There’s no fancy foam or complicated preparation to hide behind.

Jason and Jeremy make a point to use the freshest local ingredients as much as possible. They also take advantage of the proximity of purveyors like Meathouse and Normandy Farms, “who makes our baguettes for us,” says Jason.

With one bite you’ll both understand and wonder why these seemingly simple sandwiches are disappearing so rapidly into your mouth. How can a French baguette, some spiced pork and a few fresh vegetable condiments be so good that when it’s all over all you want is another sandwich?

Our mouths are equipped with taste buds engineered to help our brains identify the five main flavors in everything we eat: sweet, salty, sour, spicy and umami. Culinary nirvana is reached when all five tastes are not just experienced, but experienced in inseparable balance. Every time you take a bite out of Jason and Jeremy’s banh mi, the flavors build upon themselves, they bloom. It becomes difficult to identify what’s pleasing your palette—is it the salty-umami perfection of Meathouse’s pâté when it collides with the spicy crispy fried shallots? Or the combination of five-spice pork as its juices comingle with the sweet and slightly tart pickled cucumbers and carrots? Eventually, you relinquish control, stop trying to explain it and simply enjoy.

Jason and Jeremy are familiar with the fact that their sandwiches can do this to a person.  Jason nods knowingly as I recount my experience with their Meathouse pâté banh mi. “We tried coming up with a name that explained that,” laughs Jeremy, “but we couldn’t really hit on the right one. Plus we joke we are saving taste buds one bite at a time.”

Sounds about right.

Jeremy, Jason and Charleston Street Hero’s tent can be found directly across from the Francis Marion parking garage on the King Street side of Marion Square. You can also follow them on Twitter @CharStreetHero.