Located opposite Than Phu Market in Huong Thuy Ward, approximately seven kilometers south of Hue’s city center, the shop opened on September 5 and quickly became a phenomenon.

By mid-morning, dozens of people were still lining up outside, waiting for fresh batches of banh mi to come out of the oven.

The shop owner had tied a rope across the entrance to prevent too many people from rushing inside.

A staff member emerged from behind a curtain carrying a tray of freshly-baked banh mi.

The crusts glistened with a layer of butter, making the loaves even more tempting and sparking excitement among the crowd.

Some customers jostled with one another while others reached out with money to buy the freshly-baked loaves.

“Each [plain] loaf is VND10,000 [US$0.38], and each person can buy a maximum of three,” a staff member called out as she quickly collected payments and packed banh mi for customers.

Within less than five minutes, dozens of loaves on the tray had sold out.

Local resident Nhung said she felt triumphant after securing three loaves.

“Everyone was eager to buy, so I joined in. It feels like a victory,” she laughed, taking photos of the loaves and posting them on Facebook as if showing off a prize.

Others were less fortunate, arriving too late or missing out in the rush.

Some chose to wait for the next batch, which comes out every 30 minutes.

Among them was Thanh Nhan, a young woman from Khe Tre Commune, about 40 kilometers from the shop.

Although Nhan had already bought loaves from the previous batch, she stayed behind as she waited for more.

Nhan said she had heard about the popularity of the Thanh Co banh mi trend and traveled to the shop, where she had been waiting since 4:00 am.

Her goal that day was to buy 100 loaves and take them back to Khe Tre to resell to customers who had placed orders.

“The owner saw that I had been waiting for a long time, so they gave me priority. Each time a batch comes out, I can buy two more loaves than other customers, or five in total,” Nhan said.

“Since this morning, I’ve bought 75 loaves. I have 25 more to go to reach my goal.”

Nhan described Thanh Co banh mi as larger than average, with a chewy interior and crispy crust enhanced by a butter glaze.

Nhan added that many people in Hue have traveled dozens of kilometers in recent days just to try Thanh Co banh mi.

Aside from its taste, many customers are visiting the shop mainly to join the social media trend, she said.

According to shop representative Le Chi Tai, the recipe originated in Hanoi but has found enthusiastic fans in Hue.

The bakery produces about 1,000 loaves daily, serving customers from early morning until 8:00 pm.

“Although large numbers of customers come to buy our banh mi, we always try to maintain the quality of every batch,” Tai said.

“We will not sacrifice quality for quantity.”

The trend has spread beyond Hue to neighboring Quang Tri Province, where another Thanh Co banh mi shop in Nam Dong Ha Ward also attracts long lines.

My Dieu, a resident of Nam Dong Ha Ward, said Thanh Co banh mi became a social media trend about a month ago.

“Many people buy this banh mi because it is quite cheap and tasty for VND10,000 a loaf. But quite a few also come simply to follow the trend on social media,” Dieu said.

“Either way, sitting in line to buy banh mi is quite fun.”