Logo printed kraft takeout bags for Little Saigon, San Francisco.

Pho, banh mi and a short walk to City Hall

Little Saigon is a few busy blocks of Larkin Street and the streets around it, at the edge of the Tenderloin between Civic Center and Polk Street. It's one of the best places in San Francisco for a bowl of pho, a crusty banh mi, bun with grilled pork, or iced Vietnamese coffee so strong it could carry you through an afternoon.

A lot of its customers are on foot. City workers from Civic Center at lunch, people heading to a show at night, families from around the neighborhood. Most of them don't sit down. They grab the order and go.

Delivery is big here too, especially on cold, foggy evenings when a hot bowl of broth is exactly what people want at home. Orders go out to apartments all over Nob Hill, Hayes Valley and the Western Addition. A bag that clearly shows your shop's name is the reason they come back to you instead of scrolling to the next listing.

A neighborhood that fought for its name

In 2004 the Supervisors voted to make Little Saigon the official name for the Larkin Street corridor and the blocks around it. Today the Tenderloin Community Benefit District's Larkin Street Revival frames the street as a gateway from Civic Center into the heart of Little Saigon and its Southeast Asian heritage.

Many shops on this stretch are owned and run by Southeast Asian families. That's a real story, and the bag is a good place to tell it. Your shop name in Vietnamese and English, a small lotus or bowl icon, and the words Little Saigon underneath make every lunch order a little billboard for the street.

Broth to go, done right

Pho to go is two or three containers: hot broth, noodles and meat, then herbs, sprouts and lime. Foam has been off limits for San Francisco to-go food since 2007, so those containers are already paper, fiber or another recyclable or compostable option.

The bag has to keep all of it upright. Ours has a flat bottom and a 3.5″ gusset, so the broth container sits level. It's 110 GSM kraft paper rated for 22 lb, which covers two full pho orders and a couple of coffees.

Banh mi shops and the lunch line

Banh mi shops move fast at noon, and bags go out by the dozen. A full box of 150 on Subscribe & Save covers a lot of sandwiches. If you want a smaller start, try a few first and see how your regulars react.

Also in the city: our page on printed takeout bags in San Francisco and one for SoMa just south of Market. The home page covers logo printed kraft bags in the Bay Area.