I don't remember what blog it was that I was reading or if it was just a one-off Facebook post that first sighted what appears to be a dire predicament for Tustin's Zon Baguette you see above. From the picture, you would assume, just as that blog or Facebook post did, that Tustin's only banh mi purveyor was getting a competitor selling the same exact wares right next door.
]
But looks can be deceiving. As I went into Zon to investigate and ask questions I noticed that the wall separating the two would-be competitors has been obliterated. A black plastic tarp is there now. Talking with the cashier confirmed it: Zon Baguette is no more, bought out by none other than Tan Hoang Huong, the banh mi mini-chain that has stores in Santa Ana, Fountain Valley and Westminster, which is poised to make this Tustin store twice the size.
As far as I can tell Tan Hoang Huong has already taken over operations now, though I didn't do a taste test to see if there was a difference in the sandwich. But with it, we are denied a banh mi brawl. It was just a peaceful transition after all.
Follow Stick a Fork In It on Twitter @ocweeklyfood or on Facebook! And don't forget to download our free Best Of App here!
Before becoming an award-winning restaurant critic for OC Weekly in 2007, Edwin Goei went by the alias “elmomonster” on his blog Monster Munching, in which he once wrote a whole review in haiku.