Houston's Little Saigon: Midtown Pho & Banh Mi

Before the sprawling Vietnamese communities of southwest Houston, there was Midtown — the neighborhood along Milam and Travis streets where refugees who fled Vietnam in the 1970s first put down roots and opened restaurants, groceries, and shops. For years this pocket was known as Little Saigon, and though rising rents and a building boom have thinned the old storefronts, a cluster of essential Vietnamese spots still holds the corner. This short walking crawl traces the survivors: the pho house that helped introduce Houston to the dish, the banh mi counters selling the city's great cheap lunch, and the late-night noodle rooms that fed a generation. Distances are short — a few blocks along Milam and Travis — so you can hit several in a single stroll. Come for a bowl of pho and a banh mi to go, and take a moment to notice the neighborhood's layered history under the new high-rises.