Bún Box
Jenny Nguyen, co-owner of OKC’s The Collective Food Hall and operator of her family business, Lee’s Sandwiches, is building Bún Box at NW 25th & Classen and hopes you see it for what it is: a delicious exercise in community building.
Bún Box is founded on the Vietnamese vermicelli noodle bowl. Bún, the Vietnamese word for rice vermicelli noodle, is the foundation for many dishes in Vietnamese cuisine and a blank canvas on which to add your choice of grilled pork, shrimp, chicken, vegetables, or egg rolls. For Jenny, Bún Box’s drive-thru and outdoor seating pairing is an opportunity to deliver tasty Vietnamese food quickly (think Chickfil- A efficiency), while creating shaded outdoor space for engagement with others.
Bún Box’s concept was created in the early days of a previous project. “When we first opened the drive-thru at Lee’s Sandwiches, there was a period where all we had was a limited menu, a few sandwich and drink options,” Jenny recalls. “As I served guests in the drive-thru, I thought, ‘Oh, why don’t we just do this? Let’s take on the limited menu model and make it simple and quick for the customer.’” However, the drive-thru’s efficiency didn’t satisfy her other goal of creating space for community. “Eating is often a communal activity on the streets of Saigon. Everyone is sitting together enjoying their meal outside. I want to create a space like that here in the district.”
With its vegetation-covered pink roof, white brick walls, and airy patio opening in June 2023, Bún Box creates an anchor for an entry point into OKC’s Asian District, a space experiencing a cultural inflection point. Of the first-generation Vietnamese immigrants who fled Vietnam during the war, many are growing older and considering a move to the suburbs, while their millennial children are deciding whether to remain in the area or create roots in other communities in or beyond OKC. Maintaining and fostering engagement and the area’s identity is Jenny’s passion, because for years she struggled to find her own. As a teenager, she felt pressure to fit in, which meant looking and behaving in line with mainstream American culture. “As a Vietnamese girl, it meant avoiding those physical and cultural aspects integral to who I was,” Jenny remembers. As she became an adult and started a family, embracing her Vietnamese identity and supporting her community felt increasingly important. “I want Bún Box to be someone’s first time eating Vietnamese food and evidence of a vibrant, meaningful community worthy of time and investment.”
Stop by Bún Box on a warm day, order a cool, flavorful meal with friends, and enjoy the shade.
