Opening date circled for long-awaited Little Bee Bun Mee restaurant near Columbia
The Bee is almost ready to buzz.
Little Bee Bun Mee, a new restaurant that will specialize Vietnamese banh mi sandwiches and more, announced Monday that it will officially open at 11 a.m. Tuesday, July 11. It is located at 904 Knox Abbott Drive in Cayce.
The banh mi restaurant is the latest effort from owners Chris and Noi Souvanna, who have operated Duke’s Pad Thai restaurant in Cayce for the last several years. Little Bee Bun Mee is located right next door to Duke’s, and the owners said there will be an “open dining concept” between the two restaurants, where customers can choose from cuisine from either establishment in the same building.
“We wanted to continue to add more cultural dining to Cayce through one of our favorite dishes, banh mi sandwiches,” Noi Souvanna said in a statement. “The last few years have been a whirlwind, surviving a pandemic, raising two boys and running a successful business; we all just felt like busy bees which led us to naming Little Bee. Our passion for fast-casual food fuels the other busy bees out there to have a family-made meal and get on their way to their busy lives.”
Little Bee Bun Mee will focus on banh mi sandwiches, a type of Vietnamese sandwich typically built on a baguette. The sandwiches have continued to gain popularity in the U.S. in recent years. Little Bee also will have sushi, tacos, tea fusion drinks, poke bowls and more.
While it officially opens July 11, Little Bee has quietly had some soft opening activities recently, which the restaurant referred to on social media as “testing recipes” and “finalizing the menu.” A reporter from The State stopped in during one of the soft opening moments and tried the bulgogi cheesesteak sandwich, which came with Korean-style marinated beef, cilantro, cheese, Kimchi sauce and spicy mayo.
Little Bee has been long-awaited in Cayce. A sign touting the restaurant has been up on the building since last year, along with a neon, play-on-words sign in the window that implores customers to “Show Us Your Bunz.”
Banh mi seems to be having a moment in the Columbia area. Aside from Little Bee Bun Mee, two other banh mi restaurants — Banh Mi Boys in the Olympia neighborhood and Paris Banh Mi in northeast Columbia — have plans to open.
