Fall of Saigon (1975)
North Vietnamese forces captured Saigon on April 30, 1975, ending the Vietnam War. Hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese fled, and many resettled across the U.S., including Philadelphia.
Vietnamese refugees built new communities and opened restaurants serving their native cuisine.
Vietnamese food, especially banh mi and pho, became a staple of American culinary life and small-business ownership.
Lo Banh Mi Cao Thang is part of this diaspora food economy, one of many Vietnamese-owned sandwich shops in Philadelphia.
