Levant’s Scott Snyder’s Main Go-To Is The Bánh Mì At Best Baguette

Oregon's home to a lot of restaurants, bars, wineries and breweries, but there are tons of hidden gems that the majority of Portlanders aren't unearthing. To help guide us to these potential discoveries, we've enlisted some of our city's many food players to share their recommendations for a recurring feature we call Dining Confidential.

Levent's Scott Snyder just got a whole lot busier. After holding steady for a good year with a 5-nights-a-week dinner schedule, he started offering weekend brunches and just this week upped his dinner game to every night of the week.

And ask any chef, and he or she will tell you that when it comes to sustaining one's self, they often go out of their way to try something that doesn't resemble what they've been prepping and serving all day, every day.

And lucky for Snyder, his schedule means his lunchtimes are free (at least during the weekdays), and when he needs something to get him through to dinner service, he goes from cooking the cuisine of the Middle East to craving cuisine from the Far East.

"I go to Best Baguette on Powell and 84th probably at least once a week," says Snyder. "It's good, fast and cheap. All of the Vietnamese sandwiches and bubble teas are great."

And it's not just he who thinks that—Snyder says his step-daughters love it, too.

So what's Snyder's go-to go-to?

"My favorite is the Best Baguette Special," he says of the joint's signature bánh mì that comes with pâte, ham, pork and head cheese along with all the usual fixings.

But the best part for Snyder, especially when he's in a rush, is Best Baguette's drive-thru window, which help make his fast lunch breaks even quicker.

Best Baguette: 8308 SE Powell Blvd., (503) 788-3098; Hours: 7 a.m. to 9 p.m., daily