Inside Bánh Mì Cu Lắc’s playful take on tradition

Where Vietnamese tradition meets experimentation, and goes viral along the way

Fringe ArtsSafa Hachi — Published November 18, 2025 6 minutes

Hidden inside Kaizen Manga Café, Bánh Mì Cu Lắc, nicknamed “Culac,” doesn’t stand out much from the street. Unless you’ve already seen it online.

Scroll through TikTok or Instagram, and you’ll find Wendy Tran, the owner, speaking directly to the camera as she assembles sandwiches that mix Vietnamese roots with unexpected twists. 

For Tran, Culac isn’t just a business but also a creative outlet.

“The name Culac actually comes from my brother,” Tran says. “In my family, all the boys’ nicknames start with ‘Cu.’ His name is Culac. ‘Lac’ means shaking. He just has so much energy, he would run around and ask questions, be very curious and very adventurous, and that's kind of the energy that I want to bring to this brand.”

That same energy extends beyond the food. When Tran’s friend Linh Tran suggested sharing her experiments online, the project took on a new life.

Testing the algorithm

Culac’s online presence is run with help from Linh Tran, a Concordia marketing graduate and longtime friend. Linh, who now works as a marketing analyst, started freelancing for Vietnamese-owned small businesses to stay connected to her culture.

When Linh first suggested TikTok, Tran wasn’t convinced.

“For the longest time, I didn’t have the password to that account, because they would come shoot and edit and post,” Tran recalls with a laugh. “I’m just like, do your thing. I don’t think this is going to work. I’m skeptical. And they just kept doing what they thought would work.”

Their first playful video, filmed with friends at Kaizen Manga Café, picked up tens of thousands of views and brought new people through the door.

“Whenever a TikTok video of mine went viral, it was like the next day, a bunch of people would come in. It’s very instantaneous,” Tran says.

Finding a voice online

Linh describes Culac’s online presence as playful but genuine. She helps shape the brand’s voice, managing content ideas and posting plans while Tran runs the kitchen.

“I think she has a very clear mindset and image of the brand, which is great for marketing, because you don't have to create that from scratch,” Linh says. “I just add elements I think would be funny or experimental, as well as elevate visuals and keep things consitent.”

The result is a mix of humour and honesty that mirrors the restaurant’s approach to food itself. Their videos range from lighthearted skits about daily life at the counter to reflections on what it means to run a small business, and even quiet moments where Tran simply talks about food and creativity.

What stands out to Linh the most is how audiences connect to that authenticity.

“I noticed that when we started to be more personal and share the real story, people also started to like that," Linh says. 

Each post feels like an extension of Tran’s personality: experimental, yet grounded in care. For a newly opened spot like Culac, that connection has made a difference.

“It’s definitely helped people find us,” Tran says.

“At Culac, we focus very much on taste,” Tran says. “So if it’s not the right temperature, if it’s not the right texture, we will try our best to correct that, so that people have the best experience possible.”

Community in every bite

That connection goes beyond the screen. Ruby Challita, a regular customer, first met Tran during her early pop-ups at Kaizen Manga Café. 

“I’m a regular member of Kaizen’s community, and even used to be their community manager at one point,” Challita says. “I got to meet Wendy while she was still setting up the kitchen space and got to see her make her first bánh mìs.”

Challita still stops by regularly for her favourites: the miso chicken and the bò lá lốt bánh mì. 

“The flavours are amazing,” Challita says. “I genuinely did not expect that a [bánh mì] place could have such new flavours incorporated into their foods.”

She’s also watched the restaurant’s online following grow firsthand. 

“I am super proud seeing how Culac has gotten a lot of recognition, especially on TikTok,” Challita says. “I see how much effort Wendy and her [marketing] manager put into outreach through online exposure.”

Doing things right

Culac’s small menu reflects Tran’s perfectionism.

“I would lose sleep over the fact that a product doesn't leave the store the way that I want it to,” Tran says. “I want people to taste like how I tested it, how I make it and how it's supposed to be.”

Tran hones her culinary skills down to the finer points, such as never using refrigerated bread. 

“At Culac, we focus very much on taste,” Tran says. “So if it's not the right temperature, if it's not the right texture, we will try our best to correct that, so that people have the best experience possible.”

That level of care doesn’t come without sacrifice, and Tran admits the work can be relentless. Running a restaurant means trading creative hours for long prep sessions, supplier calls and kitchen shifts. Still, she doesn’t mind.

“I live my life when I can,” Tran says, “and I'm so happy doing this that I don't feel like I'm at work.”

When disruptions happen, like the recent STM strikes, Tran leans on her community. She says regulars still showed up, and online orders increased as people tried to support the business from home.

Moments like those, Tran says, remind her why she started. Seeing familiar faces return week after week is its own kind of reward. For her, success isn’t measured in numbers, but in consistency and care.

“Obviously, growth is great, but if I can pay my bills, if my staff can go home to a roof over their head, then I think we're doing our job,” Tran says.

Playing the long game

After a year of pop-ups and six months in a physical space, Tran isn’t rushing growth. She’s focused on refining her craft and building a foundation strong enough to last. 

“For the next few years, [I’d like to] have my own space, have my own dining room, have basically the entire experience being the Culac experience,” she says. “We’ll see how it goes. We’re still new, we’re still learning.”

That patient mindset doesn’t mean she lacks ambition. Tran dreams of expansion but wants it to happen organically, on her own terms. 

As she puts it, with a laugh, “In the far, far, far future, we want to make it big. Many stores.”

For Linh, the journey already represents something bigger. She sees Culac’s growth as a way to broaden how Vietnamese creativity is seen in Montreal.

“What I want is for more people to see Vietnamese culture,” Linh says. “We’re young people experimenting, trying to show that it can be so much more.”

And for Wendy Tran and Bánh Mì Cu Lắc, that seems to be the point.

This article originally appeared in Volume 46, Issue 6, published November 18, 2025.