Animal H.
Yelp
These folks used to be a little hard to find, tucked in between the Lowell Textile museum and, the now defunct, Furey's bar. They had the best Bahn Mi in town and the best selection of standard and esoteric prepared and snack foods from all over. It had the vibe of a hidden wizard's shop of curiosities but it was pretty difficult to navigate for my monolingual Caucasian brain and frame.
So when they built the new place on the site of a demolished used furniture store/used car dealership, that I'm pretty sure was a drug front, I was stoked, pumped, jazzed, choose two.
It is called an "eatery." Its the perfect name, what with the prepared foods, sandwiches, and snacks covering the range and palette to satisfy just about everyone. The snack array is, in my humble opinion, quite impressive. There is a galaxy of edible delights, arranged beautifully, decked in a dazzling swirl of colored packaging. Dense and numerous but not so much as to be overwhelming. Like the penny candy stores of yesteryear but not pigeon holed by "sweets." Sweet honey potato chips?...check. Spicy shrimp corn puffs?...check. Candy that looks like fish teriyaki?...check. Spicy, sour, savory, sweet, juicy, crunchy, chewy, light, creamy, in every combination?...yup.
Don't get me wrong, the standards like the mango slices with chili salt dip, pork and shrimp vermi rolls, per unit spring rolls, their truly superior Bahn Mi and bubble tea are my go-to favs. They keep me coming back, for sure. But the variability of the product and the way it is integrated into the decor of the shop, for lack of a better way of putting it, entertains me. Like jangling keys in front of a baby. It sucks me in and I subsequently leave with a large, surprising, and often very satisfying bag of goodies.
If you want a Bahn Mi and a bubblebtea and a low cost magic carpet ride made of nummi nums, Hong Cúc Grand Eatery is the land where dreams come true.