As first reported by Money, researchers at Datassential made the discovery by surveying and aggregating menus at thousands of both family-run and chain restaurants across the country. Four years ago, the same survey found that the Cuban was the fastest-growing sandwich, a trajectory that has since slowed as it now appears on over a quarter of menus in the study's dataset.

The researchers believe the bánh mì’s growing popularity can be attributed to a few factors, including a tendency for millennial diners to seek adventure when eating out, and the fact that the sandwich’s ingredients are more or less recognizable to the majority of American palates—placing it in a category that the industry calls “safe experimentation.”

Whatever the reason may be, it's interesting to see the bánh mì, once a fringe item enjoyed mostly within Vietnamese communities, make such a dent in America's culinary lexicon. And it's not alone: as American palates change and develop, a number of other immigrant contributions—Mexican tortas and Middle Eastern shawarmas have both grown by more than 50% since the last survey—are also making headway on American menus. These are some serious challenges to the reigning sandwich, the classic grilled chicken, which is down 10% in the last four years.

Haven't tried bánh mì yet? You can make your own with our recipe.

h/t Money