The location draws repeat customers for its Salt 'n' Pepper Garlic Fries, a side that leans on Chinese jiāo yán seasoning — a dry blend of toasted salt and Sichuan pepper — topped with chopped onions and jalapeño. It's a small menu item that signals something intentional about the kitchen's approach: Vietnamese-American cooking with room for the broader culinary influences that have always shaped it.

Airport food in the U.S. has a reputation for being a last resort, and SFO has made a sustained effort to change that by bringing in local operators rather than national chains. Bun Mee's presence fits that model. The team runs a fast-casual format suited to the terminal environment without stripping out the details that make the food worth eating.

For a restaurant concept, an airport location is both an opportunity and a risk — high foot traffic, captive audience, but also brutal rent structures and operational constraints that can flatten what made the original worth replicating. That Bun Mee at SFO has earned genuine loyalty from regulars, not just resigned acceptance from delayed passengers, says something about how the operator has managed that balance.

It's a reminder that the airport, for many visitors, is the first and last meal they eat in San Francisco. What gets served there is part of the city's food identity whether or not it shows up in dining guides.