South Puget Sound fans of Sizzle & Crunch are in luck.

The Vietnamese fast-casual restaurant recently opened its third location in Federal Way, bringing fresh eats and flavors to the city’s diverse food scene.

“There’s special ingredients and a lot of love that goes into our meals,” said Michael J. Toscano, general manager of the Federal Way spot.

Sizzle & Crunch Vietnamese Grill offers bánh mì sandwiches alongside rice, salad and noodle bowls tailor-made by the customer with various marinated meats, pickled vegetables and house-made sauces. Popular menu items include the BB special bánh mì featuring pork belly, grilled pork, homemade mayonnaise, green onions, cilantro, jalapenos and cucumber, or the House Pork Plate.

Deemed by some local foodies as the “Vietnamese Chipotle,” each dish is assembled for you and in front of you, allowing the customer to pick and choose which ingredients they prefer.

“All our meat is grilled fresh each morning. All of our produce is cut fresh. Everything is done fresh, every single day,” Toscano said.

Sizzle & Crunch was started in 2017 by owners Paul Nguyen and Yong Xu, who wanted to share Nguyen’s favorite foods with the greater community, such as the broken rice bowl and bánh mì sandwiches.

“Aside from pho, many vendors in Vietnam grill fresh meat on the streets and pile it on top of rice. You can smell the aroma from three city blocks away,” Nguyen said. “Now anytime anyone walks next to a Sizzle, they can experience the same smokey sensation.”

The first location opened in the U-District (1313 NE 42nd St.) near the University of Washington in 2017. Two years later, the restaurant opened a second location in South Lake Union (500 9th Ave. N.) on the ground floor of the Amazon Nessie building.

Prior to the pandemic, the U-District location served about 550 orders a day, while the SLU location averaged about 250 orders a day during the lunchtime rush, he said.

The doors of the Federal Way location opened in late July, and the grand opening celebrations are Sept. 3-5.

“They were finding that people were driving from Tacoma, Federal Way, Auburn — they would drive 45 minutes into Seattle where there’s no parking just to get the food,” Toscano said. “That’s why they decided to expand down here. We had an opportunity to bring [Sizzle] closer to people and make it easier to enjoy.”

The Federal Way location is open from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. seven days a week and offers dine-in, takeout and app delivery services.

Sizzle & Crunch Vietnamese Grill is at 31448 Pacific Highway South. For more information or to view a menu, visit sizzleandcrunch.com.