bao - San Francisco

My experience at this restaurant was fantastic! I had the most delicious soup dumplings and bao. The popcorn chicken was also great, and the service was awesome. The reviewer metadata indicates a large vegetarian selection, a quiet atmosphere, and no wait time.

My experience at this restaurant was disappointing due to the unexpected and high final bill. While the food was good, the total cost for vegetarian pot stickers, mama eggplant & tofu, two Asahi beers, and a bowl of white rice came to $62. I can only assume this was due to an automatic 20% gratuity, which was a sneaky move as we ended up leaving another 20% on top of that. I would avoid this place.

My experience at this restaurant was generally positive, with a few areas for improvement. All things considered, I'd rate it 4. 5/5. The dim sum quality is decent, and the establishment is clean and well run, offering relatively fast service. I particularly appreciated that they don't charge any SF mandate fees and that the suggested tip is calculated based on the subtotal, which shows honesty. The vibe is overall great, and it's a plus that you can enjoy dim sum at night. The main downside is the pricing, which is on the mid to high side for this level of dim sum. To achieve a perfect 5/5, the restaurant needs to slightly further improve on service, food quality, and presentation.

Spiritually, my heart may belong to Xiao Long Bao, or Wing Kee on Clement, but this new school dim sum spot is now my favorite overall dim sum spot in San Francisco. This is the freshest, most fragrant, best seasoned, and best curated Dim Sum in San Francisco for my money. Not only do you get to see them make your dim sum, but the staff is really nice, and the atmosphere is relaxed and functional at the same time. The pork, pan-fried potstickers come on a sheet of rice gluten that you break up, adding a deliciously crunchy texture to the soft and chewy potsticker. This is probably the freshest tasting Har Gao (shrimp) I've ever had, like they just fished it out and put it in my dumpling, so fresh. The Shu Mai pork dumpling was also way up there. Some places you go there's just not a lot of flavor, others too much grease or salt – none of that's going on here. This is perfectly made dim sum with totally fresh ingredients. As usual, I finished off my meal with the bean paste sesame balls, which were crunchy on the outside and chewy on the inside. I want to take my hat off to an excellent meal. The only thing I would recommend in this restaurant, and I'm recommending it seriously: DON'T SET THE STEAM COOKERS DIRECTLY DOWN ON THE TABLE. It condenses and makes the table a slippery wet mess. Figure out a way to put them on something like a flat plate or a tray or something, but this really was not good as my elbows were completely soaked from the steam condensed from the steam cookers. PUT THEM ON SOMETHING! Parking can be a little tight here, but on that same block there is a place where you can pay by the hour, and there's usually a couple of spots across from the church. I highly recommend this place to anyone in or near the Mission District for first-class dim sum.

My experience at this restaurant was wonderful! It's a lovely place with delicious food that caters to everyone, including meat-eaters, vegans, and vegetarians. We enjoyed some very good baos and vegetarian dumplings. For dessert, we had an intricately made mango stuffed hot pastry, shaped like swans. The waitress was super sweet and intelligent; she anticipated our needs, bringing us two boxes without us even asking, based on the content of our plates. Thank you for a nice experience, Bao team!