Bao Bar

This Bao Bar in Liberty Market Place, San Diego, makes the best bao bun we have ever eaten. We were at a 3 day conference in the Brick and we got a couple of the buns every day. The buns are fresh, fresh, we chose the pork filling which also had a little cabbage, which you will see in the photo Service was excellent! Friendly, open to suggestions, and filled those buns to overflow. One is truly a meal! Go to that location. Parking is easy, abs Bao Buns is just to your left as you walk in the door.

We ordered the chicken satay and BBQ bao bun! The owner is awesome and she even through in an extra bao bun for free!! Great flavor. The bun was really full and soft and came with a lot of toppings. Prices were great, too.

Microwaved food. I got the chicken skewer rice bowl, but should’ve paid attention to the lack of kitchen. They just stuck the rice (wrapped in plastic wrap) and the skewers in the microwave. That being said, food wasn’t awful but also wasn’t outstanding. I would rather not pay for microwaved food especially if there are other great alternatives.

Their bao buns are great, but the chicken rice bowls are not as stellar. Received two undercooked chicken skewers.

Ordered a rice plate with chicken skewers and chicken gyoza. As soon as I got done paying they just reached into the fridge pulled out the food put it in a bowl then threw it in the microwave..... Not good at all, not fresh. Came out steaming and was instantly cold. Chicken was dry from the micro and lost all flavor from whenever they cooked it. Shocked that they just microwaved it right in from of customers. Costumer service was good tho and the Thai tea was good but food was horrible, I had to throw it away.

Samantha is the Best!!! Her food is delicious and so are the drinks. My favorite is the Shrimp Salad, will definetly come back.

Was here Monday September 15, 5 minutes before closing was just going to ask if I could buy a water. The older lady was on the phone with someone and when I asked her if I could buy a water she shooed me away…didn’t even answer my question just simply shooed me away. super rude and definitely not how you treat anyone in general:/ went right next door to the popcorn shop and was treated super nice. Please fix your customer service lady!!!

Tofu bao buns were amazing and the veggie bun was also delicious. Staff were very friendly and overall I highly recommend.

The woman working was quick with taking orders and getting orders out. The line was small but I was pretty satisfied with the quality of the food (hot, fresh and DELICIOUS) and the amount of seating. Me and my family went pretty early in the day (near opening) so it was moderately busy but not too loud. This was my first time coming and this WONT be my last. Highly recommend!

Got the tofu bao bun and it didn't have much flavor at all. Mostly just tasted the bao and not much else. Not much tofu in it either. Mostly vegetables. Got the tofu spring roll and honestly the same. Not much tofu in it and mostly just vegetables. The peanut sauce was average at best. Service was mediocre. She didn't talk much except to read back my order. Other than that nothing. Probably wouldn't be back here.

Quick and easy baos and rice plates on the go! This past weekend, my family was in town for a concert and came by the Liberty Public Market, a crowd pleaser for the whole family. There's so many options to choose from here, and this time, we went for the Bao Bar. They had no line and one staff doing the orders, so we tried it out and ordered a couple of teas, pork baos, beef skewers, and bbq pork buns. The baos were the best of the items we got, although a little dry but had great flavor. The bbq buns were as you'd expect but nothing special. The beef plate was also pretty basic, and the beef was a little dry. I loved my peach tea, and my daughter liked her green milk tea, too. The service was friendly and nice and the place looked clean. There's plenty of rice bowl/plate and asian food options here to try out, so it's was nice to try this place, but I'd just go for the baos.

Honestly the worst bao buns I've ever had. I tried their BBQ Pork and it was dry and cold and there was almost no filling inside of it. I'm not sure what the point of having different flavors is if there's not enough filling inside for anyone to tell what they're eating. I also decided to try their shumai and, while it was better than the bao bun, it wasn't anything amazing. I definitely needed to add the sriracha on it in order for it to actually be enjoyable.

Cool little spot in the Liberty Market, I believe they are a slightly newer place so we gave them a try everything was tasty. The beef skewers were a bit dry and fatty as my daughter called them. She loved her green milk tea with boba and my wife liked the peach tea. The young cashier, host and cook was amazing, very friendly, helpful and got things done. Even offered a wet and dry rag to clean the public shared tables that opened up. The pork bun was tasty but the filling was on the short end so recommend the Bao bun as they are jammed with ingredients and like $2 more. Will try their bahn mi sandwich next time.

Tried the roasted pork rice bowl which comes with a side salad. Very fresh and yummy. Service was friendly, attentive and good came out fairly quick. Located inside Liberty Station Public Market. Seating available inside and outside. Cute place to dine with a variety of options. This is definitely one of the healthier options.

Food and price here are great. The Shumai and dumplings here have great flavor along with the dipping sauce. The pork belly rice plate was good too with the peanut dipping sauce. I totally would recommend to try this place out if you like dumpling and pork.

Literally so refreshing! Drink was perfectly made :) not bitter and not sweet + the food was super tasty and filling - great portion size - vinegar sauce is a 12/10 - drink was able to be modified - very fairly priced Service was a 12/10 she was the sweetest lady! Ambiance was incredible sitting outdoors enjoying the beautiful weather @neeks93 on insta :)

My friend and I ordered the pork bao to share (2 for $11) so we could try the other food vendors at the Liberty Station Market. This was part of our MeetUp Fun Diego Ladies foodie adventure. We really enjoyed the flavor of the bao. It was aesthetically very appealing with all the vibrant colors and tasted as great as it looked. The service was pretty quick. We placed our order and got our food within 5 minutes.

Honestly exceeded my expectations! Ordered a roasted pork rice bowl ($11) as the picture of it at the front intrigued me. The bowl did not actually look like the photo, but it was still yummy nevertheless! The pork was well seasoned and did have a nice roast on it. The bowl comes with meat, rice, salad, and 2 dressings. It is a good amount of food for $11. I think there was a vinaigrette for the salad and a sweet peanut sauce for the meat. I liked both, and I actually liked dipping the meat in the vinaigrette since it gave it a nice tang! For a drink, I got a lychee iced tea with boba ($4.50). The drink was good, not too sweet, and included lychee jelly pieces and a whole lychee, which was a nice surprise! The boba itself was a bit hard, so not my favorite.

While walking in the liberty station public market we were craving a refreshing drink and came upon this adorable spot. They had a lot of fruity drink options that you could add boba to and our drinks were the perfect amount of sweet. I only wish the boba was cooked longer because it was slightly undercooked and hard. We like the boba to be a little softer. The flavor though was on point!

The pork bao's are delicious! Best I've had in San Diego. Love this spot! The food was out in less than 10 minutes and the flavors are just great. You can't miss with this spot!

Maybe I came in an off day or maybe I ordered the wrong thing, but I really couldn't find any flavoring in the bao buns I ordered. I know they usually don't have a whole lot of flavor, but I really couldn't taste anything in mine. The chicken had minimal seasoning, but, it lacked flavoring and seasoning as a whole. I had to add sriracha and soy sauce to make it have flavor. I'll still definitely try this place again and maybe grab something else to try it. The prices were quite fair too so I'll definitely come back.

I was walking around liberty station when I came across this place. I love bao, so I ordered one. It is pricy for one piece, but I was just looking for a snack before dinner. The meat was seasoned very well--the bao reminded me of a bowl of pho. Very similar flavors and ingredients. I didn't try anything else, but they seemed to have a few good options for food!

Honestly this place is very Americanized so it was not up to my taste buds. They're located inside the busy Liberty Station Public Market which I can understand their flavorings. Overpriced but expected due to location. I got the pork bao buns and the summer rolls. Don't get me wrong the portions are huge but there was nothing good about it. Very bland and I hate when restaurants use a lot of very hard and too crunchy raw cabbage mix as a filler. They were very much present in both the rolls and buns. The sweet bun was okay and a bit hard/stale. The only reason why I'm giving is higher review than should be is because my momma's homegirl works there and she hooked me up with a free sweet bun and green thai tea drink. Go visit her! Her name is Euy Vath and tell her Sao Oy's daughter sent you lol!

The bao buns weren't steamed and the flavor was lack luster. The pork and the chicken weren't seasoned therefore I had to add hoisin sauce to give it some flavor.

Fantastic boba. Their lychee & peach is a little sweet, but their boba is chewy in the best way

I had a dinner date by picking one dish from each place in little Italy. I chose our appetizer from here and got one pork and one chicken bun. I have to say that it was the best course that we picked for the night. It was tasty and filled with a lot of different ingredients. As a Taiwanese person, these weren't necessarily traditional but were very satisfying.

We walked around deciding where to eat. My sister saw their menu and was craving chicken rice and also decided to get a lychee iced tea. The cashier was very patient and friendly. My sister got her food pretty quick. But when removed the lid from her food and nice presentation in a styrofoam container. But my sister was a bit bummed because it looked more like chicken satay than a chicken rice dish. She was wanting more of a Chinese dish than Thai at a place called bao bun. But she did enjoy her lychee iced tea with the jelly and one lychee in it.

Ordered the gluten free Fresh Spring Roll with Shrimp. It was perfect for what I wanted!

Our daughter's absolute favorite, she requests buns from here every time we go to Liberty Station and they are always delicious!

Bao, baby! A nearby dive bar I enjoy doesn't always have food. Well one shouldn't drink on an empty stomach so I stop by Bao Bar first to get myself a little something delicious. Liberty Public Market is full of all kinds of tasty things but there's something about these bao that calls to me. Sometimes I eat them first, other times I pull a carton of bao out of my purse like a very smart and sexy squirrel. The food stall is stationed along the outside ring so it's easy to spot and to find a nice outdoor table to enjoy your meal. My favorite is the pork. I could be crazy but I think the chicken one changed during my break from going here pre-vaccination. The chicken bao are now kind of curry...or was that lemongrass...Either way, they're good. It's just the pork being more of that bbq type are the ones I'm really after. They also come loaded with a kale slaw, onions, and cilantro. So freaking tasty. They're like fluffy tacos and there could never be anything wrong with that. If you're not in the mood for fluffy tacos (like if you really don't want slaw and all that) they also have some bbq pork buns so you can get that fuffy porky goodness unadulterated. Eat bao, be happy.

This place is inside liberty Station which is a very nice place to spend the day. Their smootheis are really good, my husband didn't like their boba tea (Daboba is his favorite so far). My sister ordered their chicken bowl and the chicken were undercooked. Overall, it's a nice place for some cold drinks but not for food.

Worst Banh mi I've ever had. Beef was microwaved and not sure why there was kale in it.

Very appealing store in the Liberty Public Market in San Diego. Service is very quick and you wonder how much of the items are freshly prepared. i liked the look and the toppings. The bao bun was okay. What was disappointing was the chicken itself. This seemed to be a boiled or sauteed small pieces of chicken. Lacked the warmth. Either way, it lacked flavor. This item can jump the ratings if the chicken is kept as one whole piece, breaded, and fried crisp. That will change everything.

This was my first time purchasing from here. The staff was very friendly. I ordered 1 barbecue Bao and the fresh spring rolls. Both items were delicious I would definitely purchase from them again.

I did not get their boba so if that is what you want, feel free to try. The literally microwave their food... who does that?? I would rather pay a few bucks extra for fresh food than pay what you pay here for shitty microwaved food.. sucks cause we were really looking forward to trying this place just to be disappointed. Since they microwave their dumplings, by the time we made it outside to eat there was paper from the bowl stuck to the bottom of each dumpling.

good service, fresh and tasty food. best siu mai i've had outside of china! iced teas are quite sweet, so be expecting that.

I only ordered 1 item from here which was the tofu bao and it was rly good and flavorful. It was $6 for 1 and $11 for 2 which I think was overpriced but next time I'd definitely get 2 cuz it was that good. They make it right in front of you and it was rly fast, within 5 mins. I'd definitely come back!

Another good meal out of Liberty public mark. I had the bao buns and the pork rice bowl. The highlight was the bao buns with all around fresh ingredients with rich flavors from the slaw and pickled onions. I would definitely order those again!

Pretty nice Bao place. I saw it's over there for a long time and finally got a chance to try it out. The taste is decent, I won't say it's authentic because I originally come from China. But they taste fine. The rice wrap is my favorite. The roasted pork over rice is delicious too. I don't really recommend the bbq bun, it's too pricey comparing to the size and taste.

They only have pork bao that is closed otherwise it is basically a bun sandwich for any other type of meat. The bao still opened up on top. The food was still good. The staff is wearing masks but they are also wearing gloves that they handle the register and food with. One of the places without a long line

I'm leaving this review for both Bao Bar and Mamamade as I'm not sure what part of our food came from which entity. We ordered food to go. It's located inside Liberty Station and the vibe is pretty nice. Surprised I hadn't explored these restaurants before. We got the fried rice, the basil noodles and the bbq bao. The bbq bao was super interesting! I liked it. It's filled with a bbq sauce based filling likely made of potatoes and maybe meat. I would've liked more filling to go with the size of the bao. The fried rice was just ok and a little bit dry and bland. The basil noodles definitely took the top prize among the 3 as they were delicious, spicy and very flavorful. I also got a honey dew boba tea, which was delicious!! I will be back to try out some of their other stuff.

Mmmmm we love their buns here. You can't go wrong with any of their choices. Super authentic and such friendly staff.

I walked into liberty station market wanting to find a quick rice bowl, so I chose bao bar. I literally came from the suicide prevention walk that was in the park and was wearing a shirt dedicated to a passed love one. The woman making the food decides to ask me why am I wearing the shirt and who is it? I told her it was cousin who committed suicide, and she rudely said oh why did he do that? Did he jump in the water? Is he crazy in the head? How old is he? He's so handsome why he do that. It's very inconsiderate to ask that.. on top of that she threw all my food in the microwave and tossed my food at me at the end. Idk what crawled up her ass, but I'll pray for her.

I finally got the chance to try Bao Bar this Monday and oh my god, they did not disappoint. It had been such a hot day and I really needed something refreshing so I got a lychee iced tea, for an extra 50 cents I added lychee jelly. The owner Samantha was really nice and made everything on the spot. The tea wasn't overly sweet and she packed on so much jelly I was so excited, super refreshing. I also got their beef bao which I kid you not was so delicious, the beef is so tender, juicy and flavorful, I wish I had 4 more! The bao bun was so soft and pillowy really a good vessel for the beef. As an extra little treat she added a taro bun, which really reminded me of my childhood. I told Samantha when I come back I'll have to try the pork plate, I love pork so I cannot wait to get that in my mouth soon. If you're in the market drop by and get a bao you won't regret it.

If you're looking for a snack in Liberty Public Market, try a bao bun! Got two pork bao buns and it hit the spot. The pork was lean and wished they had used pork belly, but it was still good! If you want to try different things from Liberty Public Market and looking for items to try, definitely get their bao bun.

Came by here since I wanted to get a simple boba drink before leaving the building. I stopped and placed my order and only to find out that their boba is really disgusting. Now why you ask? Well, boba when cooked can't be placed in the fridge. How do you know that Andy? Well having made boba at home before and from the homeland where boba is from (Taiwan) I know a little bit about this tapioca fun-ness. So having done this myself, I knew what the texture of what boba places in the fridge taste like and well, I was met with the familiar weird hardness of the little tapioca ball. Overall, the smoothie was delicious but get it without the boba.

I didn't get the Bao buns because I was craving for some dessert so I went for the mango sticky rice. What a disappointment. The syrup was way too watery, mango was sour, and the sticky rice tasted like it's been sitting there for a while and was just heated up in the microwave.

Very fresh food, the spring roll so crispy and vegetables were very fresh and the chicken was just the right ratio of meat. The bao ban was soft and the flavorer's were very delicious to with the sauce and pork great bao..We find this best spot by accident and must keep going to help the small business. I'm so happy with dinner.

I've had Bao Bar bookmarked for a few months and I was finally able to try it out yesterday. Bao Bar is located inside Liberty Public Market. Their menu is simple and you can choose from either a bao or a spring roll. Their protein options are pork, chicken or tofu. I ordered 2 pork baos for $7. It tasted pretty good, the pork wasn't bad and it had decent flavor. There was a point in time when I was obsessed with bao buns particularly the ones from Ramen Yamadaya in Clairemont which has now closed. These baos from Bao Bar are pretty good too and they satisfy the cravings. The only thing is I wish they had the Asian kewpie mayo, I love that as topping on baos, at least they had hoisin sauce here.

The server stared at me for a minute or two before saying anything, cold and lifeless. She immediately popped everything in the *microwave* before handing it it me and pointing at the tip screen -- no thanks. I ate sad, dejected. 1 star for at least not hiding the microwave.

We ordered the 2 baos for $10. You can pick chicken, pork, or tofu. Shrimp was .50 extra. We went with one chicken and one pork. As I waited for my food, I watched food being prepared in the microwave and frozen baos taken out of the freezer and placed into the steamer. I thought the food would be made from scratch. I was surprised the woman wasn't more stealth about putting the frozen baos into the steamer. The baos were OK. The chicken had a curry flavor and the pork was like pulled pork. The toppings were the same for both - kale, pickled onions, carrots, and peanuts. It came with one hoisin and one siracha packet. I won't be back.

Second time eating here. First time I got one of their baos (which was very tasty) from what I remembered. Their menu has since expanded since they've opened and this time decided to order one of their rice plates. My friend ordered the chicken skewers plate and i had the roast pork. Both came with a side of kale/lettuce salad and two scoops of rice. I loved the lime vinaigrette dressing and thought it was refreshing. We both thought our protein (chicken and pork) were a little dry and lacked flavor. The lychee tea with boba was good. Next time I'll stick to their baos.

So my daughter loved the tofu bao and the lychee tea. She really enjoyed the type of tofu they used and the garnish. She loved the crunch and the flavor. For me I wasn't impressed. I could swear I tasted frostbite on the bao. Plus the pearls in the tea were severely undercooked. You're surrounded by amazing food vendors. If you want to survive you need to step up your quality! We're rooting for you!

I stopped in the Bao Bar for a light lunch, so I ordered the grilled chicken rice paper roll, which was essentially one large cut in half for $7, if I remember correctly. The rolls were a-okay and came with a lot of lettuce and veggies. On that note, I would of like more chicken. The chicken that did come in the roll was tasty but unfortunately it was a little on the dry side. More tender and juicy chicken please. All the veggies in the roll were great. I did have a little issue was the rice paper roll. It was a lot more stickier than it should of been and kept sticking to the surface. Also, the peanut sauce, although flavorful, its viscosity was to thick and needed to be more creamier. The ladies who took my order and made my rolls were nice.

I was greeted with a warm smile, and the cashier was incredibly kind and helped me choose the chicken spring roll. I was expecting Trader joes sized spring rolls and was so stoked when I saw how big they were -- the size of a huge burrito. The chicken was seasoned perfectly and there was an incredible peanut sauce coating it. Lots of veggies which was a bonus. There are outlets at the tables, so it was wonderful to post up for a bit as I enjoyed my food.

Awesome bao! I tried the chicken and the tofu. They are both really good with a slight preference for the chicken bao.

I got the pork rice bowl and the black milk tea with boba. The meat and rice weren't fresh, I saw the guy microwaving a bag of meat....Seems like their entire menu is microwaved after reading other reviews, felt like I was eating month old leftover's. I wanted to support a small business but microwaved food isn't it!!!!! This place needs to reconsider what they serve to paying customers.

Really wanted to love this place, but was SO disappointed in the bao buns. I got the chicken and it was not edible. The chicken tasted like it was a week old. It was super dry and stale with big chunks of dried gristle on it. I took the chicken out of the buns and ate the buns with the fixings. Big buzz kill not to mention a carb load sugar spike without any protein. Tea was good with the lychee jelly added......but this isn't a tea bar, it's a bao bun joint. Please get it together or do not offer chicken if you can't get it right.