bao

We ended up at bao unexpectedly and ended up having a scrumptious feast. Everyone wanted to try out different dishes so we ended up getting pretty much everything we wanted. None of the dishes were disappointing. Some bao and dim sum plates were cooked with original Chinese seasoning, which may be an oddity for people who are unfamiliar with them. This was a great find as you also get a ton of value in terms of quantity and different unique dishes to try out.

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, 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. 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 slippery wet mess. Figure out a way to put them on something like a flat play 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.

4.5/5 all things considered. Dim sum quality is decent. It’s clean, well run, relatively fast. Kudos on not charging any such SF mandate fee, and that suggested tip is calculated based on subtotal. Honesty right there. Downside is pricing which is on the mid to high side for this level of dim sum, but you get to eat dim sum at night, and the vibe is overall great. To get 5/5, restaurant needs to slightly further improve on service, food quality and presentation.

A lovely place with delicious food - for both meat-eaters, vegans and vegetarians. We ordered some very good baos and vegetarian dumplings, and then we had this intricately made mango stuffed hot pastry, looking like swans. The waitress was super sweet and intelligent - she brought us two boxes when I looked at her, she knew it already by the content of our plates. Thank you for a nice experience, Bao team!

Good assortment of classic dim sum dishes and some nice artistic presentations such as the mango swam pastry. We especially enjoyed the assorted sweet buns.

Great to have dim sum in this neighborhood. Authentic but more upscale than traditional places, the “classic” XLB, ha gow, siu mai, were great. Pan fried turnip cake and piping hot Portuguese style custard tarts were fresh and delicious! Singapore noodles also satisfying. The spicy XLB and pot stickers flavor not so well balanced. Service was fast but the server repeatedly seemed unsure where to put down the dishes. Just find a spot! Don’t ask us to clear space. Prices are as you would expect for this neighborhood. They have very cute designs in their sweet buns (which I didn’t order—I don’t like sweet buns), and this corn-shaped mango pudding was both super cute and yummy with chunks of mango inside! There are better places in SF but if you’re in the neighborhood this is definitely worth visiting rather than going across town.

Scrumptious dumplings that are freshly made on the premises. Each morsel more tantalizing than the next. The atmosphere is soothing and calm, and the service is too notch. Don't miss this incredible culinary experience.

I’ve tried countless dumplings, from restaurants to frozen ones, and even some my friends made themselves. But let me tell you, this is different and the best. We’ve tried steamed shrimp dumplings, wontons, and potstickers dumplings, and each one was exceptional in its own way. However, the shrimp dumplings are simply mind-blowing. You have to try them! 😍

Wonderful little dim-sum restaurant on Valencia, very close to the 16 Street and Mission BART station. We started with the crunchy-top baked Bao filled with braised beef and truffles --so yummy!! And it kept getting better from there. Soupy pork and vegetable dumplings are steamy hot so we appreciate that they go the extra mile by serving them on the tiny aluminum foil cup. This assures you that the dumpling bottoms are not "stuck" on the steamer preserving the soup inside. Comforting Rose tea accompanied our meal. Service was excellent and we're sure to come back to try the other items.

(4+) really really good. The truffled beef buns were Amazing. Soft flaky dough, moist, delicate. Sweet bean bao - excellent. Both the shrimp dumplings and soup dumplings were very very good (but not quite as good as the famous dim sum place downtown). Shrimp was plentiful; soup dumplings scrumptious (a bit difficult to eat, no scallions, which is common with this dish). My friend loved his spicy Szechuan dumplings. Jasmine tea was good. Noodle dish next to us looked great. Watching kitchen staff make food is fun. Atmosphere is average; wait staff effective but not particularly friendly or warm, nor all that service oriented.

My friends and I were looking for a place to eat and what caught our eyes were the workers making the dumplings in the window. It wasn't too busy inside, We were seated very quickly. We asked to sit at a larger table since there was 3 of us, but was turned down because those tables are for others that "might" come with bigger parties. So they gave us a 2 seater table and put a chair for a friend to sit in between our table and someone else's. I didn't really know what to expect from this place at first. I haven't seen any photos of the food before hand, didn't search anything up. We just looked at the plain paper menu and picked what we liked. The food was amazing. We had gotten the variety bao buns special, seafood pot stickers, kimchee beef pot stickers, and crab soup dumplings. Pork and shrimp shumai, and for dessert we had coconut bunnies. The bunnies were delicious. The shape was cute too. Everything was a 10/10, I would totally go back.

Bao feels like dumpling home, but with larger portions and without the wait. My bf and I stopped by on a Friday night and despite the packed restaurant, were seated within 10-15 minutes. We shared table but it still felt intimate enough. As usual we over ordered, but mostly because the portions were a lot larger than we were expecting (which was great!) Strings beans 4/5- undercooked but otherwise amazing flavor Kimchi beef dumplings 5/5- a get this every time I see this on a menu. Made perfectly. Juicy on the inside and crispy on the outside Shanghai chicken fried noodle 5/5- chewy noodles, good amount of chicken and veggies, not too salty Honey walnut prawn 4/5- while not the main point of the dish, walnuts weren't quite roasted and could have been sweeter Coconut bunnies 5/5- pretty much just coconut jelly but is a super cute and unique dish idea Great service as well! Will definitely be back.

Had heard about this restaurant from many friends so had to try it out. We ordered some green beans, Xlb and dessert buns. Everything was tasty, although I've been to other spots in the city with better XLB. I was also pretty disappointed with the portion size of the green beans. They were the most expensive menu item we ordered yet there were only a handful of beans. Enjoyed coming once but not sure if I would come again

Bao is an upscale dim sum restaurant that delivers on all your dumpling favorites without the intimidation of not having a Cantonese friend with you. Our group of ten were here for dinner and ordered a lot of things to share family style. I was surprised to see a large amount of vegan friendly options which are also indicated on the menu. I had my share of veggie XLB, pan fried dumplings, noodles, and eggplant-tofu stir-fry. Everything came out quickly and tasted great, with the dumplings having a nice wrapping texture and great fillings. You'll be paying a pretty penny here for the dishes. The SF pricing is real when a tray of six dumplings comes out to $15 - $20 each. It's easy to over order so be prepared to spend a bit more than you think. No reservations taken but if you arrive within an hour of opening for lunch or dinner, you shouldn't have issues getting a seat.

Came to SF for a work conference and couldn't leave without trying this spot. I ordered the veggie xiao long bao, and it was fantastic! Each dumpling was perfect, stuffed with veggies and savory broth. The broth inside was light yet flavorful, making the bite comforting. Definitely, dip your dumplings in the spicy oils! Highly recommend for anyone looking for a delicious meat or vegetarian option!

Bao is located in the Mission District, and it is a great place for vegans and vegetarians, as well as omnivores. They have a large outdoor patio space and seating inside from some 50+ people. You order on the yellow menu paper. They offer delicious veggie xiao long bao (soup dumplings), which are vegan. The Shanghai vegetable fried noodle are some of my favorites (and contains egg). Bao makes from scratch their own noodles, and dumplings. Other favorites are the green beans, the garlic pea sprouts, and the veg. mushroom bao. The Sweet Bao Sampler comes with four pieces including black sesame, salted egg yolk (or "lava"), egg custard, and red bean, and its a nice ending to a meal if you can share it. Most dim sum dishes are in the $10 range and the platters are in the $15 range, and 2-3 dishes per person is ideal.

We got here early at open on a Sunday night and there were already quite a bit of people! You can see the staff making the dumplings right in front of the store! They have a large variety of menu items, from classic dim sum items to your typical chinese food. The servers were really nice and attentive. The food was really good and balanced. Definitely would come again!

Amazing food quality! We tried their dessert bao specials and was pleasantly surprised with how soft the baos were! The fried shrimp toast was a star with flavorful shrimp and perfectly crispy you tiao outside. The spicy wontons were also delicious and packed with flavor! The portion sizes were also decent and prices were not horrible! The interior of the restaurant is beautifully decorated and ambiance is overall nice but can get a little bit loud with how closely seated everyone is-- but totally expected with SF spaces

Came here for dinner after an afternoon at Mission Dolores Park, which this restaurant was quite close to :) My friend and I got the fried shrimp toast, sweet bao special, pan-fried seafood dumplings, and the spicy wontons - definitely enough for two people. The pricing was also very reasonable! The ambiance was nice as well - the restaurant was very pretty and well-decorated. There is a decent amount of seating within the restaurant and there is outdoor seating as well! The service was good as well- servers were attentive to water refills and if we wanted to order more food. Food review summary: Spicy wontons 9/10 I really liked the chili oil they used for this dish. The filling was a bit chewier than I would like though. For reference, the filling contains shrimp and pork! Fried shrimp toast 10/10 Very crunchy and I really enjoyed the sauce they used! The shrimp was very tasty as well! One of my favorite dishes for sure! Sweet bao special 9/10 These baos were so so so cute! I love them so much, and the filling inside was so good as well. I really enjoyed the black sesame, salted egg yolk, and egg custard filling, but the red bean filling was a bit on the sweeter side for me. Seafood dumplings (pan-fried) 10/10 This was definitely one of my favorite dishes as well! I loved the filling of scallop, shrimp, and crab meat. My friend is not a big fan of seafood, but she really enjoyed the filling as well :) Overall, very enjoyable and I would definitely come again as well as recommend !

Found this place just scrolling through Yelp and saw that they made VEGETARIAN xiao long tang bao (soup dumplings), and I knew I HAD to try it. I don't think I've seen a place in the US that makes veggie xiao long bao and even in Taiwan there are only a handful of (very, very good) places. We arrived just before the dinner rush and were seated immediately. Service was pretty attentive and friendly. They did a nice job with the decor -- reminded me a lot of the Chinese places in the 626. Everything is on the pricier side, but we decided to try a bunch of stuff to get a holistic experience. They have a veggie option for nearly every section, which is awesome. The food takes a little while but you can just stand at the window and watch them make the dumplings while you wait. The vegetarian xiao long bao was pretty solid! 7/10 -- I liked the ingredients they used and the flavor. The skin was thin and QQ. I wish the quality of each dumpling was more consistent; some had soup and some were just dry. They would also stick to the little foil cups and pretty consistently ripped. Hopefully they can make some tweaks and these dumps are gonna be perfect! My husband got the regular xiao long bao and said that it was lacking in flavor. He did get soup in all his dumplings but they similarly would rip and get stuck on the foil cups. He said he prefers the frozen Mila xiao long bao and would probably give these a 5.5/10. The potstickers were pretty tasty (although I think they could've browned the corn starch skirt more) and so were the steamed dumplings. They do a good job with the skin on each and I appreciate that they switch up the ingredients in the filling rather than being lazy and reusing the same thing for different dishes. I liked both and give these 7/10 only because it's so expensive ($9 for three). The veggie baos were very fluffy and I liked the mushroom filling. I think if the bread layer were a bit thinner and there was more filling, this could be a solid 8/10. The sweet baos were good and very cute! Lava egg yolk could have been runnier and the sesame bao would taste a lot better if they stuck with just sesame paste rather than trying to thicken it with corn starch (or something similar). Would give these 7/10 for the cute presentation and overall fluffiness of each bao. Overall pretty good quality food -- you can tell they did put effort into each dish. I'd definitely come back to get my veggie xiao long bao fix!

This place was so good and full of flavor. You can see them making the dumplings and noodles which is super awesome! We were walking by and decided just to try these items really quick!

This place has amazing vegetarian options - they even have a vegetarian xiao long dumpling which I very much liked - the soup was flavorful and the filling was very light. My favorite was the vegetable steamed dumpling - the filling was delicious and it paired super well with the chilli oil We also ordered the vegetable fried rice (sticky) which was buttery and full of cashews and squash - very delicious (with a sweet and savory taste) but very heavy. And, the garlic string beans which were served Al Dante - the sauce/dressing served with it was delicious. Definitely going there for their steamed vegetable dumplings again.

Love their dumplings and dim sum offerings. Service was fast and attentive and ambiance was crowded and busy, so we got our order to go.

I was so excited to discover a place like this on/near Valencia street ! I have a friend who lives not too far from here, so when I was in the city, she recommended that we have lunch here. The servers were friendly and it felt really nostalgic, ordering and eating the foods that we did. It's not a very big restaurant, but they still managed to make it feel somewhat cozy with how they decorated the place as well as how they placed their lighting. I have 4 stars mainly for the price (you could find similar quality food probably in Chinatown to be honest), but at the same time, it's a good place to go to if you want some eastern Asian food in the Mission and I would be open to trying this place again.

I've been to plenty dim sum spots but this one truly hits the mark. I loved the selections and the food was super yummy and left me feeling comforted and full after it! I would said I did dock a star just because I wished the service was a little more attentive, not to say they weren't, some parts were indeed lacking. The restaurant is medium sized but does have a modern and bright interior. Not much else left to say but I believe the pictures will show more than what I can say! Thank you, Bao!

Tried this place after picking up some matcha cream pie from stone mill matcha. Steamed specials (2 scallop, 2 chicken, 2 shrimp): 5/5, good variety for a sampling Crab Xiao long bao: 3/5, not hot when served, not a whole lot of soup Fried curry taro puffs: 5/5, I don't usually like fried things because they're too oily but you have to try this one Steamed sweet lava bao: 3/5, ratio of stuffing to bao could have been higher Overall the price is a bit high for what you get, and the xiao long bao is just okay, so I don't think we'll be returning.

I was unsure what to expect of Bao being that it was located on Valencia and there are so many other tried and true Chinese/dimsum places in the city. Upon entering it feels more modern and a step nicer than the traditional dim sum spots! Everything (shumai, steamed pea sprouts shrimp dumpling, shrimp toast, golden egg fried rice) was good but not actually better than what you'd get for cheaper elsewhere. The most interesting thing we ordered was the set of cute steamed buns - they were obviously adorable, and filled with sesame, egg custard, lava (forgot what this actually was), and red bean. Our server was friendly and overall, this is still a solid option for dimsum if you live in this area!

My husband and I returned to one of our favorite restaurants in San Francisco and brought along our daughter and her friend. We were seated quickly and they brought waters to our table. The menu is two sides and you mark what items you would like and how many. It's done this way so you can keep ordering more as you go. We started with the pea shoots with garlic and chicken fried rice. Next we ordered the sichuan xiao long bao, spicy won ton, baked black truffle beef bao, steamed vegetarian bao, and pan fried vegetarian pot stickers. I can honestly say we enjoyed everything that was brought out to us. I think our favorite had to be the spicy won tons, the sauce had a nice balance of spicy and flavor to complement the won tons. The fried rice was also tasty and had such a freshness to it. We left satisfied once again. Absolutely love this place.

Bao is my favorite place to take friends visiting the mission. Why? We are always seated immediately, if not a 5 minute wait. This is unlike other popular restaurants in the neighborhood that make you wait 30-40 minutes. Bao has the best XLB I've ever had. They are bursting at the seams with soup and explode with flavor upon consumption. My MO is biting off the top and pouring some of their vinegar sauce inside. Usually 2 orders of XLB with either their fat noodles or fried rice and one of their desserts is the perfect amount of food for 2 people. I always order the the coconut bunny dessert and everyone always loves it!! So fun. Love Bao and will definitely be back. From dates to group dinners, this is one of the best restaurants in the city.

Really great place to come to if you're in the mood for some gourmet dim sum. We ordered the following when we came: beef and kimchi potstickers, baked pork buns, scallop and shrimp dumplings, spicy wontons, crab xiao long bao, and grapefruit honey prawns. My favorites were the honey prawns, pork buns, and then the XLB. Everything tasted freshly made and was so delicious. The restaurant has a nice cozy ambience where you can enjoy your meal and you can even see the staff rolling fresh spring rolls or dumplings through the kitchen fishbowl window. One thing to note though is that it is very pricey - as in we paid $9 for 3 dumplings. And one of them I dropped on the floor which made me so sad. I think this place is great to come to more for the novelty or for date night but wouldn't be my normal go-to dimsum spot.

Pretty good northern Chinese food at Bao. The concept is very cute with handmade XLB, dumplings, baos, Szechuan sauces, noodles and rice dishes. Its location in the mission area w plenty of restaurant. I visited on a weekday evening, barely any lines so it was great service and attentive staff keep on filling up our cups of water. WHAT WE ORDERED Spicy string beans Pork XLB Szechuan XLB chicken stir fry noodles Panfried dumplings Everything was delicious, quantity is a bit small compared to east bay restaurants like chef wok, good enough for sf esp w inflated food costs. I thought their XLB is better than DTF, very fresh and made to order. 10/10 recommend Bao if you're around Delores park area.

I was meandering through 16th and Valencia and just couldn't choose with all the options. (New to the area). I've only had one other spot that was speciality for dumplings. I got three of the shrimp, the special (bbq pork, veggie, chicken, and one other), and three mochi. Unfortunately, parts of the shrimp friend dumplings were cold :( The buns had the little piece of paper on the bottom which was stuck to it and wouldn't peel off completely-- so paper buns lol. The inside of the buns just didn't look fresh and seemed like it was all frozen or something for a while. Maybe it would be different another day?

Ordered u er eats from there one time. It's really just okay and meh. But maybe it's better to eat there in person since food will be fresher and hotter.

Went around 1pm on Saturday with a group of 3 with zero wait. They have a paper menu where you mark the dish and quantity you want, with a QR Code to a photo menu of their dishes. The paper menu is highlighted with menu items that were newly added. We ordered a bunch of things: . Shanghai Xiao Long Bao . Steamed Sweet Lava Bao: Delicious Egg Yolk lava, and with a cute panda face! . Steamed Pork & Shrimp Siu Mai . Bi Feng Tang Har Gow: The Bi Feng version of the Har Gow is fried so the dumpling wrapper is crispy, I personally like the steamed version better. . Baked BBQ Pork Bun . Chinese broccoli . Shrimp toast: Would've preferred the sauce on the side, and didn't get much shrimp paste. Pros: - Hits the right flavors - Quick service - The fix for dim sum if you don't want to go out to Chinatown/The Sunset. Cons: - On the pricier side for typical dim sum. - Didn't have the full range that you'd want from dim sum like steamed pork ribs, pineapple bao, or chicken feet.

Come here on an empty stomach because you'll just want to keep eating and eating. A friend and I came here and were seated right away. We ordered an assortment of goodies: Sichuan Xiao Long bao, Steamed shrimp har gow, Fried shrimp toast (just to name a few). All were delicious. I was a little disappointed with the Coconut bunnies thinking they'd be on the sweeter side-they weren't too sweet. I think I ordered them because they looked too cute. ;) In any case, we had a great time and our bellies were full. Love Love Love.

I love Bao, I live very close, and whenever I crave Asian food, this is my favorite place. It's a small, but cozy and nice spot, and all the staff there is very attentive and friendly. Thanks for every experience.

The food at Bao is good but nothing exceptional. There are better place in San Francisco to get dumplings. The buns are absolutely adorable though and very aesthetically pleasing.

I judge a dumplings restaurant by their har gow- so yes, 5 stars! In fact, not a clunker on the menu. Seeing as their name is Bao, duh, gotta order some. The pork buns were really unique, not mostly fluffy dough, but come out almost looking like round empanadas. The dough is fairly thin with a crispy crust sprinkled with sugar. Soup dumplings, check. Chili oil wantons, check, and for dessert, Coconut Bunnys. And they look like bunnys, very refreshing cool coconut milk, perfect palate cleanser. The interior design is a notch above the typical dumpling establishment. They open at 5:30. Be there, in an hour it will be a full house.

Their vegetarian XLB is one of my favourites! The sesame balls make for great dessert as well. The service is great and usually keeps up even during rush hours. The ambiance is welcoming and pretty. Overall a great meal!

Everything fresh and phenomenal. The swan puff was one of the cutest food sculptures and tasted delicious! Curry flavored and so crunchy. The beef kimchi one was also phenomenal and obviously the soup ones. Will be back! Best brunch! Service was fast. You can eat in or outside.

This place is amazing. On Valencia, we got a nice spot in their outdoor seating area. They were attentive to us, making sure we got what we ordered and took orders from us. As a dim sum place, we spread out our orders so we could have everything hot so the attentiveness was well appreciated. Now for the food: it was amazing as usual. For a dim sum place in sf, I would put it in my top 5 for sure. Their Sichuan XLB was amazing and their chilli oil is great in any dumping (or wonton). Their veggie fried rice and mama eggplant were also amazing. Literally nothing was bad, though i will say their normal XLB and some of the veggie dumplings are a bit bland but that might just be cuz I enjoy spicy stuff a lot. I would come back here for sure, it's not overpriced like dumpling home and almost never has a wait.

SERVICE - located off of Valencia street in the busy mission district - street parking available on nearby roads - small interior with seating for about 20 people - staff are polite - restroom inside for customers only - food served quickly - ambiance good for casual meal MENU - wide selection of dim sum and entrees - vegan options marked - well priced ($11 for 6 baos) FOOD - vegetarian xiao long bao (8/10): vegetarian soup dumplings filled with mushroom, celery, and carrot and served with a tangy dipping sauce. I was excited to see these on the menu since soup dumplings are usually not vegetarian. Eating this is an art as you have to carefully pick it up with the chopsticks and let the soup slightly leak out into the foil boat before slurping everything to get the flavors to meld together. I liked how fresh the soup was and how the vegetables were not mushy. The dipping sauce was hard to add into the dumplings but on its own it was also very good. Highly recommend ordering these. - steamed vegetarian dumplings (5/10): filled with pea shoots, aged bean curd, and water chestnut. This was the most underwhelming of the dishes we ordered because I felt like it was something that you could get at any dim sum restaurant. The filling was mostly pea shoots and I could not taste much of the bean curd. - steamed sweet sesame bao (8/10): fluffy bun filled with sweetened black sesame paste. Out of the two sweet ones, we liked this one better. The filling has a nice nutty and sweet flavor from the sesame and oozes out of the bun when bitten into. - steamed sweet red bean bao (7/10): fluffy bun filled with sweetened red bean paste. The main reason we ordered this one was because it was shaped like a pig. If you like red bean paste, I would highly recommend this because that is the predominant flavor. The earthiness of the bean is sweetened with a good amount of sugar and is an acquired taste that is worth trying once. WOULD I GO BACK? Yes! The food was very fresh, tasty, and affordable.

I was so excited to come try their soup dumplings because they have vegetarian ones! It was so yummy, and I'm glad Ive finally had the experience of eating soup dumplings. They were flavorful too, and had a very comforting feel to them. We also tried the vegetarian spring rolls, vegetarian potstickers and red bean bao (because they look so cute, we just had to order them). I loved the spring rolls and the red bean bao, and thought that the potstickers had a pretty unique flavor to them. I definitely recommend this place if you want some good vegetarian dumplings and spring rolls.

Stopped here for lunch and the service was great! Food was good, very fresh! Lunch was no wait to be seated so I'd return

Great dim sum place right in the heart of Mission! We went around 7 for two people and got a seat right away -- the first time we tried they were closing soon (9:30) so had to come back another day. Quality was really top notch and comparable to some of my other favorite dim sum restaurants in the bay. It is a little more pricey, but that's what comes with being in the city Baked BBQ pork buns - heavenly. They were sweet and soft with a great filling. 100% recommend getting and eating as an appetizer to get excited for the meal Xiao Long Bao - we got the Original, Crab, and Sichuan baos, 6 pieces each dish. They were filled with a lot of broth that help bring out the individual flavors. My favorite was the original with all toppings provided (soy sauce, vinegar, chili oil) The shop is a cute vibe with really attentive service, my water glass was never empty. They have windows at the front so you can see them folding all the dumplings!

Was walking around this neighborhood and we decided to pop in for a late lunch on a weekday. We were able to sit pretty quickly but I can tell this place gets busy on weekends. A walking tour even stopped to get some lunch. We ordered basically a buffet and everything was great. The truffle beef bao buns were my favorite! A must order. So good. So fluffy but crunchy at the same time and the beef was perfect. The truffle didn't overpower everything like it can in most dishes. I will dream about these. The potstickers, wontons, and bao buns were all equally as good. No complaints at all. The fillings were very flavorful and the buns/wrappers were great texture. The sweet buns were a wonderful final touch. The black sesame and lava bun were my two favorites. But don't leave behind the custard and red bean. The sampler is the way to go for these. I will definitely be back next time I'm in San Francisco.

My favorite dumpling house in San Francisco. Finally, something the Mission NEEDED! The selection of dumplings here is fire. The restaurant is really nice, the decor is quite welcoming. I love coming here to eat, the service is always on point and the staff is very friendly. As long as I've been coming here I've never had a bad experience. They have these really big windows in front of the restaurant that allow you to see the chefs making an array of dumplings. I think it is kind of neat if you ask me. I recommend this place to anyone looking for a San Francisco treat. They also have a great selection of tea, if that's your thing. Here are some of the items I recommend. 1. BBQ Baked Bun. 2. Shanghai Chicken Fried Noodle. 3. Pan fried kimchi beef potsticker 4. Pine nut chicken lettuce wraps 5.Sichuan Xiao Long Bao 6. Fuji jasmine tea These are some of my favorites, but don't take my word for it.

Trendy newer Dim Sum restaurant on Valencia street, so you may be thinking: "Is it any good or worth it?" The answer is yes and yes! As a vegan, I have my certain go-to's in the city for Dim Sum. However, I'm going to add this one to the list because so far it is the only place I've seen that has vegan Xiao long bao, or soup dumplings! Imagine my excitement when I got to slurp down soupy baos like the rest of my friends! In addition, I ordered the vegan steamed buns, and 2 sweet buns, the black sesame & red bean. Everything tasted so good, you can tell everything is made from scratch and super fresh and served immediately. The steamed buns are fluffy and soft and there's a great amount of filling on the inside. I loved the red bean steamed bun because they shaped them like little pigs! Almost too cute to eat, and this is one "pig" I'll eat as a vegan. :) All vegan items are clearly marked and they have all kinds of options from dim sum to rice plates. Prices are going to be higher than your hole-in-the-wall mom & pop dim sum restaurant, but I also think the quality is a bit higher with the ingredients they use.

Great food! This is everything I ate at Bao as a hungry vegetarian Veggie soup dumplings Veggie pan-fried potstickers Veggie Fried noodle Loved everything and it's hard to find veggie soup dumplings in a lot of places. Would definitely recommend trying this place. Very good service and ambiance. Clean.

Traveling for work and wanted some authentic Chinese. I did not sit inside so I cannot speak for the ambiance but outside was a nice experience with great weather. The staff is attentive even being outside. The crispy taro puffs are not your typical dimsum order, so if you do not like curries then do not order them, otherwise they were great! The Chinese broccoli was also steamed nicely and comes with a side of oyster sauce. The spicy XLB was great, XLB is one of my favorite dishes but I haven never seen it offered spicy before. The pan fried veggie pot stickers were okay, the filling was just very chunky and didn't hold together like typical dumpling filling. A lot of large pieces of mushroom. The dumpling itself was cooked nice and crispy. Your meal is served with soy sauce and chili oil as well. I would absolutely come back here if I am around the area.

Parking can be challenging to find in this area. Went on Saturday around 8.45pm. The freshest dumplings I have ever had. They have an an open kitchen and one can look through the glass window of them preparing the dumplings. Service is fast Ordered a bunch of items. Sichuan XLB: best XLB I have had. Period. The filling has mala spice in it that lifts the entire XLB experience Shanghai XLB: very tasty and fresh Steamed bbq pork bao: very fresh, the bun was the perfect texture and wasn't too thick and doughy at all. The filling was tasty Pan fried shrimp and chives dumpling : came in a triangular shape. Freshly made and plenty of filling Fried curry taro puff: very flaky and came in a swan shape. Filling could have been more Friend spring rolls: very fresh and tasty and crispy Chicken fried rice: standard chicken fried rice Mama egg plant and tofu: very tasty. The sauce was sweet and spicy Mountain rose tea: comes per person. Also it's a tea bag. Nothing great

Review is 3.5 stars. 3 for the food. Great amount of options listed on the menu. Dumplings seemed to been have steamed for too long as a number of dishes we ordered were too wet! So wet that the dumpling skin would disintegrate while picking it up with chopsticks. 4 for service. Would've been 5 but they forgot to bring us one of our dishes. Once we mentioned it though they brought it to us right away.

The food was solid but nothing amazing, and prices were standard for SF dim sum. I was a little underwhelmed given the beautiful interior, but I should know better by now. The soup dumplings were all good but nothing special, the green beans average (I am a connoisseur of Chinese dry fried string beans so not much shakes me) and not as crispy / crunchy as I'd have liked. I did enjoy the lettuce wraps, and found the pine nuts a nice touch to the filling. The red bean bao (I mainly ordered bc of the pig face) were not very good -- filling not moist or sweet enough to offset all the bread. The bunny jellies were cute and solid, but mostly for aesthetic and entertainment value. Jian dui were solid. Overall, nice place and good service but there are a lot of good dim sum options in SF so I suspect I won't be back.

glad I found this since I am always craving dumplings. this is the first restaurant I've tried that serves vegetarian XLB and they're allium-free, no onion & no garlic. there are quite a few other vegetarian options on the menu as well. will definitely need to come back to try more things. the sweet buns were tasty but looked nothing like the model photos. in fact, they just looked lumpy???? but i don't judge food by how it looks thaaat much. i've had pretty good luck finding street parking within a block pretty quickly.

If you're craving good dumplings without a long wait, this place scratches that itch. We ordered a bunch of things but here is my ranking (favorite to least): Baked bbq pork bun Har gow Pork shumai Steamed bbq pork bun XLB

Fast and great tasting. Chicken wings, SG noodles and xiao long baos. We love the sampler dessert baos so you taste all the flavors but eventually loved the custard bao. Came back 2x in a month because our daughter loved it the 1st tome but latest experience was there was some insect in our glass of ice making me question their cleanliness. They apologized by giving us complimentary dessert. I'm on the fence now.

The shrimp har gow was easily the best I've ever had. And the kung pao vegetarian was surprisingly so good. I'm not a fan of vegetable stir fry but the sauce is sooo good and the crispy fried stuff in the outside is so yummy. This meal was a 10/10. Our party of 2 was seated immediately for dinner on a Friday night. Service was fast as well. Definitely friendly for large parties as well.