Most underrated dim sum spot in Sf - a frequent and comfortable favorite! The soup dumplings go so hard

Pleasantly surprised! Stopped by for a snack and just tried a few things, would come back for more when I have someone who wants slightly fancier dim sum/if we're craving dumplings and in the Mission rather than Sunset/Richmond. Spicy wontons were delish. I appreciated the topping on the truffle bao and those were probably one of my fave/very different from anything I've had. Crab XLB was alright, but next time I'd probably try their take on more traditional XLB. We sat in an outdoor parklet table, which was fine for a short lunch snack read more

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This is a take out review. The staff was friendly and assisted me with my pick up order right away. I arrived earlier than suggested so that my dumplings could be eaten as fresh as possible. I loved most the pan fried veggie dumplings - good texture of wrapper and taste in filing. I liked the spicy dipping sauce too. Will be back to eat here. It seems rare to find veggie soup dumplings in SF so was super excited to try them out. The veggie soup dumplings tasted good, milder in flavor than the pan fried ones, but didn't have any soup in them as I far as I could tell. To be honest I think if you want to enjoy this place it's really best not to do take out of dumplings. I wanted to enjoy the dumplings right away, but alas no chopsticks were included so had to take them to my friend's place ten minutes away to eat. I noticed they have party trays.. I'm skeptical unless u have a good set up for reheating the food. If you're vegetarian, there is a veggie option in most of the menu categories including pan fried dumpling, soup dumpling, steamed bao, dessert bao, steamed dumpling, and wok fried dishes. Don't think this a good place for gluten allergies as the menu stands now. read more

Just went for a vegan bao and that's what I ordered. Absolutely delicious. Packed with mushrooms in a beautiful sauce. Lots of vegan and vegetarian options. Will go back again. read more

Really fast service, polite, and the food is always exceptional. Every time I go there. I would recommend to any customer that they only order a little bit at first and then see how full they feel before ordering more. They are really quick with bringing out more dishes so you don't have to worry about a long wait time if you decide to order more. read more

Amazing food and quick service. I recommend going on a weekday for lunch. The best bao I have ever had. service was friendly, and the chicken lettuce cups were also really good! I also liked the outdoor seating so I could take my dog. read more

Bao - Chinese Near Me - San Francisco, California

Dim sum in the Mission! And freshly made - not frozen then steamed. Always much much better. Count me as a fan.

I was pretty disappointed. The bbq pork bao and the spring rolls were good but the soup dumplings were very disappointing. The pork were lackluster but we couldn't even finish the vegetable. Both lacked any sort of flavor. I've had much better soup dumplings in the city read more

Bao - Steamed BBQ Pork Bao (3)Vegetarian Xiao Long Bao (6)Shanghai Xiao Long Bao (6)Fried Spring Rolls (3) - Chinese Near Me - San Francisco, California

I have a feeling this is the sort of place where I'm going to be a menu completionist - so many dumplings left to try!

Cool vibe and delicious dumplings! Service was great, the food was served in a very timely manner.

I had heard mixed things about this place, but was really pleasantly surprised! Definitely hits the spot if you're looking for dimsum in the mission and don't want to make the trek to Chinatown or the Richmond/Sunset. Dined outdoors on a Saturday which was quite relaxed in their parklet. Service was super attentive. We ordered the pork and shrimp shumai, shrimp hargow, chicken potstickers, pork bbq buns, Portuguese egg tart, veggie egg rolls, and coconut bunnies for 2 people. I eat a lot so was able to finish it, but likely would have been a good amount of food for a light meal for 3 . Standouts to me were the shumai- which was super fresh, chicken potstickers- great, home style filling and came out with the skirt from pan frying the way your mom would, and the veggie egg rolls- again, tasted like the kind aunties make. The quality of ingredients seemed quite good overall, and the dumpling fillings were pretty authentic / home style. I also liked the Portuguese egg tart! It had a great puff pastry shell and the inside was well fired for some good sugar caramelization. This isn't the kind of spot your Asian grandparents would probably eat at, but it's still quite good nonetheless. A bit more upscale than Chinatown dimsum places, though the quality is there. Will be back to try more items! read more

Amazing service! Food is/was delicious! I love Dim Sum & this place definitely does a great job! We ordered 6 dishes, 1 was dessert & they were all on point. I highly recommend the BI FENG TANG HAR GOW!!!!! According to our wonderful server Keith, they plan to expand their menu in a few weeks..... Definitely coming back for my Dim Sum Fix!!!!! read more

Bao - BI FENG TANG HAR GOW!!!!! - Chinese Near Me - San Francisco, California

The dimsum here were just okay to meh. I left the place disappointed. The open kitchen and the view into them making dumplings really lured me into this spot. I had somewhat high expectations because of the beautiful interior, higher price point than your average dimsum spot, and raving reviews on Yelp, but the taste just didn't make the mark. I do have dimsum tastebuds rooted back to Hong Kong so.... We ordered the following: - Steamed dimsum sampler: My favorite was the har gow. I liked the chewy and soft translucent skin and the shrimp filling flavor is pretty good. It could be a little bit more juicy and it's a bit too dense. It's also missing bamboo shoots for that crunch. The scallop dumpling tastes pretty similar to har gow except just in a different shape, it's not bad either. My least favorite is the beef and corn dumpling, the filling just too dense. They are missing that tender pop in your mouth. - Veggie and meat potstickers: I did not expect these potstickers to be green! The skin is a little thick on these dumplings and the filling is pretty good but again somewhat too dense. It can be a bit more tender. Flavor wise it's good with the hot sauce. Nothing special about these. - Xiao long bao (soup dumplings): The flavors were really good and the meat filling was great and lots of juice. The only thing was the skin broke for all of them and they all fell apart. That's a major sin for XLBs... again, poor execution. - Fried Curry Taro Puff: Taro puffs are one of my favorite dimsum dishes and unfortunately many restaurants don't do this dish justice, including this place. Sad to report the taro puffs were poorly fried. Half of the swan puff was harder than the top (seemed overfried), filling was too little and also way too salty. The worst executed dimsum dish in the meal. - Sweet Bao set: Probably my favorite one was the salted egg lava bun. Perfectly steamed, oozy filling, filling was perfectly sweet yet savory, and the salted egg yolk flavor was distinct. If I ever come back to this place, I would order this again. The other baos could have been better. I was really looking forward to the sesame bao, but the filling was incredibly little and 90% bun. I mean I like the fluffy bun, but I like filling too. Where's the filling at? Beautiful ceiling decorations, spotty services, and mediocre tasting dimsum. With not a very extensive selection of dimsum on the menu, I thought the quality would be better. Most of the dishes taste good but lacking in chef's skills and execution. Feels to be more of a restaurant that's catered towards less authentic taste buds. It's not for me. read more

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wasabi fried rice 5/5 - this was amazing. This was a twist on a dim sum classic executed really well. It's sticky rice topped with a wasabi cream sauce. I don't really care for wasabi, but it wasn't overpowering at all. The wasabi lightens the heavy cream sauce and makes everything melt in your mouth. swan taro puffs 5/5 - a must order! Crispy and light on the outside, soft taro goodness on the inside, and they're shaped like swans - it's a dish that won't disappoint. Kimchi bao, xiao long bao, bbq pork bun, veggie potstickers 4/5 - these were done well Green bean noodles 3/5 - this was just okay for me. The service was a bit slow since it was during the weekend, but a sit down Chinese restaurant like Bao is a rare find in the Mission and I'm glad it's here! read more

Yes! So happy this place has joined the hood! Absolutely delicious bao and dumplings. I think the Har Gow are my favorite, I love shrimp dumplings. The bao are absolutely delicious as well. Very satisfying meal at a very good price, we'll be eating here a lot! read more

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Stumbled upon this place as we were walking and decided to dine. Great choice! Highly recommend. Food came out fresh! read more

Bao - Pan Fried Veggie & Meat Bao (5) - Chinese Near Me - San Francisco, California

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Food was cute and pretty good, honestly dumplings were alright nothing too special. However the custard buns were very good read more

Bao - Bao - Chinese Near Me - San Francisco, California

Bao is a Chinese Restaurant, located on Valencia Street in the Mission District, known for their dumplings and small plates of traditional dim sum dishes. The restaurant has an artistic metal screen and lanterns hanging from the ceiling. The sesame chicken used high quality meat with tangy, mild sauce (and was less greasy than other locations). We cut up the chilis to give the dish more spice. The honey walnut prawns used large prawns, but had too much sauce for our taste, detracting from the quality of the seafood. The honey walnuts, on the other hand, were some of the best we've ever had. The string beans had a nice crunch and the sauce had the right amount of salty and earthy flavor, providing the perfect Unami pop. The vegetable fried rice was fairly standard and we recommend skipping. Dishes were overpriced for their proportions. Instead of take-out, next time we will dine in the restaurant and try their signature dumplings. read more

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I love this place! Been twice last week. Found this place walking down Valencia Street. Get service! The staff is friendly, helpful and even remembered us. Food is delicious and some even cute! Got the cute coconut Bunny and deep fried Swan Puff. I'm so happy found my favorite baked BBQ pork bun. Has in door and out door seating. read more

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This place is perfect for intimate social gatherings. It's so homie and everything was made freshly made. Staffs are friendly and desserts are the cutest. I recommend teying their different types of xio long bao! read more

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Cute little place in the middle of Valencia street with a long wait line on a weekend night. We got the baked pork buns and the coconut bunnies. The baked pork buns were small and they lacked meat, the buns were nice in texture and flavor but it only had a very small amount of meat on one side and the rest was just dough. The bunnies were adorable and just okay in coconut taste, it was more milk jello flavor than coconut but I'll def stop by again to try other items since it seems to be a very popular place and you can also watch them make the baos. read more

dishes i would come back for: the noodles with green beans were my favorite of the dishes we ordered, both because of the portion size and the flavor. the special sweet bao are very fun to look at and have a good distribution of flavors. notes on other dishes: the xiao long bao were tasty, but had little to no broth in the actual soup dumplings. the chili oil that came with the spicy wontons was not spicy at all, and much more oil than chili. the coconut bunnies are also adorable, but had a slightly grainy texture & very strong sweet coconut taste so i'd get them only if you're sharing with 4 people. for 2 people, we spent about $70 before tip for all these dishes, so it's definitely pricey! read more

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What a great surprise in the Mission! Absolutely delicious dim sum, dumplings. In a city full of great dumplings places, this one is at the top of my favorites. Stopped by for lunch on a Saturday, not too busy and got table right away. Everything tastes fresh and from scratch. Makes sense as you can watch them making everything through glass window. My favorite were noodles with green beans. Salt and pepper squid were awesome too. All the buns and dumplings we tried were great- lobster XLB, beef and corn dumplings, custard bun, salted egg bun, BBQ pork bun. We also ordered a couple of sochu- yogurt (our fave) and lychee. They do have sake, beer , and wine as well. Highly recommend this place! read more

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Delicious food, super friendly and funny staffs good amount of seafood option and some vegan options.

Everything we ordered (we ordered everything that people have mentioned on the reviews) looked really nice, some looked cute and adorable, but, everything lacked in taste/flavor just so slightly. Service was excellent, attentive and friendly. Interior space was really cool, loved the lanterns hanging on the ceiling. read more

Super disappointed. Used to really enjoy this place but recently went and found a bug inside one of my dumplings. I informed the staff and they still charged us for a large portion of the food. It will be the last time I'm eating there. read more

The food was INCREDIBLE I could've passed away happy after that meal.. lol jokes aside, I would seriously recommend this place to EVERYONE visiting SF! Everything was fresh and you could see the dumplings being hand made in the kitchen. We ordered the Baked BBQ Pork Bao (DO YOURSELF A FAVOR AND ORDER THEM... seriously!) and the Shanghai Xiao Long Bao (these ones were yummy too but I'd probably choose something else next time) and we got the coconut milk pudding bunnies. The presentation was so adorable but like another reviewer said, they looked a little weird served without the little black specks for eyes. My (vegan) friend ordered the Vegetarian Steamed Bao and Dumplings. She LOVED them and said they were the best she's ever had! Thank u BAO for the amazing lunch! I'll 100% be visiting again soon! read more

The buns at this place are quite good as the name would suggest! Their unique point to me were the cute desert buns with animal faces painted on them. However I didn't find the regular dumplings all that special compared to a casual dim sum place. This place gets pretty busy and is very understaffed so it takes a long time to get your food and drinks and such but the staff is trying their best. I'd come here for their dessert buns again but go to Chinatown maybe for a bigger meal. read more

Bao - Shanghai Xiao Long Bao (6) Sweet Bao Special - Chinese Near Me - San Francisco, California

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I was very wary of trying this place because of its "trendy Tiktok restaurant" kind of image. It was delicious and I plan to return. They boast creative and beautiful dishes, but on my first visit I decided to stay away from that and see whether they would do a good job with some basic dishes. They nailed it. Char Siu Bao was deightful; fluffy amd crisp bun with a not-too-sweet flavor. The char siu was delicious, thiugh I would have liked the pork pieces to be a tad larger. Ha Gao were plentiful and delicate. Xiao Long Bao were hearty, filling, and flavorful. Pan Fried Seafood Potsticker was a highlight. The filling was delicious and cohesive. I highly recommend this one. Service was great, ambience was fine but nothing outstanding IMO. I look forward to returning. read more

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Here for the new dim sum/bao place in the Mission! I've been looking forward to this opening since the signs went up. The baos were fresh and fluffy, the potstickers were delicious, the XLBs were soupy, and the dim sum selection was varied and tasty. The food came out quick, although I wish they served the steamy (and adorable) dessert buns last. Some of the flavors weren't what I expected (I prefer the textured, sweeter sesame filling in black sesame buns, and saltier, thinner shelled taro puffs), but we walked away satisfied. The restaurant is spacious with cute decor, and played music that reminded me of wuxia dramas and gave me FEELS. Outdoor seating is also available. The server was welcoming and the owner was friendly! We'll be back again; I'm excited to see this restaurant grow. read more

Last week walking back from picking up lunch with the kiddo, we saw the new resto had opened and had to cross the street to take a look. I mean with a name like Bao, how can you resist?! First impression: cute space and friendly staff. You can even watch the staff make the dumplings behind a window like at DTF/Dumpling Time. We returned for dinner that night with the fam. Again with a name like Bao... Service was friendly and attentive. Food came out piping hot! Let's just say, don't stick an entire XLB in your mouth! We tried a good variety, but our favs were the XLBs, scallop dumpling, kimchee potstickers, and lava bao. The curry puff was lacking in flavor, but texture was on point. Mango corn was a surprise. It's mango pudding in the shape of corn. The kiddos had fun with this playful dish. We'll definitely be back soon with our Chinese grandma to try the noodle dishes they're planning to add to the menu. read more

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Loved this place! We planed to go to flour + water and we decided to walk. We spotted this place on the way there and it looked so good, so we. Decided to change our plans and stop there. Very good decision! The food was amazing! Everything was super clean and even the salt and pepper fish that was deep fried was not oily at all. Chicken Buns was great and the steamed special was really good, the chicken fried rice was on the healthier side. The only reason I'm kicking of a star is because it was very hard to get service. Don't get me wrong they were nice and help with anything we asked but it was super hard to get someone to look to our direction when we needed something less attention then we expected. But over all we had a great experience and we will definitely coming back. read more

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I've been wanting to try this place and ended up getting delivery. Food was tasty but was still a bit disappointed. I got the wasabi rice and had good flavor. It didn't exactly taste like wasabi or have any spice/kick to it. The box also had a pool of grease in it and so oily. I also ordered the pan fried baos and what showed up were pan fried potstickers. It was confirmed on the receipt of potstickers but my order was baos and shows on the original order. They were flavorful but not what I wanted. I also got the steamed dumpling special. The beef was my least favorite and liked the shrimp and scallop ones. One of the scallop dumplings had a fairly good piece of shell in it. I understand it happens sometimes but maybe smaller pieces. I'm glad I tried Bao but unsure if I'll try it again. read more

My friends and I were looking for good dim sum in the city and this was incredible. Everything was a 10/10 and the pricing and service was so great. Cant recommend this place enough! read more

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The ONLY place you can get vegetarian XLB. I mean, im sure there are others, but I'm a vegetarian married to a Chinese man, and I haven't for across it yet. In terms of dim sum at night, it hits! Staff was friendly. read more

I was excited to see a place offering vegetarian soup dumplings. We ordered vegetarian soup dumplings, steamed dumplings, bao and pot stickers; sichuan green bean noodles, mango swan and coconut bunnies. Loved every dish! I was so pleasantly surprised that each vegetarian offering had a different filling (most places use the same filling across dishes) - the bao had a slightly sweet filling, steamed dumplings had corn and a lovely chewy rice skin, potstickers had my favorite - lots of roasted black pepper mixed in. We enjoyed the soup dumplings though they are a challenge to eat hot. The mango swan was excellent - the right amount of sweet mango custard with crunchy flaky "body and wings" - delicious! Highly recommend. read more

Great service, amazing food - each item was delicious!

Got some baos to go. Food was good, but felt rushed by the waitstaff to order. Might have just been an off day but felt they were a touch rude through the rest of our interactions too read more

Incredible food and ambiance! Every dish we got was uniquely delicious. It was a great lunch to start the day in mission district. I would have highly highly recommend. read more

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Excellent and fresh food. Lots of good vegetarian and vegan options. The place gets busy! Be prepared to wait, but it's worth it.