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    Jack's Bao

    3.7 (196 reviews)
    ModerateShanghainese
    Closed 11:00 am - 7:00 pm
    Updated 2 months ago

    Order Jack's Bao Takeout or Delivery

    Jack's Bao Photos

    JACK'S BAO ATMOSPHERE

    What's the vibe?
    Casual
    Dogs allowed

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    Recommended Reviews - Jack's Bao

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    Rick S.

    Located at Cannary Row, It's in a prime spot. The interior of the restaurant is nicely lit with modern ambiance. Service was self order/pay, basically, they have a food runner and that's it. As for the food, it was a horrible horrible meal....the bao had a very tiny amount of pork, served with chili paste, vinegar and soy sauce. Very disappointing meal.... Had to go to a different restaurant just after....

    Steamed Pork Bao
    Molly L.

    We came here on a weekday evening and there were a good amount of tables taken. We ordered our baos to-go and tried a few sitting on a bench across the street in a plaza. My partner said the steamed pork bao was fine, but it only had pork in it and was missing other toppings. The sweet red bean baos were also standard and not too sweet, but the baos themselves a little more on the dry side. This place is fast casual - When you get in, you're unlikely to be greeted and you order your meal at the kiosk. There are plenty of tables and you pick up your food at the counter when your number is called.

    Braised Beef Noodle Soup - 7/10
    Teresa V.

    When you're craving noodles but also low-key giving up on life... this place will do. Listen, if you're from the SF Bay Area like me, you're used to hand-pulled noodles that slap you with flavor and maybe a little emotional trauma. This place? It's more like a polite noodle handshake. My daughter gave the Braised Beef Noodle an 8, I gave it a 7, and the noodles gave up trying at around a 6. Pretty sure they weren't hand-pulled unless they were pulled from a freezer bag by hand. Flavor? Solid. Soul-stirring? Not quite. Would I drive to San Jose or Santa Cruz instead? Yes, if I had time, gas money, and a podcast to cry to. But if it's 5pm, you're starving, and your standards are rapidly lowering... this place hits the spot just enough. Bonus: It's self-serve! You order on your phone, food shows up like magic, and you get to bus your own table like it's a team-building exercise, perfect for corporate offsite as the place is big and spacious enough to host 60 people. So basically, it's dinner and character development.

    Atmosphere
    Kwang V.

    Stop by Jack's Bao for quick grab & go bites on Canary row across from Intercontinental hotel. I ordered steamed pork bao. Came in 3 bao per order. The steamed flour textured is soft, chewy texture, moist as a good bao flour should be, but the pork filling tastes bland and small in size compare to the outer shell. My rose with lychee green tea is very tasty with couples of real lychee on the bottom. Recommended to order this. Like the mint green color with contemporary decor inside. Order process was self service on the computer screen. Wait about 5 mins for my to go order. So, if you looking for an authentic steam bao bun similar to Asia, Jack's bao still not my cup of tea. The lychee rose green tea is delightful though. Would love to go back and actually try others in the future update.

    pork xiao long bao, $15 before tax
    Irena S.

    This is a 4 stars for Monterey, a 3 stars if you're comparing to SF Bay Area or CA East Bay Asian food. I honestly want this place to succeed! Our order: pork XLB to share between 2 people, this was around 11am as a small snack to hold us over until our "real" lunch, and we expected this to be kind of tacky but it actually surpassed my expectations! $15 for our order of 8 xiao long bao, $18 after tax and tip. Pros: - Not too bad on the authentic meter! While the food was mostly prepared by young Latinos, it actually tasted pretty good and met my expectations. - Fast self-order at the kiosk or via QR code, fast casual vibes which made this the perfect "quick meal" on our way to another excursion. - Clean, efficient, our food came out within 5 mins after ordering. - Convenient location without much competition - if you're craving Asian food in the area, this might be the best you'll get! Cons: - the XLB were lacking in soup amount, but the soup was present so I won't be too harsh. - Randomly came with a side of....chili salsa? but like actual Mexican salsa? unclear. I thought it was funny and it made me laugh. Not the biggest deal because you can choose to dip your sauces or not - slightly overpriced for what you get, I think I would have preferred to pay maybe $13-14 for the soup dumplings. But again, it's a big touristy area so I get it. Overall I would not mind coming back! And I wouldn't mind bringing my Asian immigrant parents here either.

    Spicy Ground Pork Noodle Soup
    Jaycee T.

    This place was nice and clean. Everything we ordered was pretty tasty. Only thing was both of the noodle soups came out lukewarm and I like my broths to be extra piping hot, I want to see steam coming out from the bowl. In this case it didn't so we had to send both bowls back to warm them up, one bowl came out the same temp and the other was doable. Soup dumplings were delicious, the sticky rice shumi was decent good for vegans. The spicy wontons were good had a nice sauce to it. Overall good little spot if you want some soup since it gets cold around here. Best thing was the soup dumplings , definitely order that.

    Lions Lion's Head Meatball Noodle Soup
    Tiffany D.

    It fulfills the stomach if one is yearning for Asian noodle soup by the bay! Their pork flavors of spicy ground pork, meatball and Xiao Long Bao is average. Simple menu. Don't expect much. It's just to satisfy that soup around this area, which is great for that. No competition and it's all about convenience. Self serve casual dining.

    Braised Beef Noodle Soup
    Tiffany C.

    The first time we saw this place months ago, i actually passed up this place on purpose thinking there couldn't possibly be a good Chinese place in Monterey...and especially NOT near a popular attraction like the Monterey Bay aquarium. But, I caved in when my parents were given a bday coupon to use. And I'm SO glad we tried the food here. In fact, it was so good, we ended up ordering FOUR times in just 2 days. Beef noodle soup hands down was one of the best if not the very best we have had. Beef was perfectly tender and the sauce they add to the beef and noodles is phenomenal! It has a slightly sweet and savory flavor that made the broth really stand out and the noodles were soft and a perfect compliment. We ordered this 3 times bc it was that good. Second time tho didn't have as much beef seasoning and was a little bland but still good. We needed up putting on le order on ice to enjoy the next day at home nd it was still very delicious! They did a great job of packing everything separately which I love so that things don't get soggy and so that you can more easily add or subtract items. Also tried the cold noodle peanut dish. It was ok but it's a little bit too peanutty with a lot of peanut butter and peanuts. I was glad they did pack everything separate tho so that you could add what you wanted. To go orders come in a cute reusable bao bag that you can use to put your Monterey items in. They have door dash, uber and are on toast. Portions here are very generous and easy to share. Too bad this place is so far otherwise I would frequent this place often. Next time I'm in Monterey I'm definitely coming back

    Fried dumplings
    Larry D.

    Stopped in here on a whim to try something new for the area. Went with the steamed pork bao, pan fried dumplings and wonton soup. The bao were absolutely nothing special. The fried wontons were over cooked to the point of being hard eat. The soup was simple in flavor. What threw me, and this is on me, were the tiny shrimp with their tiny beady eyes staring back at me in the soup broth. They had self-serve water. Bathrooms seemed to be closed. I liked the ordering style, where you can order at a kiosk or at the table, but that was about it for me.

    Sweet Red Bean Bao
    Angelica H.

    This place is a bit mediocre in terms of taste but if you're craving dumplings / beef noodle soup it isn't too bad. The XLB was a bit overcooked so I didn't enjoy them too much. I thought the beef in the beef noodle soup was really tender and it was pretty decent. They gave us a free rose tea with our order.

    Beef Noodle Soup
    Julie N.

    expensive & flavorless, even the drink we got was flavorless (somehow..?) good for a quick bite but wouldn't come back again for the food. you order on the kiosk & a worker is there to help you but there aren't many opportunities to interact with the server besides that

    Lychee lemon green tea

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    Anni W.

    Thank you Sheila! Please visit us again when you are in the area.

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    Ask the Community - Jack's Bao

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    Jack's Bao - shanghainese - Updated May 2026

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