Obsessed is an understatement! I've had my fair share of dumplings and XLB's but Bao takes the cake for the quality of their menu items! I believe most of the dumplings that we ordered were fresh and from scratch the moment we ordered! We ordered the Shrimp and Chives Pan Fried Dumplings, the Crab Xiao Long Bao, the Mango Corn, and the Egg Tarts! Oh my goodness everything was so delicious, I am salivating thinking about this place haha. The XLB had a great portion of filling and soup, and the skin was tender but also did not break easily! The Pan Fried Dumplings were excellent - not too oily and just the right amount of crisp and flavor. The Mango Corn was so delicious and such a cute design! Can't forget about the Portuguese Egg Tarts! I've never had fresh egg tarts before coming to Bao! These egg tarts were freshly made and steamed to perfection! The outside layer of the egg tart was so crispy and the actual egg filling was just the right amount of sweetness and texture! Servers were also top notch! They were super attentive and always refilling our water and whatever we needed! I will definitely be back and recommend you stop by as well! :) read more

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All of their dumplings here are made to order! Hand made and delicious! I love the vibes in there it's very homey and gives almost a cafe vibe. Service is super fast we ordered our food and it got there within 5-10 minutes it was amazing definitely recommend for locals and travels alike! read more

Bao - Chinese Near Me - San Francisco, California

I was a fan but after a 6 hour drive from LA, I placed an order for pickup and then asked if I could eat it there. The manager yelled at me in front of the restaurant, threw my bag, and threatened not to give me my food. Was a bizarre overreaction, I used to go here when in town and show my friends but won't any longer. read more

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. read more

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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. read more

Bao is unbelievable!! The best traditional Chinese food around. If you're vegetarian, the steamed bao is INSANE!

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. read more

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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! read more

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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! read more

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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! read more

Bao - Steamed Pork & Shrimp Shumai - Chinese Near Me - San Francisco, California

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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. read more

Bao - Chinese Near Me - San Francisco, California

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. read more

Bao - Soupy Boiled Veggie Pork Dumplings (6) Perfect portion size when dining a deux - Chinese Near Me - San Francisco, California

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By far my fav dumplings place in SF... I dk how this has not made it into the Michelin guide but Dumpling Home did... (yes, I'll look into changing that). The flavors here are outstanding... subtle yet distinct & original. Try widely between the dumplings, bad & deserts... I honestly have never tried a main dish b/c well, I can't ever get past the previous 3 mentioned . Service is also always spot on & they have outside seating weather permitting. read more

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. read more

Bao - Bunny coconut jello - Chinese Near Me - San Francisco, California

It's ok. A little advice, that shrimp toast, too much sauce, maybe leave it on the side for dipping. read more

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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. read more

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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. read more

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

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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. read more

Bao - Chinese Near Me - San Francisco, California

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amazing food, service & atmosphere!! came for their baked bao bun with black truffle, beef buns and stayed for the yellow tiled bathroom. great fun would 10/10 recommend. WILL BE BACK! read more

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. read more

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Freshly made Bao's with the see through kitchen. My favorite are the steamed specials, Sichuan Xiao long bao, sweet bao specials & har gow. read more

Bao - Sweet bao plate - Chinese Near Me - San Francisco, California

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? read more

Bao - Chinese Near Me - San Francisco, California

Food was awesome, worth the trip! Lots of vegetarian options: really enjoyed the garlic pea shoots and vegetarian long bao! read more

Bao - Vegetarian options! - Chinese Near Me - San Francisco, California

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. read more

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The soup dumplings were amazing and fresh and hot! They give you a red vinegar for them. The first thing that came out was the Chinese broccoli and oyster sauce on the side. The broccoli was cooked perfectly and it's an awesome thing that they put the sauce on the side. We dipped our chopsticks on the sauce and lightly coated our broccoli, too much would be too salty and overpowering the taste of the broccoli. We also ordered the beef and kimchi Bao, nice amount of kimchi and beef, balanced and flavorful. Then we had the custard bao, so amazing! We then tried the corn mango pudding for dessert, disappointed because not much taste to it. Service was fast and friendly too. Would definitely come here again! read more

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. read more

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. read more

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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! read more

Bao - Steamed Whole Shrimp Shumai (4) - Chinese Near Me - San Francisco, California

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Food comes out very hot and very quickly. Love the quality of food and will definitely come back! read more

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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 read more

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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. read more

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We definitely over ordered. It was a little pricey but the flavors were definitely there. Service was great, it was fast and efficient. I feel like this is great for family from outta town to experience and it was cutely decorated. read more

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PROS: Nice service, clean space, pretty solid dumplings. CONS: Really quite overpriced for what you get. Especially notable is that they charge per cup for hot tea so if you get one kettle and 6 cups, it ends up being $24 for everyday, run-of-the-mill hot tea. The serving of string beans was quite small for $13, and I was especially shocked that the mushu came with only five or 6 small pancakes which they refused to refill (even for an extra cost). I guess we could have ordered another whole serving but that wouldn't solve the problem. The desserts are adorable but don't taste particularly good. read more

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. read more

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Purchased some Bao and dumplings to take to friends in Pacific Grove. We enjoyed a beautiful feast. read more

This place was really good! Walked in at 8pm on a Sunday after a giants game. There was no wait, they asked if we were ok with sharing a table. It was only 3 of us so there was plenty of space on the table. We ordered a couple of dishes and everything was really good! The noodles were my favorite. Shrimp har gow, spicy wontons, seafood shu mai, pan fried dumplings, soup dumplings were all really good and flavorful For desert we got the coco bunnies and mango custard swan puffs. Everything we ordered came out really fast. Parking is normally tricky in this area since it is in the Mission, but because it was late night on Sunday we had no issue finding parking fast. Will be coming back! read more

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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.

As soon as you walk in, you can see the chefs hard at work making baos and xlbs behind the glass. The food comes out fresh and the juices simply burst in your mouth. My favorite was def the chicken potstickers - extremely juicy and flavorful. The chicken chow mein was also DELICIOUS although a smaller portion for the price. Wait time to be seated is not bad, but food does take a bit longer. Still great service and fresh! read more

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From the moment you walk in the restaurant you can tell Bao is an establishment that prides itself on its work and presentation. You enter to an open kitchen where you can see the staff tirelessly rolling dumplings and making the stuffing itself. This brought me so much excitement as a home cook because it relives some of the culinary mysticism. The staff is so friendly and where so confident with their menu knowledge and consistent with filling waters, and assuring we had ordered enough. All the food felt important and every bite felt necessary. Every time we finished something we wanted more, Bao is now on my consistent rotation. I ordered the shrimp Har Gow which was beyond flavorful, we ended up ordering another. This is my first time having a steamed Bao bun, and I was so pleasantly surprised. My mind traveled to a million places, and was so excited that I can order savory Baos next time I come. The red bean and sesame baos have been on my mind since Friday, and I'm so satisfied. The tea pots of jasmine tea satisfied me, made the meal so much better. I'm so happy with this restaurant, everything from the moment I came in, till I left. Bao has a new fan boy! read more

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This place was awesome! It was super busy when we went, but we were seated very quickly. It's really nice and modern on the inside, and I love the table setting as you walk in. My boyfriend is vegetarian and I am not, so we got a mix of things to try. We specifically chose this place to eat at because of the variety of vegetarian options. We tried the veggie xiao long bao and the veggie steamed bao. We loved both! We actually ended up ordering more because it was so tasty. Would totally recommend, especially for a vegetarian who has never tried bao!! read more

Bao - Vegetarian Xiao Long Bao Steamed Vegetarian Bao (3) - Chinese Near Me - San Francisco, California