My friends and I came here last night for cinco de mayo and it was packed up!! As it should be, they had beats going, drinks flowing and food going. It took us about 5 minutes for a table to clear out and luckily it was big enough for our party of 5. We ended up ordering our drinks and food at the bar when we noticed it was going to take a while for someone to actually get to our table. After about 20 minutes our chicken, chorizo and carne asada tacos came out. For the specials they had going out, it was a great deal! $8 house margaritas $4.50 for carne asada I think $3.00 for chicken? We ended up getting almost 20 tacos, 8 margs and two shots and we had a great time! Shout out to the bar tenders that were popping out drinks as quickly as they could! read more

Had the tuna nachos as a late night snack this past wknd! Can't exactly confirm when the kitchen closes but I was able to grab a bite closer to 11 ... may depend on how busy it is. The nachos were delicious! I like that the 'nachos' are really fried wonton skins, much lighter and easier to bite into than chips! And loved the amount of avocado and fish roe ! Service is actually good for keeping up with how busy and fast paced it got ! It's quite 'clubby' fridays and saturdays nights and more chill other days of the week with ample seating ! Two bars so def great spot to grab a drink if you're in the area as well. read more

Bar Bao - Tuna Nachos - Asian Fusion Near Me - Arlington, Virginia

The vibe of this is pretty dope. Kind of small on the inside of the place but there is alot of seating outdoors. The cool thing I didn't notice about this place at first was the duel sided bar that you could walk up to from outside as well. I was recommended the wings in this place so I tried the Japanese chili which I don't think was the winner og the flavors personally. The staff was great and they had the complimentary water and cups on deck which I think is a necessity in bars nowadays. And after a certain time I think this place turns into a mini nightclub because they moved our tables to the walls. All in all I liked this place and next time I'll try a more standard flavor of the wings. I love Clarendon and this would a great spot for friend groups to visit on a night out! read more

Bar Bao - Wings - Asian Fusion Near Me - Arlington, Virginia

I love that they have a variety of bao's here - which shouldn't be a shocker given the name. I love that there are vegetarian and seafood bao's, which is not usually found at most places. I ordered the shrimp tempura and JFC bao's. Both were pretty good, but I preferred the JFC because of the sauce. I also ordered the fried rice, which was also okay. I probably should've gotten another bao instead. The avocado bao sounds pretty good, so maybe I'll come back to try that one! read more

Bar Bao - Fried rice - Asian Fusion Near Me - Arlington, Virginia

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We came here for happy hour (M-F 4-8pm) and they have decent happy hour specials with food from $4-7, and drinks from $5-10. I got the margarita, a rail drink, crunchy salmon roll, and crab rangoon, and everything was good for the price. Overall, great place for happy hour! Our server was good and attentive. They have indoor and outdoor seating. read more

Bar Bao - Crunchy Salmon Roll (happy hour) - Asian Fusion Near Me - Arlington, Virginia

Actual review ~3.7. The staff is friendly and the kitchen is open late night. Although the kitchen closes around midnight, the bar stays open much later even on weeknights. Tips 1) the Boas are good even late night 2) try the bar around back first late night. 3) tell them to hold the kimchi read more

A place I'm always passing by; I'm glad I was able to visit this time! Decided with a friend for a late brunch and only one side of the restaurant was open as we came at an odd time around 230/3pm. We were free to sit anywhere and our waiter/bartender was patience has we couldn't decided begin the all you could eat or a la carte. Honestly, the only thing stopping us were our appetite! There were so many good options and could've easily had our monies worth + more including the 1.99 (I think) mimosas. It took a few for our food to first come out and then we went to order more but brunch was done, no heads up. We ordered a couple appetizers as the options to order were limited but we made do. The shrimp bao bun was good but the chicken dumplings were delicious! Also got the crab Rangoon but they were a hard pass -- didn't taste like a lick of crab in them. Would definitely visit again for a full on brunch moment plus they have hookah, though I'm not sure if it's only available in certain spaces like outside. read more

Bar Bao - Asian Fusion Near Me - Arlington, Virginia

A few weeks ago, I went to Bar Bao for someone's birthday. The nightclub scene was really awful. It got crowded to the point that we were packed like sardines. I kept getting pushed by people every 2 seconds. Some belligerently drunk guy spilled a drink all over my delicate velvet dress and didn't even say sorry. I left shortly after because it was too overstimulating and annoying. The patrons were very aggressive. I wouldn't return. read more

There's some street parking around, we didn't end up making a reservation but it didn't really matter so it was quiet which surprised me. We opted for the bottomless brunch and the carafe of mimosas which was totally worth it. Our server, James, was awesome. The brunch was $36.99/person and the carafe of mimosas (~8 glasses was only $13.99). We ordered the Calamari, Honey Shrimp, Chicken & Waffles, Bulgogi Hash, Braised Pork Bao, Breakfast Tots, Salmon Benedict, Pork Dumplings, Home Fries, JFC Bao, Shrimp Tempura Bun, Short Rib Bao, Steak Frites and Nutella French Toast. Notables and recommendations: Honey Shrimp, Chicken & Waffles, Bulgogi Hash, JFC Bao, Short Rib and Nutella French Toast were amazing. The other ones were ok and not bad but too salty or the sauce was too overpowering for my taste. Overall, genuinely surprised about how great everything was! Definitely recommend! Total before taxes ~ $88 read more

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I came to Bar Bao for a work happy hour. Bar Bao is an Asian fusion restaurant located in Arlington, Virginia. They have indoor and outdoor seating. The outdoor place is really cool but I didn't see any umbrellas to avoid getting roasted by the sun. We had a larger party and sat inside since it was pretty hot out. The happy hour is M-F from 4-7. All of the items in the happy hour menu are under $10! Food: JFC Bao bun was good, crunchy, with a little spicy kick. Cheesesteak Bao bun: not a fan, bland in taste. California Roll: no complaints here. Drinks: Mango Margarita; great just wish it was frozen but they don't have a frozen machine. When we arrived our group was the only patrons there. Our waiter put all of our orders on one tab. I wish they would have communicated that before hand or maybe I missed that announcement. I went to the bar to close my tab and I had 3 margaritas added to my food order?? Overall I thought the food was cool. Now if the music was a little different it would come together and have more of a vibe. read more

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I got the tuna nachos and they were really good! Went for a late night snack (around 10 pm) and they were still serving. The sushi looked really good as well and def want to go back and try it. Fun environment with some arcade machines and a dj. The staff were friendly. Seems like the spot to be when the weather becomes nicer since they have a outside bar. read more

Asian-fusion spot that doubles as a club at night The place is a little grimy, and the seating options are not great (the majority of them don't have backs), but the food here is very tasty I came here with my GF for dinner and the people were very friendly and the food came out very fast as well Have a bunch of outside seating also read more

Bar Bao - Asian Fusion Near Me - Arlington, Virginia

Overall, the food was decent, and the drinks paired well. The ambiance had a young vibe, making it more suitable for hanging out with buddies rather than a family-friendly spot. The service was decent as well. read more

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I have dined in and ordered take out several times and the food is always delicious and prepared on time. I do wish they had more seating in the dining room instead of the bar/outdoor area. read more

Bar Bao - Crispy Beef - Asian Fusion Near Me - Arlington, Virginia

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We came here on a Thursday night where they also have trivia at 7pm. We were able to get a table quickly and the service was fantastic; the waiter always checking up on us and they bring the card machine to the table so you can pay right there. They also have one of the longest happy hour deals, 4-7 (although he said it was good until 8). I got the JFC bao and it had a kick to it but was good. I also tried the eggrolls which were ok but the wonton nachons were great; I would get those again. Not a bad place in Claredon and I would recommend going. read more

Bar Bao - Asian Fusion Near Me - Arlington, Virginia

The inside looks like a college bar, and you wouldn't think they served food. We sat down and were greeted by a STRONG stench of cigarettes. But, the wait staff were very nice and attentive. And the food was shockingly really good! We had the friend chicken and the avocado buns, and they were great! We had the tuna nachos as well, and they were pretty good. Overall, good food! Just not too great in that bar. read more

Bar Bao - Menu - Asian Fusion Near Me - Arlington, Virginia

Ordered the chicken basil stir fry on door dash and it didn't disappoint. So so good. Loved the flavor of this dish. Will def order from here again and try their other items. read more

This is a great spot in Clarendon if you're looking to get some small plates for a good price. The JFC bao bun was a 10/10. They also had great sushi, but when they say something is spicy, they do mean it. I recommend going during the happy hour and getting some deals on these small plates as well! read more

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Rating is based solely on the food. My friend went here on a weekend night. It was difficult to find parking in the Clarendon area on a weekend night. When we eventually arrived at the place, there was another bar next to it. Bar Bao was absolutely packed while the next door bar had more availability. There were no tables available inside or outside at Bar Bao since it turns more into a club-like scene at night. With permission of both restaurants, we were able to order food from Bar Bao and bring it to the next door restaurant since it was more empty. I ended up tipping the bouncer/server well. The pork belly bao was delicious and flavorful, but the rice with stir fried chicken was not worth it. It was bland and oily, and I did not end up finishing it. Water - you serve yourself. read more

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Food is really okay for the price and quality. But the happy hour deals make up for the place! Overall friendly staff and prompt service. Great options for seating larger parties and perfect for lounge vibes. Would argue that this place does not have authentic food, but you should come here for the fun vibes. For the Happy Hour prices the quality of food is actually very good for the price! Would recommend for casual gatherings. read more

Food was expensive, dined here about 2-3 years ago for brunch and the baos that they named themselves after weren't impressive or mind blowing. Decent, I would give it another shot at some point, but this place definitely could use some work. Granted this review isn't complete because I was on the patio and never went inside to do the full experience. I do believe they need to do outside maintenance/clean up their area outside a bit. Regardless if you're a bar you do need to show you care about your location - self respect is important. read more

On my way out (10 feet from the front door), I realized that I forgot to say goodbye to a friend. So I turn around but the bouncer by the door grabbed my collar and yanked me out of the bar. I wasn't even drunk or did anything deserving of it. Extremely rude. I will not come back. read more

Bar Bao - Asian Fusion Near Me - Arlington, Virginia

Unfortunately, we are very disappointed with our takeout experience at Bar Bao and even more so with the lack of customer service for takeout orders. I prefer to work things out with the business before posting a negative review on Yelp. Gives them an opportunity to fix the problem. I have tried several times to call the business, twice on the night my fiancé and I ordered food. No one answered the phone, so I left a voicemail. I also went a step further and online they have a contact page, so I sent them a general inquiry with my email and phone number so they could contact me back. Gave them a full day (day 2) to respond. The third day I tried calling twice more at a different time of day around 4:30pm a little after the business opened. No one answered the phone. No one has contacted me and it has been 4 days. I think 4 days is a reasonable amount of time to wait for someone to give you a call back or send an email. The issue is we ordered their calamari which was tasty at first, however, I went to put my fork into what looked like a piece of calamari on my plate only to find out it was a piece of plastic!! A battered and fried piece of plastic. I had to pull it apart to realize it was plastic. It was quite unsettling and very disappointing. Unfortunately I found the plastic on my last piece of calamari, so my fiancé and I had already eaten most of it. Attached are the pictures. You can see it there next to the chicken lo mein we ordered. Please work on your customer service especially if Bar Bao is going to continue to do takeout orders! There is no way for someone to contact you if there is an issue with their order if no one answers the phone. read more

Bar Bao - Fried plastic next to the Chicken Lo Mein - Asian Fusion Near Me - Arlington, Virginia

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The only question I really have is, how could the drinks here be this expensive yet so mediocre? My friends and I came here on a Wednesday night to share a couple cocktails to treat ourselves for making pass the halfway mark of the week. The cocktails here were $15 each, so we were hoping they would be pretty worth it in terms of taste and/or quantity. We were eyeing the "Mochi Paradise" since we all enjoyed a nice coconut and pineapple drink, and... mochi?? How would that be incorporated into the drink? We were enticed by this and definitely wanted to try it out. We also wanted to try the "Uzamaki Manhattan" because my friend is from NYC, HAHA. There was no good reason why we ordered this drink. "Mochi Paradise" - this honestly just tasted like a pina colada. We expected some sort of mochi balls or mochi taste, but there was neither. We are extremely confused why this drink even has the name "mochi" in it. Overall, it was a nice sweet drink and we couldn't really taste a strong kick of alcohol. However, it was pretty small and probably not worth $15. "Uzamaki Manhattan" - this drink was pretty nasty as all of us gagged and immediately reached for our iced water upon the first sip. The alcohol taste is very strong, so if you don't like whiskey, we definitely don't recommend this drink. The after taste lasts for awhile, so we just kept drinking our water and waited for the ice to melt in the drink so it would dilute the nasty flavor. We kept drinking this because we didn't want to waste $15. The size of the drink was pretty small too, but maybe that was a good thing for us because it was disgusting. Overall, I would not get the cocktails again. They're pricy, overall mediocre in terms of taste and the quantity was small. If I come back in the future, I'd be down to try some of their signature baos as I hear it's quite popular. read more

Bar Bao - Mochi Paradise - I don't understand how "Mochi" is even in this name when there is no mochi and I taste no mochi - Asian Fusion Near Me - Arlington, Virginia

Such a classic, suppose to be fun, vibe. But super sketch place. The bartenders take advantage of the drunks and upcharge and include over 20% charge tip. For example: I went to 3 different bartenders, order the same stuff. 3 different prices. One was $47 one was $33 and one was $23. Just a heads up to everyone, PAY ATTENTION TO WHAT YOUR PAYING. If they don't get held accountable then they'll just keep doing it, unfortunately. So disappointing because we actually had fun read more

I've been here a couple times and always had a good experience, staff are always nice, during summer I love to seat outside and enjoy their brunch!!! Please try their French toast you won't regret it read more

We visited Bar Bao at around 10:30PM on a Tuesday, so maybe it was an off night. But the vibe inside was so weird. It was like a small college bar. Also it was unclear if someone was going to come and take our order or if we had to go to the bar. The food was definitely the most disappointing part. We came here hungry and unfortunately the baos barely had any substance! I'm not kidding the shrimp tempura bao had ONE shrimp. The fried avocado bao had ONE slice of avocado. The pictures looks like the baos are pretty full, but don't be fooled! The toppings are sitting at the top! The bottom half of the baos are practically empty! At $4.50 per bao, they're probably making crazy margins! read more

Bar Bao - Shrimp Bao Buns (2), Fried Avocado Bao Buns (2), Bulgogi Cheese Steak Bao Bun, Short Rib Bao Bun, JFC Bao Bun - Asian Fusion Near Me - Arlington, Virginia

Nice ambiance and interesting Asian fusion cuisine. They have trivia on Thursdays at 7pm, which can get pretty crowded so plan to get there in advance. Trivia is done via an app and can get a bit loud. Happy hour has a nice assortment of drinks and food. Side note: I think the step leading to the kitchen is a potential hazard - I think there needs to be some kind of sign there to ensure people don't fall... I'm wondering how the servers don't mind having to watch their step every time they enter the dining room? read more

Came to visit Clarendon corridor from Los Angeles and this place was the most expensive out of every spot we went to. Will not be coming back. The other places are better and so much more affordable. Save your money and skip this place. So many more fun and affordable places around here. They wanna charge LA prices for Arlington entertainment.. read more

Awesome. Naeem prolly messed his name up and Manish were awesome. Wasn't sure what I what and they walk me through the menu. I was being extra and they made something better than drunken noodles. Awesome experience. Can't wait to go back again. 5 stars in my book. Might be a regular soon read more

Random Monday night got hungry and stumbled upon this Asian-Fusion gem. Food was really good! We ended up getting the Lava roll, General Tso Chicken, Chili basil stir fry and chicken dumplings. The two entrees could have been a little warmer in temperature(I love my food piping hot) but it was decent. The Lava roll was delicious paired w/ spicy Mayo. And the dumplings were great. Over all food was 8/10. We both ordered two drinks each.. I thought they were strong, my boyfriend on the other hand has a different opinion. The ambiance was cute; a nice patio-like seating on the outside which is where we sat and more seating on the inside. They also had a few slot machines for the gamblers! Service was top tier, they were very attentive to our needs! We ended up receiving a little shot on the house. read more

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Great food and great service The wings were perfect with just enough sauce. The fries were golden brown with the perfect crisp. Lastly, the tuna tacos were delicious. Justin was working sooooo hard. He provided service above and beyond read more

We go quite often for the Thursday night trivia! Great food and drinks and lots of fun!

Had brunch here with some friends and it was a great time! We got bottomless mimosas and a ton of food - Nutella French toast, chips and guac, potatoes, and about a million baos and dumplings. We weren't the biggest fan of the breakfast bao or veggie dumplings, but really enjoyed the tofu and jfc bao and the chicken and pork dumplings. Very fast and friendly service and a super cool atmosphere/decor inside. Would definitely come back! read more

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We got take out. Sushi, lomein, beef and broccoli, and a bao bun. The lomein and beef was good and a large portion. The bao bun was cold and not a great texture, I would not get again. The sushi was ok. The inside was modern and a little bit of a chaotic scene with a lot going on. The food was ready fast but they forgot chop sticks. We didn't take pictures. read more

This review is for the food only!! Have not been to their Thursday Trivia Night, but it sounds fun. Came here for a quick bite and ordered the JFC, Braised Pork, and Short Rib baos. All three of the baos were saltier than I'd like. Personally, I thought that the Braised Pork and Short Rib had too much sauce on top, which overpowered the bao. Although also salty, I actually did like the JFC bao because the flavor was good. That being said, the vibes are pretty cool here. I would probably come for a happy hour or trivia, not for the food itself. read more

Bar Bao - JFC Bao Bun, Braised Pork Belly Bao Bun, and Short Rib Bao Bun - Asian Fusion Near Me - Arlington, Virginia

Have a great happy hour and nice outdoor seating. Love their bao buns. They also play reggaeton music on Sunday nights and it's a great crowd read more

Went to brunch with a fellow colleague. There was a nice outdoor seating area and staff wore masks. I entered the restaurant and wasn't promptly greeted but the restaurant was just opening so I understood the staff was busy. Service was ok, had to wait a little bit before the waitress came but food came out fairly quick. Not everyone in our party wanted bottomless brunch so we didn't do that, def would have been worth it to get it thought because the portions are in the smaller size. I ordered a handful of items - the baos were good, benedicts were ok. Note: they do not serve coffee so if you're looking for coffee with your eggs, you'll be disappointed. Overall an ok experience with decent food but I left still feeling a little hungry. read more

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This establishment was pretty nice. Visited on Saturday @ 6pm, music was very loud which is why I chose to sit outside. The waiters were very attentive but security could have been much nicer. The food was ok, everything seemed to be rushed which I did not like. The buns were cooked way too long and once you order the waiter was trying to take payment instantly. They were serving hookah which would have been a nice but who is paying 60$ for hookah in Virginia. I would recommend trying their brunch, I hear it's really good. read more

Bar Bao - Asian Fusion Near Me - Arlington, Virginia

Tasty lil apps! My friends and I came here for some lunch on Sunday after a spin class nearby! We didn't want to order too much, so we opted out of the bottomless brunch and ate a la carte. However, I would definitely recommend bottomless brunch if you are coming out to eat and chill with a group of friends, as you'll get more for your buck. That being said, the appetizers were small and a bit pricy. I love the lil bao buns! The meat is flavorful and the buns are soft and airy. Besides the food, our server was attentive and friendly. Also, the background music and wall art made it fun to eat there! read more

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