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

I stumbled on this place on accident and discovered it just in time to participate in their Happy Hour special!! They even have bottomless brunches on Saturdays. For only $35, you can enjoy a large selection of asian appetizers. Mimosas are .99 each but they're constantly topping you off which is awesome! I've never seen an Asian restaurant with a bottomless brunch like this, I will definitely be coming back! Food: For $7, the sushi roll was the best deal from this happy hour menu. The Spicy Salmon Crunch had a strong flavor, a little on the dry side though. The pork braised bao bun was AMAZING. Perfectly tender and juicy, the bun was deliciously warm. It was so good that I ordered another one to-go. Service: Awesome service. The employees were young and friendly. Very expedient. Atmosphere: They have bar seating, tables, and booths, perfect for any occasion. Very spacious location. The booths are along the wall of windows which provided an amazing view of the city. read more

Bar Bao - Happy Hour! Spicy Spicy Crunchy Salmon Roll ($7) and Braised Pork Belly Bao Bun ($3) -@FoodArtByAmy - Asian Fusion Near Me - Arlington, Virginia

This place is sketchy when it comes to checks. Make sure you take a copy of your bill. First they will include gratuity on all checks, not just large parties. If you catch that, pending charges will still be greater the following day after posting. Bartenders increase their tips at the end of the night. Avoid this place at all cost. read more

Come for the trivia and a beer, eat elsewhere. The service is slow--we had to order items multiple times, never received some dishes, even though they showed up on the bill. Also, PSA, they include service on the bill? Not sure if that's always. Overall giving this a 3 because it's work it for trivia but I wouldn't come here otherwise. read more

Everything was delicious, happy hour is a good time to enjoy a variety of dishes, my personal favorite was the Crab Rangoon. The Mango Margarita was fabulous. What I love the most was the ambiance and the service everyone is nice and helpful and Geovanni our bartender is awesome! I highly recommend it! read more

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Make sure you check out all the other one star reviews on this place before u read mines. They all say the EXACT same thing. The 5 stars will fool you smh My friend arrives to the restaurant at 4:30pm, he sat on the inside where there are no time restriction warnings on the table, his female server also did not warm him of a time restriction upon being seated. Once I arrive he asks to be sat outside. I arrive at 5:30 pm, once I sit down the server comes an lets us know we have 15 mins to hurry up an eat then leave (mind you, Im 7 months pregnant) I ask how come an she says theres a time limit. I tell her well I just arrived. She says "well his reservation is up" I say well can we leave an come back for another reservation ? She tells me "NO, once you come in once you cant return because of covid' HUH??? They were not taking temperatures at the door and it was outside seating where no one had on a mask...how can someone thats coming back to an establishment contribute to covid if there isnt any safety measures in place in the first place ???? I then say well this is my first time here can I just sit for a reservation she says yes but you friend cant because he has been here. so BASICALLY your saying if I come back I have to come alone a sit at a table BYMYSELF??? Or I can sit here but he has to leave??? None of this made sense!! And instead of the server saying "Well let me talk to my manager to see what I can do?" Or "Its not even that busy and theres no wait and theres plenty of tables so its ok " she just says NO. SO since I have been a server for years I decided to ask to speak with the manager. As soon as the manger came out he says "oh you guys are fine, because you just got here" An he then explained that when theres a wait thats when theres a time limit. EXACTLY Where we were sitting was HALF FULL when the waitress told us we had 15minutes!! Also the inside was basically EMPTY. An I wont contribute this to race but I will say she assumed she wasnt going to get a good tip thats why she tried to force us OUT!! Also the coward waitress never even came back to serve us because she knew her reasoning was crap :) There were also multiple 2-3 tables sat that had guest that were there well over the time limit an they were there when we finally left. THE FOOD : Its basically American food with pulled beef and pork thrown on everything. Only thing that was authentically Asian was the actual buns not the filling. The bokchoy was trash and the sushi subpar. Better off going to Fahrenheit, Copy Cat Co. or Sakuramen. The service is better at those places also ;) read more

Bar Bao - Asian Fusion Near Me - Arlington, Virginia

Came here the other night with a friend and absolutely loved it. I'm not a super cultured eater so i was worried but very happy with how it turned out. Drinks: I had the Mochi Paradise and it was amazing. The perfect amount of sweetness in a drink for me. Food: For food we started with the fried dumplings and they were sooo good and I wish we got more. I tried the chicken bao bun and the cheesesteak one and they were both pretty good. The real winner of the meal was my friends spider roll. I have always been iffy about sushi but I loved it. Service: Werner was our server and he was amazing. He was very attentive and just overall a cool guy. read more

Went back for dinner again. I will say that the inside of the establishment was much quieter even though it was later in the day, on a Saturday night, and with more people. We sat outside on the patio. The food was still fantastic though! Drunken noodles were great. Tuna roll was good. The boa buns are where it's at though! The service was friendly and attentive too. Sitting outside, it started to rain a little and the waiter offered to move us inside multiple times. (The rain blew over) We'll probably become regulars here! read more

Bar Bao - Bulgogi Fries - Asian Fusion Near Me - Arlington, Virginia

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This was on the list for a really long time as Akshay wanted to try their Bao Buns, so there we were on a Friday evening! We happened to be there during their happy hour so they had $5 beers and house wines. Ambiance: They have a very lively and bohemian ambiance with colorful murals on every single wall which sets it apart from other places around. They have a huge area with quiet seating on one end to bar area on the other side as well as outdoor seating Food: We ordered the bao buns which are like tacos but in a taco shaped soft bun instead of a hard tortilla. We ordered the cauliflower bun (crispy cauliflower with a tad sweet sauce), fried tofu bun, shrimp tempura bun and the chicken bun. They were all delicious but the size of the buns were small. Definitely the pictures on Yelp were a little misleading. You possibly need 4 of them to make it meal! read more

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Came here to eat some baos, and it was a bit of a letdown. I ordered the Shrimp Bao and Braised Pork Belly Bao. The presentation of the baos looked good, and it is a decent size. However, the bao is definitely not soft like it should be, but it's still edible. The outside of the shrimp was crispy, but the flavor was a bit bland itself without the sauce drizzled on top of it. On the other hand, the pork belly was chewy and meaty. With the underwhelming flavor of the baos, it is a bit pricey considering one is $4. In regards to the restaurant itself, it has a pretty spacious flooring with two separate bars and outdoor seating. The restaurant itself has low dimmed lighting. Overall, you could find better baos elsewhere especially if you want softer buns. read more

Bar Bao - Shrimp Bao & Braised Pork Belly Bao - Asian Fusion Near Me - Arlington, Virginia

Food +A Service +A Ambiance +A Accessibility +A Those short rib baoBuns are amazing . There's also Guinness on draft. Enjoy read more

Dang, the food here was so good I forgot to check in. Decided to pop in for a bite and have no regrets: we ordered the braised pork bao (3), Korean tofu bao (1), avocado bao (1) and fried vegetable dumplings. Food was fantastic, the boss were soft and firm, and the perfect delicate complement to the fillings. The braised pork baos were our favorite by far. Nice options for hot sauces are on the table. Decor is hip and trendy, well done "street art" murals adorn the walls, and seating choices include booths, tables, high tables, and a bar area. read more

Bar Bao - Asian Fusion Near Me - Arlington, Virginia

Would have gotten a 4/5, but when we showed up to our reservation they informed us that there were no longer bottomless mimosas! Still cheap at $1.50, but the brunch was on the more expensive side to begin with and the "deal" wasn't worth it IMO. We did enjoy most of the food, especially the addicting bulgogi tots. We wish there was a bit more variety on the menu- another sweet dish or two, and some brunch drinks besides mimosas. The service was good, and our food didn't take too long to come out despite the restaurant being full (or as full as you can be at 50% capacity). read more

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Security is unprofessional and rude. Needs to be retrained in deescalation and how to actually make patrons feel in a positive and safe environment. Instead of being allowed to live out their power trips. Won't be back. read more

Actually insane that you get a mini portion of soggy food for $19. They could've at least filled the bottom of the box with rice. Bar Bao, I hope you love your family more than your customers. read more

Bar Bao - Chicken Chili Basil Stir Fry - Asian Fusion Near Me - Arlington, Virginia

I've been to Bar Bao before for dinner and happy hour, but decided to do a birthday brunch here on Saturday for a big group of people. They were very accommodating as I kept changing the reservation up until the day. Also there's a 1 and a half hour limit to the table, which wasn't too bad honestly. I would typically do bottomless brunch options if given the choice, but since not everyone in my group wanted to do that, we did a la carte for brunch - ordering small plates as we go like tapas or dim sum. However, my total ended up being the same price as bottomless brunch anyways LOL (~$37). A pitcher of mimosa seemed expensive too ($25) which is the same size as the water pitchers so we didn't decide to get one either. What I got: Nutella French Toast - pretty good and standard, just too sweet for my taste, but a good way to end the dishes you get as dessert honestly. Steak Benedict - steak was great with the runny egg! Bulgogi Hash - my favourite dish! Potatoes with bulgogi bits and spice - so delicious and surprisingly very filling! JFC Bao - so crispy and flavourful - goes well with the bao. Braised Pork Bao - loved the crunch on the outside of the pork. We all were able to enjoy all of our dishes. Even though most of the dishes were more standard, we loved the Asian fusion style dishes a lot. The baos and the bulgogi hash were my favs. Our server was also very patient with us trying to split the bill among all of my party based on what everyone got, which I feel bad about, but very appreciative about. All the food is great and visually appealing, the staff are attentive, and it's a nice cozy place. Definitely recommend on going to brunch if you're ever in the area! read more

Came here for a friends birthday for a bottomless brunch and we were a pretty large group, about 10 of us. I was excited to try out their bao buns since that's their speciality and I found that I really liked the JFC, short rib, and shrimp one. But another stand out item has to be the calamari! It was crunchy, tender, and slightly sweet. However, towards the end I did find that my third (yes, third) order of it tasted overly sweet. Although I'm not entirely sure if that's because we had been downing lots of mimosas by that point and my mouth was covered in sugar. I also want to note that the service we had was great. We had Gio as our server and he constantly checked on to see if we wanted to order more or needed anything. The only ding I would give is that sometimes there seemed to be a lag between our orders and the food coming out. Luckily, the endless flow of mimosas seemed to keep our hungry at bay, so we didn't mind too much. read more

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Bar Bao is certainly a really fun place to go and hang out and has a great patio in the summertime. The food is good, but it's not great or particularly memorable. I think you can definitely get a better price for the quality. I've never had an issue with the service but have also never had an exceptional experience. It's definitely a fun atmosphere for a happy hour or grabbing drinks with friends, but I'd suggest looking somewhere else for a nice dinner. read more

Bar Bao never disappoints. If you're looking for some quick bao buns, this is a great spot to go to in the Arlington area. They have a big variety of bao buns, with some different options during the brunch hours (brunch ends at 3pm). I went with the bulgogi fries and it was a very large and reasonable portion. Definitely enough to feed two people. My date went with several bao buns and they were a bit small but were full of good taste. I dropped the rating to four stars due to the timing of bringing out the food. The bao buns came out rather quickly (less than 10 mins) but the fries took another 10 mins after. My date was able to finish her buns before my fries even came out. I also dropped the rating by a star because there was a 20% gratuity fee automatically charged to all checks that we weren't aware of until we signed the check. His is due to the COVID-19 conditions. Due to COVID-19, they're also limiting all parties to be seated for a max of 1 hour and 45 minutes. This place is usually a great place after hours for socializing with a great DJ. But due to the recent changes in state restrictions, they're not doing the after hours fun. But they're still keeping the good vibes going with great music throughout the day and TVs scattered all over. Keep in mind there's two dining areas (lounge area with bar and bar only area) as well as an outdoor bar area right outside the bar side. So plenty of seats and ways to socially distance. Overall, I recommend Bar Bao as a place to go for your Bao bun needs. read more

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Came for the buns stayed for everything else! I've been here a few times and it's never let me down. The food tastes great, drinks are strong but flavorful, and the staff really makes you feel at home. Shoutout to Otto, and Giovanni! I'm in love with the chicken wings (so much so that I've never gotten a good photo ). Would recommend the bao buns of course, they're all delicious. A ton of cool sushi options, and some cool cocktails. Happy Hour has a few food specials, rail drinks are all $5, so worth it if you have time from 3-7. They also have a nice club atmosphere when it gets late, full on music and cool strobe lights! All in all one of my favorite HH spots and definitely recommended! 5/5 read more

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I've been eyeing this place for quiet some time now. Bar Bao is in Clarendon, so be prepared to pay for parking, Uber or take the metro. I opted to drive--be aware that parking can be a bit of a nuisance if you're going during prime HH hours or on a weekend. Don't let this be a deterrent. Upon walking in at 5:30, my friend and I were the only patrons, a little alarming, yet offered an air of exclusivity. Our server was friendly enough and made some good suggestions. We ordered the calamari, crab Rangoons, friend chicken bao, braised pork bao, lemon grass chicken dumplings and some sort of oblong fried item. The food came out in less than 5 minutes, this sounds great, but to me it doesn't indicate authentically made food. Although the space was empty, there's no way the food should come out that quickly unless robots are making it OR everything is pre-made and reheated. While none of the foods were bad, nothing really stood out except the calamari. The calamari was unique since it was already tossed in a sauce, when traditionally we have to dip it. Despite the sauce tossing, the squid wasn't slippery when wet. The crab Rangoon's lacked flavor and everything else sorta tasted the same. My biggest disappointment was the bao. The place has bao in it's name, so I expected to be more blown away. The chicken inside the bao was very tasty--the bao itself was pretty thick and doughy, not in a good way. I'll describe my overall experience as underwhelming, however I want to try some of their other dishes so I will be back! All hope is not lost. read more

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TL;DR: Food and service was great. Ask for recommendations for what to order. As a carb lover, I LOVE baos. So you can see what attracted me here in the first place. We came in at an off hour (around 4PM on a Sunday). The restaurant is a large space and has TVs everywhere (perfect for a football Sunday). Our server was great. He and all the runners were attentive and knowledgeable about the menu when we had questions. Great experience with them. FOOD: Bulgogi Fries: uhh yes please! What is there not to like? Fries topped with bulgogi (korean beef), kimchi (which was sooo good on it's own), and melty cheese. Braised pork belly bao: So tender and topped with hoisin sauce Crispy pork belly bao: Same as the brasied pork, but crispier Korean braised rib bao: Again, so tender, and topped with a nice cabbage slaw Hong Kong Hot chicken bao: essentially fried chicken with a buffalo sauce. Probably our favorite bao we had. Hangover soup: Basically Pho. It was super flavorful, and I loved all the toppings it came with on the side. 5/5 will definitely return read more

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Great place! They have a wonderful outdoor area to sit in when the weather is nice as well as indoor seating. I sat outside and enjoyed the food as well as the music that was being played. I would highly recommend this spot especially as the weather continues to warm up read more

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

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DON'T LET THE OTHER REVIEWS FOOL YOU - My girlfriend and I went here on 8/2/20 with high expectations. Other brunch places on a Sunday early afternoon were reserved and this spot had many times available, so we checked out the menu, liked what we saw, and came through. Throughout our time there from the beginning we tried to remain optimistic, but everything kept adding up for the worse. Little did we know that going here would be the biggest mistake, and end up our worst restaurant experience ever for the both of us. 1) We only had 1 hour and 15 minutes before brunch was over, at 1:45PM and it ends at 3PM. As soon as we got there, our table was sticky and not wiped down properly. We preferred a booth anyway, and asked to be transferred, but again, the booth's table sticky. 2) It took 10 minutes for us to get served by Yee so we requested our 25 cent mimosas and ordered about 8 to 10 things off the brunch menu thinking that it will take a while for our food to come out and was told it would be about 15 minutes until everything is out. 3) We got our mimosas within 5 min, and waited.. waited.. slowly a few of our choices coming in but the main dish our multiple bao that we ordered along other dishes haven't come yet. All the food we are getting by the way is lukewarm (90% of it all). It's now around 2:35PM - We did order again at this time to counter how long our first order has been taking, but barely anything is coming out to us still. At this point I'm a little upset. We let Yee know and was told that the kitchen was backed up. It wasn't that full inside (casual environment to allow decent social distancing between multiple parties spread out) + people like us shouldn't have to be waiting this long in this case. But... it's still bothering us that these other tables even ones that came after to us are constantly being served faster with dishes we've been waiting on and consistently too back to back. 4) Around our time waiting, we had the time to be observant towards other tables. We saw one party leave w/o being served due to no one ever coming. Also strangely enough, we see other tables being served who came after us with faster food and service. There was this party of eight though who came before us and was constantly being served food left and right with drinks. It looked like the service they were getting was amazing and they were having a great time. 5) We come to figure out that this place is like an area where a lot of people come and kno each other. I'd say 70% of people were shaking hands with each other up in the time we were there including the security guards. Also, during a time of crisis a PANDEMIC, why aren't customers wearing a mask when walking close past by us and around inside the restaurant? 6) It's now around 2:45PM and we still have only received half of what we ordered from our first order at 1:55PM. It wasn't completely packed through our time there, but it made no sense to how disappointing our service has been. By the way, our server Yee who I mentioned in the earlier, she would always avoid us. No eye contact, no check ins, NOTHING. You know when you look at someone and you know they're avoiding to look your direction? That was our server Yee for you this whole entire time. 7) We weren't the only ones by the way, we saw a few other tables complain as well on how slow the food coming out is. I saw the look of this one mother of a family and she looked LIVID. Anyway, as soon as we complained again (2:45PM = 15 min til brunch orders are closed) at this point and want to talk to a manager. Now funny enough, a decent amount of our orders start coming out to us now. Not even the exciting options though, just like bacon strips, scrambled egg, dumplings just to fill the table (other reviewers experienced this). By the way, STILL WAITING ON THE BAO. 8) Now the manager comes, JOSH is his name. This guy is probably the worst type of person to work anywhere and sealed the deal for us. I summarized our experience to him. First off, it's easy to read someone's eyes. You could tell he didn't care. After I finished letting him know in a respectful manner, he let us know that WE WERE THE SOLE REASON TO HAD BACKED UP THE KITCHEN WITH THE "MANY" ORDERS WE PUT IN. How does that make any sense? First off, why is a manager blaming us w/ no accountability? Second, there's a party of 8 across from us who undoubtedly ordered much more than us + constantly got food with seemingly great service. He had no follow up and simply after more absurd choice words, he left saying, "thanks for coming by." Wow. 9) There was clear favoritism. The tables with fast service were mostly caucasian. My gf and I are of color. Other reviews here that say this place carries racism. Believe it. 10) These were my main points (text limit ran out) Please don't go, you will waste your money like we did. Bar Bao is our worst restaurant experience ever. 10.5) Our bao never came. *PHOTO TAKEN WHEN WE ARRIVED @ 1:45PM* read more

Bar Bao - Asian Fusion Near Me - Arlington, Virginia

I've now come twice and each time, the restaurant was nearly empty. I'm not sure why because it's a great location right in Clarendon, cool modern décor, and parking is pretty easy on the weekends during brunch. I've only had brunch each time and we tend to come at 1pm after making reservations on OpenTable, so I can collect points. First visit: Friendly waitress who kept our glasses full of mimosas. I literally never saw the bottom of my glass. She always got our order right and gave us just the right amount of attention. $39 included the bottomless small plates + the mimosas (no extra charge on each glass). Second visit: Friendly waiter but he kept forgetting to bring food to our tables. We had a party of 3 so we were all ordering multiple small plates at a time, but he didn't write anything down. He was slightly slower on refilling our drinks + the mimosas were now 25 cents per glass. Now listen! When there's a restaurant around the corner charging 1 cent per mimosa, you gotta come better than 25 cents especially when you're refilling a half empty glass and charging us for it. I'm not that tight with my wallet because at most I'm having about 6 glasses, but still. Then I look at the other reviews and they're talking about 5 cent mimosas. SMH! Food: Pretty dang good! The shrimp and calamari are smothered in a sweet Thai chili sauce, so you know it's loaded with sugar, but still tasty. The seaweed salad is one of my faves for it's freshness along with the pork bun and dumplings. I had the lemon grass soup on my most recent visit and it was really flavorful but I believe it was lemon juice in the broth and not lemongrass. The waffles are coated in sugar, which I think is unnecessary, personally. Would I return? Yea, but that's if they don't close down since they're always empty when I come. read more

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Fun atmosphere with clubby music! Food is typical Asian cuisine with good Boa Buns. The Nachos and Bulgogi Fries are the most popular apps! read more

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

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Had a wonderful evening with a friend at Bar Bao. We did not have a reservation but the gentleman handling the security and door was kind enough to take care of us and constantly checking to see if there was a table available. We didn't really have a preference, but we were seated inside within 10 minutes of our arrival (this is a weekend btw). We were greeted by one of the staff and they took our drink order. I don't recall what my friend had, but I ordered the Mochi Paradise which I highly recommend! So delicious and not too strong and not too sweet. Since we were at Bar Bao, we both ordered all baos - braised pork belly, cheesesteak, and JFC. YUMMY! If you come here, I definitely recommend these 3 options. There aren't many additional choices on top of these, but ordering more would definitely make you full. They are a bit pricey with one bao being $4, but I still enjoyed it nonetheless. Service was great! Staff was always checking on us and taking away plates whenever we were done. We paid the bill with no wait and were out at a good time. If I had to make one complaint, the table that was next to us wasn't 6ft. Luckily, the party kept to themselves and we were able to still enjoy our time at this establishment Overall, I had a great time! I could see myself going again since their whole menu looks great and the service was excellent. read more

Bar Bao - Asian Fusion Near Me - Arlington, Virginia

Went to dinner with a friend on a Sunday night. The place was clean and they had tables distanced. There was a QR code for the menu. They played good music, it was almost giving me line vibes! The bulgogi fries were really good! Only complaint was that because of the sauce from the meat, the fries were soggy. But otherwise still very good. Would order again maybe with the meat on the side? I like my fries crispy lol read more

Bar Bao - Bulgogi Fries - Asian Fusion Near Me - Arlington, Virginia

Likes: + Great outdoor seating in the front and the back. If you want somewhere quiet, the back is perfect. + Pork Belly Bao - my favorite of the night + Pork steamed dumplings + GT's Wings + Wednesday was $0.50/dumpling day. Loved getting to try all of them! + Happy Hour prices is $1 cheaper on a handful of menu items. + I loved that you get to pick multiple small plates so you get a large variety of menu items. If you are here with a group, it's great to try all the menu items and everything gets to sample everything! Disliked: + Not a fan of any of the fried dumplings. They're not "pan fried" but "deep fried" and I feel that it takes away from the wrapper and the flavors. + Fried Pork Belly Bao - If you want pork belly, go for the regular one where you get to experience the full slice of pork belly. The fat and all. The fried one takes away from the juicy fat and cuts down on the layers. + Bulgogi Cheesesteak - flavors were good but I really did not like the meat. The one I got was dry as a rock and so tough I couldn't even bite or chew it. read more

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Dined for Bottomless Brunch [$36.99] with $.25 mimosas The service: super attentive and never let our glasses get full. They also did a good job at keeping the table clean while we ordered more plates. The food: everything was SO good! The only dish i didn't care for was the chicken and waffles. The chicken was so hard you couldn't bite into it. But we ordered at least one of everything on the menu and literally everything was awesome! Some favs were the tot short rib, jfc bao bun, fried shrimp, and avocado toast COVID-19 sitch: there's outdoor seating and servers are in masks (can't remember if they were in gloves my bad ) This meal was not sponsored, and my feedback is always truthful. @alixtakesabite read more

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Man I love this spot!! Especially for happy hour! I'm so glad my cousin introduced me to this spot because since then I've been like multiple times. There food is good, drinks are good, staff is nice, hookah during happy hour is amazing! I've definitely forwarded this place to multiple people, and everyone has had a good time! Indoor and outdoor dining, you can make reservations or just get there early! Great spot to chill after work and enjoy happy hour!! read more

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Love love love love love Bar Bao! The drinks are pretty good but the food here is sooo delicious! I've had pretty much every bao there and they are all amazing. My favorites are the bulgogi cheesesteak and the pork belly! The tuna poke tacos are delicious as well! I'm salivating just thinking about how good they were. The service has always been perfect when we go there. They've always been helpful and nice! The vibes there are great. They have a patio which was nice in the spring and summer! Definitely a place I would recommend to check out if you're in Arlington and want some Asian food. read more

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It's a great spot for happy hour and they have really good drink deals. I personally haven't tried the food but I would go back for happy hour given the good service and fun time. read more

Lots of fun cocktails with Asian inspired themes, including a drink that is served with a straw from a little Buddha's belly (teasing and fun!). The entrees are cooked to slightly Americanized taste but they are still delicious and sour where it is needed. I had Thai drunken noodles that were super delicious and perfectly palatable, yet a little neutral in terms of getting into the real belly of Thai spice. The Mexican-inspired, Korean-themed, American-fusion food of Nachos overloaded with Bulgogi is everything that this place represents: hip preparations that emphasize fusion and decadently-sprinkled with Asian pizzazz. The waitresses are sweet people. So kind and noticeably attentive to each table. This spot is a great addition to the Clarendon buzz, with outdoor seating that is a relief from the noisy interiors around this area. read more

Bar Bao - Asian Fusion Near Me - Arlington, Virginia

A very interesting place. Come for the ambiance, not for the food. More a bar than restaurant. Loud music inside and out. We came on a warm summer day and sat outside on the patio. The atmosphere was great. Service was fine (though there was a long wait between the first dish and the rest, for no reason). The wanton nachos with tuna was creative (never had anything like that). The dim sum dishes (steamed) were so so ... maybe OK as bar food for people who have never had dim sum? The crispy Brussel sprouts are somewhat crispy but mostly very a bit over sweetened (to cover up the bitterness; I don't mind and love the bitterness of Brussel sprouts but that's just me). Overall that dish is just too sweet. The name of the restaurant is very creative: Bar Bao, which sounds like Meat Bun or something along those lines in Chinese, but also it's a bar, so a bar owned by Mr Bao perhaps. read more

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Nice patio, had shade in the evening. Party atmosphere. The shrimp tempura & the short ribs bao were tasty.

After walking by Bar Bao for the past few years, I finally decided to stop in for Happy Hour and give it a try. Their HH is one of the better ones in the area, especially if you are in the mood for Asian fusion food. We came in around 5pm on a Friday, and were seated right away. I was honestly surprised it wasn't more crowded considering their HH deals. The dining room is spacious, which is much appreciative because you aren't sitting on top of other diners. I could see it being an ideal spot for larger groups. Our server was really funny, and recommended a few of his favorite menu items. We ordered the JFC bao and braised pork belly bao off the HH menu at $3 each. We also got the bulgogi bao bun and the bulgogi fries off the normal menu because they sounded yummy. This place is obvi called Bar Bao for a reason...the bao buns were delicious! My favorite was the JFC bao, which is fried chicken in a chili sauce with cucumber. The buns were perfectly steamed and I enjoyed how the flavors complemented each other. The bulgogi bun was just okay, I'd probably pass on that if I visit again. However, the bulgogi fries were pretty good! The serving size is great for sharing and I definitely recommend if you're a fan of kimchi and spicy mayo. I hope to visit again the next time I am in Arlington! read more

Bar Bao - Asian Fusion Near Me - Arlington, Virginia

It's a amazing brunch - hands down a must on the list. Sophia, my server, was brilliant and took amazing care if us. The food is spool good. It is evident the chef loves to make spectacular food the excites the palate. The bottomless mimosas tops off an amazing bottomless tapas style brunch with the best Bao Buns I have had in this area. LOVED our experience. We will be back again!!! So good. Just go. read more

CUSTOMER SERVICE: I loved out waiter. He was very friendly and helpful with food selections/beer selections. FOOD: We ordered 2 Pork Belly Bao Buns, Bulgogi Fries, and Tuna Poke Taco. I thought all three dishes were delicious! I really liked the idea of having poke as a taco dish. Good food for a hangover. I highly recommend this place if you love the idea of fusions. Would I come here again? YES. This place is very spacious and it seems like for a more social place to have fun. read more

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3.5 for me, but I'll round up for effort. My friend and I have had this place bookmarked on Yelp for a while, so we were excited to check out Bar Bao. We came for happy hour, which is Monday through Friday, from 3-7pm for food and until 8pm for drinks. (Note: Their happy hour menu on their website has changed - baos are $6 instead of $5.) Most drinks are $4-$5 for happy hour. We ordered both of their baos, the Fried Chicken Bao and Braised Pork Bao. One order comes with two baos. I like the concept of Bar Bao, but execution could be better. Since we were sharing the baos, it would've been nice to have equal distribution of ingredients. For both types of baos, one clearly had more protein than the other. Additionally, the cucumber in the braised pork bao was cut way too thick, so the bao was not balanced. But that's me being nit-picky. Overall, the baos had good flavor. Will I be running back to Bar Bao anytime soon for $3 baos? Probably not, but A for effort. read more

Bar Bao - Braised pork baos ($6) - Asian Fusion Near Me - Arlington, Virginia

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