Got 3 BBQ baos and 1 teriyaki chicken. Soft, fresh, and tasty. I enjoyed the cold peanut noodle salad most. Got a ice Thai coffee along with it.... there was only one in the case and I asked if it was still fresh and they said yes.... but they still have me a free one! So sweet and considerate. Perfect for a quick snack read more

As fast food goes Wow Bao is a good option. Over the years I think I've tried almost everything on the menu. I don't think I've ever had anything I really didn't like. My favorites are: teriyaki chicken bao, bbq pork bao, dumpling noodle soup, thai herb broth, and of course the matcha bao. The service is what I'd expect from a fast food place, it can be hit or miss, not amazing, but not horrible. Let's be honest, you're here for food, quickly, not to be wow'd by the guy ringing your order up. Of all the fast food options in the area I think Wow Bao is the most overlooked. Check 'em out, you won't regret it. read more

Came in for a quick lunch. Service was friendly and fast. Ordered the 6 piece variety Bao with a mixture of some of the meat filled choices and a Pad Thai rice bowl. Some of the Bao were good and others were just so-so. I would probably pass on the pad thai if I go there again. read more

Wow Bao - Chinese Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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If you are looking for tasty food at a reasonable cost, you need to try Wow Bao. We ordered a six pack of BBQ Pork Bao and they were delicious. In addition, we had Thai Curry Chicken on lettuce wraps, a chicken teriyaki bowl and pork dumplings. The Thai Curry was a little salty and the dumpling are made in advance. The were good but not as good as the Bao. I would definitely come back for the bowls and Boa. read more

I haven't eaten at a Wow Bao since I was in Chicago like a year and a half ago, but I STILL remember those things like I had them yesterday. They're delicious. Specifically, the desert ones. I mean the actual food ones are alright, but what really stood out were like the chocolate and custard ones. Oh hell yeah. Very few restaurants just take me back the way this one does. For those who may not know, baos are just like stuffed dumplings, about the size of a baseball or something. They have several different varieties, including ones stuffed with like chicken and shredded beef and pork and curry and whatnot. And then there's the desert ones, which also included coconut, I believe, and maybe one or two others. I guess they'd be good for lunch, but really they're best if you just like stop in and grab a bag of sweet baos to go. They're so good. read more

My problem with Wow Bao isn't that the food is bad, it's that the food is meh, which is too bad, because I think it has potential to be great. The baos taste good- the bread is soft and airy. But they're like, 99% bread with very little filling. To many, that's a good thing! People like bread. But for a place with so much hype, I'd expect a little bit more, ya know? The entrees are also just meh. I'll admit, I had the "all vegetables," so maybe I was setting myself up for a meh meal. But my boyfriend had the orange chicken with fried rice, and he didn't finish it, not because he was full, but because he just wasn't feeling it. I'd say this is comparable to Panda Express, if not maybe even a little less flavorful. read more

I liked this place even though my and my friends order got a little screwed up. It was fine because the baozi we ordered was good. Lucky we didn't get a mix up with one we don't like. I love love that you can read which baozi is which from the wrappers on the bottom. That's so handy! And cute. Sorry but their ginger ale is disgusting. I like ginger ale but obviously, I've learned, just the soda stuff you get in supermarkets. This homemade stuff was terrible. Guess it kinda hurts that I hate ginger. Ha ha whoops. read more

Wow Bao - Chinese Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Some days I feel adventurous and want to try new things, some days I hate myself for doing this. Today is one of those days. Hands down worse "Asian" or "Asian" inspired fried rice I've ever had and the driest pork I've ever eaten. The flavor of the entire thing was off. It was cold. It was pitiful. They should honestly be embarrassed with themselves for serving the palest imitation of fried rice I've ever tried. I also ordered the pork bun. This was way better and I actually liked it but it was also cold. I think I was warmer underneath my jacket than any of my food was. Also portions are tiny! I paid $12, which is the norm in downtown, but I literally got half the portion size I'd get any where else for the same amount of money. I weigh 110 pounds, and while I want to try everything, I really don't eat much, so if I'm complaining about not having enough food you know there's a problem. read more

Wow Bao - My lunch savior. Wish this wasn't cold. - Chinese Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

I want to start by saying I got this delivered so it might be way better in person but this was my first time ordering here and I got lo mein with vegetables, egg roles and kung pao bao and a bbq bao... the noodles were really gross. Zero sauce just plain noodles and vegetables I guess I assumed it would have some sort of sauce or something the veggies on top were good but the noodles? Cold(delivery was pretty fast) and gross and plain. the egg rolls were enjoyable and the bao was decent, not the very best but still good. I wouldn't order here again probably but it wasn't disgusting food and I feel like maybe I just need to have it in person! read more

My friends and I came here for a lil snack while walking downtown. It was supposed to be a random grab but I was glad we were able to have found this place. Great buns and drinks. Though the lobby was a bit too small, I don't think it was for dine in anyways. read more

Wow Bao - Chinese Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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I was staying at the Renaissance and decided to try lunch here. It was really good. I got the Curry Chicken rice bowl and two Baos (coconut and chocolate). The rice was great it had just the right amount of spicey for me, and I loved the coconut cream bao! The chocolate one was so-so, but the coconut cream is fantastic! Very affordable, nice atmosphere, and really convenient to the big hotels along the river. read more

This is one of my favorite places to eat in the Loop (and also one of the places that won't break the bank). It's fast, the service is friendly (I've seen some rude customers, and even then the service maintained), and it's good. I can be one of those annoying people that worry what is in things, but my first impression of Wow Bao was positive when I asked about ingredients and they were able to produce a list. The facility seems clean enough, too, which is a bonus. Location is a real selling point, and when I lived in this area, I could count on Wow Bao for reliable, fast service. (I wish the same could be said for the Potbelly's across the street, which probably has the worst service in the city, but that's another review.) read more

I will give this establishment 2 stars, because I have simply two important things to say about these WOW BOAS. 1) I can get these steam BBQ pork buns in Chinatown dim sum restaurant, for about $1.50 for for Boas. 2) Give them props for making such a cheap thing like boas to be worth $3! And they made them smaller than the normal size you would get in Chinatown. I had these little guys awhile back, when a Friend had brought them to me in a to go container. I thought it was cute, and the boas tasted fine, but nothing out of the normal, expect for the price and the size. read more

I was told by some to check Wow Bao out, but my closest friends told me there was nothing to go crazy out. I finally tried Wow Bao out, and went all out with a couple others. We ordered almost everything they had on the menu. The bao itself is not too bad, although not very remarkable in taste and certainly overpriced. The chocolate bao was probably the best thing we tried. The teriyaki bowls are tasty as well, although at $5.99 a piece they are well over-priced and will not get you anywhere near satiated. The salad was also small-portioned, overpriced and unfortunately not as tasty as the other items. The ginger ale was good. I can see why people enjoy stopping in here because it is trendy. It's good if you want to buy something small for taste, but it is nowhere to be if you want to get your money's worth or spend good money to be fed. If you want better bao with similar unique fillings for a better price, you could try Famima. read more

I've go here often and it is a popular work destination. The Bao are these really doughy won tons and are great. I always get the chicken teryaki it's great. They sell them per bao and you only need 3. I've tried the pot stickers and they are good but the bao is better. Also if you still have room dessert the chocolate bao is bao filled with dark chocolate and is delicious. There usually is a wait but I haven't had to wait more than 5 minutes and you get your food very fast! Great lunch place! read more

Wow Bow was an addiction for a good three years. And then something changed. Their whole wheat edamame bows are no longer the same. They are more soggy than crispy and while I keep trying, now that they have a location in my office building, it's not too long before I give up.. But all said and done, I can't give it just 2 stars either because it is one of the best lunch options.. read more

Relatively gorgeous venue. Who wouldn't want this location? It's a commuter dream with a prime view. Wow Bao does a great job with their modern, contemporary decor. For what it is, Wow Bao does its job. However, I'm not sure it lives up to the name. For the price of a set here, I can probably eat a full and richer meal in Chinatown. I think this place is trendy and cute, but probably not for those seeking out a more budge-friendly approach. Wow Bao, despite it's name, develops decent cuisine for an above average price. read more

Need something quick, easy, and cheap, to hold you over? Wow Bao son. For about $8 you get 6 fairly decent sized baos in about 1-2 minutes, where the pre-made buns go through a quick resteaming process. Also, they even label the paper that sits on the bottom of the bao to let you know which bao you are eating. Surprisingly, it was pretty decent. Not Chinatown authentic, but just does the job as a snack around the Loop area. Probably the closest thing to authentic would be the BBQ Pork one. Personal favorite was the Thai Curry bao. Will be back for an afternoon snack next time I'm working in Chicago. read more

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OVERALL:3.1 FOOD:2.5 SERVICE:4 AMBIANCE:2 VALUE:4 Order your hot Asian buns online AND via touchscreen! Countertops, seating, and interior have seen shinier days, but the buns are perky, soft, fresh, and steamy, so take-out is the obvious way to go. 2 buns took less than 2 minutes...downtown packaging & convenience for almost-Chinatown prices ($1.39 ea)! THAI CURRY CHICKEN: mild curry is nicely fragrant & surprisingly tasty in bun form, but wouldn't be as enjoyable over rice. COCONUT CUSTARD: why would you ruin a perfectly perfect bun with gag-inducing, extra-thick goo pudding? and why did I voluntarily pay for one?! Soooo many other good options--skip this one :( read more

Wow Bao - Chinese Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

3.5 stars Had a craving for Asian food during our trip to Chicago and decided to step in to Wow Bao for an afternoon pick-me-up. This isn't like any Asian place that's dirty and delicious, it's half the opposite - its modern, clean but still delicious. My husband and I shared a combo with two baos (thai chicken curry, spicy mongolian beef), one rice bowl (kung pao chicken on jasmine white rice), and one homemade ginger ale. The menu is pretty well organized. You first decide just small snacks like baos, potstickers, or something bigger like a noodle or rice bowl. You then choose what meat or filling you'd like, and if a bowl then you choose your bed of carbs you want the filling to sit on. Menu is large enough and not overwhelming that it makes you stand there for 10 minutes deciding what you want. They had other stuff on the menu but I didn't pay much attention to it. Both the baos and the rice bowls we had were pretty good!! Pretty fresh tasting and soothing for my Asian soul. I'm not a ginger fan but my husband really loved his ginger ale as it was extra ginger'y compared to your regular canned stuff. Would recommend if you wanna grab something small or quick! Not AMAZING but pretty good. read more

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Delicious. I went for the first time bc my brother took me. I melted in the first bite of the bbq pork bao.

This has got to be the worst Chinese food type food I ever had. I got 2 of their teriyaki poa things and tasted like BBQ sauce from the dollar store. I got the kung Pao chicken and it was 90% rice and even the Kung Pao tasted like super cheap BBQ sauce. read more

Wow Bao - Chinese Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

I've always wanted to check this place out. Not a lot of Asian restaurants serve bao like this. I went with my bf and we order 6 baos and a bowl of lo mein and orange chicken. The baos were huge! We probably could have ordered just four and that would have been enough. We weren't sure which bao was which however. It would've been helpful if the baos looked different or were labeled. We couldn't really taste the difference between Kung pow chicken and spicy Mongolian beef. Definitely want to check out the breakfast baos next time. The orange chicken bowl was very good too. read more

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Great supper on a frigid Chicago night. I spent my lunch today walking to restaurants only to find them closed due to the pandemic. Luckily on my walk back I passed Wow Bao. My order was fast and the guys here were so friendly! Food was good and fresh, my bone broth is spicy but hot and delicious! If you're nearby give them a try. read more

Hot asian buns? And they're only $1.49? Sign me up. My first time in, I'd already eaten but was intrigued by fast-casual, yet pseudo-healthy, WOW BAO. I went with a coconut custard bun. It did not disappoint. The squishy outer texture of the warm steamed bun, and the custary delicious filling was a great combo. Happy tastebuds! The next day we stopped in again. I had seen the whole wheat bun with edamame on the menu when I got my coconut custard bun and knew I wanted to try one when I had available stomach real estate. Glad I did! So tasty. Edamame and other veggies (red pepper, broccoli) was satisfying. One of my favorite things about WOW BAO is the cleanliness and speed. They have their stuff together. It was packed at lunch but thanks to an easy-to-use electronic ordering system where you order and pay outside the door, my bun was quickly available. read more

Wow Bao - Coconut custard steamed bun - Chinese Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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Cancelled our order well after we placed it, twice. Answered the phone and just hung up when we called to ask about it. Poor customer service. read more

You'd think that this place would've improved during the five years it took me to muster up the courage to give it one more shot. Nope. Strike three. We ordered online. A couple minutes after placing our order, I got a phone call from the restaurant. "We're out of white rice right now. Would jasmine rice be okay?" "Yes, that's fine." (That part of my review is important for what happened later.) After about 25 minutes (which was five minutes longer than what they claimed it would take to fulfill the order) we headed to the restaurant. When we arrived, we found that we had to wait in line with everyone who hadn't ordered anything. Weird, but whatever. You'd think they'd have a separate line for folks who tried to save time by ordering online. Standing in line took another ten minutes of time. We're now at 35 minutes post-order. When we told the guy behind the register we were there to pick up an online order, he asked us to step aside and wait for the food. Uh, what? We waited for the food. And waited. And waited. And waited. It was now 45 minutes post-order. Not only did the people in the line in front of us get their food and leave, but the people behind us got their food and headed to tables. I'd decided I'd had enough. I stopped one of the kids behind the counter. "We've been waiting for our food for the last 20 minutes. We ordered 25 minutes before that." The kid asked for our order name, looked frazzled, looked through a handful of tickets -- and proceeded to ignore us. ... What? It was now 50 minutes post-order. I stopped him again. "What's the deal? We ordered almost an hour ago. We've watched everyone else get their food and leave." "We're waiting on rice." SERIOUSLY? I stopped him a third time. This time, he picked up a couple bags that were sitting on a nearby shelf with what I'm sure were other orders that would've likely gone out before ours had I not said something. We opened the bags to check our orders. Of course, they were wrong. It was now an hour post-order. They took the orders back and remade them in under 10 minutes. WHAT? Reading four and five star reviews for this pit is downright comical. Is this the only restaurant those people have ever been to? read more

WB has good food, served quickly, with plenty of seating, even at lunchtime. I have a few corrections to make to the business info listed here. There is no wifi, there is no outside seating, and the price is more $$ rather than $. But none of that should stop you from having lunch here. read more

If you don't want to wait in line (especially during lunch), use the kiosk outside and get your food faster than those in line at the cashier. Fave: curry chicken bowl and/or bao. read more

Wow Bao - Thai curry chicken bowl...SO delish! - Chinese Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

I've been here a few times (why is someone giving a place 2 stars but continues to go there? It's just so dang convenient! I live in the building). As long as your expectations are tempered, it's alright. I wish they would do something to let you know which Baos are which though. I get a 6 pack of all different Baos and have no idea which is which. Also, I ordered online delivery (why is someone who lives in the building ordering online delivery? 35% off on Grubhub). I ordered 6 Bao, 5 dumplings, and 8 pot stickers. I received 6 Bao and 5 pot stickers (missing 3 potsticker and 5 dumplings). The delivery is what knocked it from 3 stars to 2. Update: I'm dumb, the Bao's have labels on the pieces of paper underneath them, added another star! read more

Fairly healthy, very fresh tasting Asian Food at a decent price in downtown Chicago. They have a super convenient touch screen ordering system that makes paying a breeze and cuts down on time waiting in line. We were there during rush lunch time on a very busy Saturday and the place was busy but we got our food within two minutes., so the service is ridiculously fast. The homemade ginger ale is to die for, so definitely splurge for that. Personally, I preferred the noodle bowls to the buns. I found the buns to be too sweet, but thats just me because I prefer spicy and salty to sweet flavors. read more

Wow Bao - Chinese Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

This place is very quick to serve and the food was unique and delicious! The staff was a little bit quiet but I suppose that is fast food for you. It does seem like a higher end fast food joint, if that's a thing. The portions weren't huge, just the right amount of food in the bowl. Prices weren't horrible either. I give it a 4/5! read more

pretty good buns and meals! I like how convenient and fast you can order and all you have to do is sit down and wait for your number to be called. i ordered teriyaki rice bowl and some buns i like it specially the BBQ hot buns its pretty good! read more

Wow Bao - teriyaki rice bowl and some hot buns - Chinese Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

I enjoyed the bao I had, but the Thai curry chicken rice bowl was disappointing. Not only was the chicken something like my British mom would make (not a compliment), there was very little in the way of the chicken to begin with, so I paid $7 for a pretty big bowl of white rice with little flavor. My wife enjoyed her teriaki chicken with noodles though, which seemed much saucier. I would try this place again but I'd probably just grab 3 bao to go. On the other hand, there's a Potbelly and a Chick-Fil-A across the street... read more

We popped into Wow Bio for a quick snack before taking the Free Tours By Foot "The Loop and Millennium Park" tour. DELICIOUS dumplings, and highly recommend the hot ginger tea with lime. YUM!!!!! And priced extremely well! Very authentically-kind service (not just the robotic "thank you" and "have a nice day") read more

Wow Bao - Dumplings and hot ginger tea with lime -- both "must gets!" - Chinese Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

This place is delicious. I would not mind them catering my wedding. The atmosphere is fun and hip and the food is so unique and wonderful. I'm the kind of person who can't really handle messy food. It really just stresses me out. Baos are the least messy food I've ever had. You can just eat them with your hands! Yummo! Hint: The coconut custard baos are my favorite. If you like pudding and you like coconut, you HAVE to try these. My life will never be the same. Wish I had one right now... read more

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A really good place with a nice atmosphere. Easy to order and to eat quickly. Tasted somewhat fresh , but much more healthy and tasty than other chineese big chains. I love the chicken potsticks and the bbq bao. A good variety of healthy and tasty beverages and good deserts. Almos perfect for being a "fast food" read more

L O L Cheap eats, but you get what you pay for... food and service that leaves much to be desired. The staff had no knowledge of the menu and were very rude from order to pick up. Once we got to the counter the woman was unable to answer any of our simple questions. Us: What's in the wow me now combo? Her: A whole bunch of things. Us: Is the hibiscus iced tea sweetened? Her: Oh I don't know. *shrugs* We ended up ordering the veggie rice bowl, my boyfriend had the steak noodle bowl, and we shared chicken potstickers. My microwave could have done a better job of making a meal!!! The rice was hard, veggies had a weird spongy texture, and zero flavor. I ate the pot stickers, but honestly not sure if they were thoroughly cooked. Total for all of this and one drink was $26 and change. Not worth it AT ALL! I would have left much more satisfied with my food and service at the Chick Fil A across the street. SKIP THIS PLACE AT ALL COSTS! read more

If I can give half a star I would. Not only disappointing but just bad food in general. Ordered the combo + 3 potstickers, combo included noodles and steak. The noodles were beyond bland and had no flavor whatsoever. The steak was mushy and didn't even taste like meat. The potstickers tasted bland and needed to add a ton of soy sauce. If you have more options please go else where. read more

I work a few blocks away from Wow Bao-- nut sure why I hadn't tried it earlier. The prices are pretty decent and for a quick lunch it isn't too greasy or heavy. The bao are really good and come in a variety of fillings. You only need a couple to be totally full. And their steamed dumplings are delicious. I'm a huge fan of the veggie dumpling/Asian salad combo. Oh, and LEYE frequent diner points. Awesome! read more

Wow Bao - Vegetable dumplings and Asian veggie salad - Chinese Near Me - Chicago, Illinois