The idea of having fresh-cooked Baos for a quick meal is great. The implementation of an idea doesn't always live up to the expectations. I ordered one 2-Pack BBQ Pork Baos ($6.47 with tax), that seemed to look nice, but turned out to be neither tasty, nor savory. Besides, they were barely warm. Not exactly , what you expect from those good-looking, steamed Chinese buns. Another issue -- a long-term one for for this place -- is seating. If you have to go up two floors on an escalator, carrying a bag of Baos, and then you have to walk on a Mezzanine Level to a specified area and take a seat -- all that doesn't sound (and it isn't) a very convenient "way to have a meal" (pun intended). This is a not a new problem: there used to be Starbucks Coffee cafe in between two floors , spacious enough to accommodate the public from various eating stands, cafes or restaurants on lower floors. Not anymore: Starbucks is gone. So the customers of Wow Bao either have to take an escalator ride upwards, or the more adventurous ones just seat on the stairs, right next to the escalator (sic!). Necessity is the mother of invention, but in Water Tower Place it seems to be ... strange would be a neutral word, I guess? The service at the ordering counter was attentive and polite, the place and ambiance were busy. My visit to Wow Bao was in October 2022.
Erin P.
My teenage daughters wanted to try this place while we were downtown. Nice variety of Bao buns. Would definitely try again.
Shelby G.
Order on the machine and wait a few minutes for your buns to be steamed. Order sweet or savory. All are delicious.
Yvonne Y.
Prompt service in early afternoon. Had the roasted peanut noodle and the noodles were delicious. Sauce is tangy and spicy. You can even use your lettuce entertain you gift card.
Miao F.
Got kung pao bowl + potstickers + bao for lunch. It was amazing. The bbq bao is authentic as what I could expect from a Chinese dim sum place. Order pickup was quick and accurate; staff were extremely helpful.
Andy U.
I was hoping for a lot more from this place for some reason, but was sadly disappointed with the taste mainly. I ordered the bowl + 2 bao. For the baos I got the spicy Mongolian beef and the spicy Kung pow chicken. They were not spicy and I couldn't tell the difference between the two. If fact, they tasted like a standard pork bun you would get normally from other places. For the bowl, I got lo mein noodles with teriyaki chicken. It tasted like spaghetti with meat sauce. On a good note, I thought the portions were a nice size for the cost.
Quiana J.
Was excited to try this place while visiting Chicago, but we were disappointed. Orange chicken was bland and does not look appetizing. Boa buns were very salty and raw.
Jesse T.
Order from the tablet out front. 3 bag should work for a basic meal. Good variety. Atmosphere is kinda meh, but it's unique fast food.
Melanie K.
the worst food ever. very pricey and doesn't taste fresh or even what it should be. I ordered 1 king poa chicken with bbq pork bun and another bun. also ordered orange chicken with bbq chicken bun and vegetable bun. this is what I received: 2 king poa chicken bowls and 4 ground beef buns. the bowl was filled to the top with rice and a table spoon of soggy beans and onion in som sort of sauce. definitely not king poa chicken or orange chicken. not worth h the price and had to throw mine out tasted so bad.
TMMCslave
So extremely disappointed!!!! Ordered a bowl combo that came with a side of stem bun X 2 Order with Skip the Dish Only received the 2 steam buns e tree never delivered even when I completed Steam buns were sub par… dry bland and boring…. Totally pissed that I spent over $30 for delivery and did not receive what I paid for Skip gave a refund, for part of my order however I was ripped off and was not properly compensated for what I didn’t receive. What a joke!!!!! Had the quality of the small amount of food I did receive present as excellent I wouldn’t be so harsh…. I will never waste my mobile again on this place…. To be honest very unimportant with how Skip handled the situation and done with them also…. Waste of $$$
Wow bao is a top tier experience, I loved the atmosphere, creativity of the dishes and the flavor of the bao was delicious. I especially recommend the chicken teriyaki bao, and the apple pie bao, both incredibly delicious. The only reason why I deduct 2 stars is due to the pricing which is somewhat high for the taste and portion, and also due to the portion size which is miniscule.
Meryl F.
I am in absolute disbelief of the service we experienced during our dine-in visit at Wow Bao a few weeks ago. To start, their kiosk which is required to order food was not functioning properly, and it took each customer a long time to place an order. There was a long line, but the employees still directed us to the kiosk and refused to ring up any customers on the registers. As other people were complaining about the kiosk, two employees in particular would just roll their eyes and make comments under their breath in disgust, clearly annoyed with all the customers attempting to place their order. They just stood there waiting for orders to come through and watching customers, including ourselves, struggle to use the kiosk. I would say it took close to thirty minutes to place our order and receive our food, and at least one couple just gave up and left after attempting for about 5 minutes. Once we received the food and we were just starting to eat, there was about fifteen minutes before closing time. There were also other customers dining inside and suddenly we heard the two employees yelling to everyone that we had five minutes to eat and they will be closing. Everyone looked around in disbelief as many of us had just gotten our orders with all the trouble. Then one employee said to the other, "If these people don't leave, I'm going to call security." We, along with the others in the restaurant, were shocked with the hostility used to get customers out of the restaurant (before actual closing time) and the total lack of customer service. I have never had a bad experience at Wow Bao up to this point, however this is beyond disappointing. As we left, I told both employees who had major attitude, "this is not how you treat any customer." One of them responded that they're short staffed. So many restaurants are in the same boat, and yet I've not been berated by any other restaurant's workers just for attempting to place an order and eat my food. I will not be returning to this location, and this might actually be the last time I eat Wow Bao.
Darrell P.
I got the Orange chicken and it was horrible. The staff were not too friendly either.
Mercy R.
the foods is not good the chicken teriyaki bowl did not have enough chicken even the soy sauce was horrible. worse than McDonald's is expensive for the quality of food
Stephen C.
I have never been to a fast food bao place but this place was pretty tasty. I liked the food and the service was ok but people had trouble ordering and it made things kind of slow if people were ahead of you. But not bad at all
The idea of having fresh-cooked Baos for a quick meal is great. The implementation of an idea doesn't always live up to the expectations. I ordered one 2-Pack BBQ Pork Baos ($6.47 with tax), that seemed to look nice, but turned out to be neither tasty, nor savory. Besides, they were barely warm. Not exactly , what you expect from those good-looking, steamed Chinese buns. Another issue -- a long-term one for for this place -- is seating. If you have to go up two floors on an escalator, carrying a bag of Baos, and then you have to walk on a Mezzanine Level to a specified area and take a seat -- all that doesn't sound (and it isn't) a very convenient "way to have a meal" (pun intended). This is a not a new problem: there used to be Starbucks Coffee cafe in between two floors , spacious enough to accommodate the public from various eating stands, cafes or restaurants on lower floors. Not anymore: Starbucks is gone. So the customers of Wow Bao either have to take an escalator ride upwards, or the more adventurous ones just seat on the stairs, right next to the escalator (sic!). Necessity is the mother of invention, but in Water Tower Place it seems to be ... strange would be a neutral word, I guess? The service at the ordering counter was attentive and polite, the place and ambiance were busy. My visit to Wow Bao was in October 2022.
My teenage daughters wanted to try this place while we were downtown. Nice variety of Bao buns. Would definitely try again.
Order on the machine and wait a few minutes for your buns to be steamed. Order sweet or savory. All are delicious.
Prompt service in early afternoon. Had the roasted peanut noodle and the noodles were delicious. Sauce is tangy and spicy. You can even use your lettuce entertain you gift card.
Got kung pao bowl + potstickers + bao for lunch. It was amazing. The bbq bao is authentic as what I could expect from a Chinese dim sum place. Order pickup was quick and accurate; staff were extremely helpful.
I was hoping for a lot more from this place for some reason, but was sadly disappointed with the taste mainly. I ordered the bowl + 2 bao. For the baos I got the spicy Mongolian beef and the spicy Kung pow chicken. They were not spicy and I couldn't tell the difference between the two. If fact, they tasted like a standard pork bun you would get normally from other places. For the bowl, I got lo mein noodles with teriyaki chicken. It tasted like spaghetti with meat sauce. On a good note, I thought the portions were a nice size for the cost.
Was excited to try this place while visiting Chicago, but we were disappointed. Orange chicken was bland and does not look appetizing. Boa buns were very salty and raw.
Order from the tablet out front. 3 bag should work for a basic meal. Good variety. Atmosphere is kinda meh, but it's unique fast food.
the worst food ever. very pricey and doesn't taste fresh or even what it should be. I ordered 1 king poa chicken with bbq pork bun and another bun. also ordered orange chicken with bbq chicken bun and vegetable bun. this is what I received: 2 king poa chicken bowls and 4 ground beef buns. the bowl was filled to the top with rice and a table spoon of soggy beans and onion in som sort of sauce. definitely not king poa chicken or orange chicken. not worth h the price and had to throw mine out tasted so bad.
So extremely disappointed!!!! Ordered a bowl combo that came with a side of stem bun X 2 Order with Skip the Dish Only received the 2 steam buns e tree never delivered even when I completed Steam buns were sub par… dry bland and boring…. Totally pissed that I spent over $30 for delivery and did not receive what I paid for Skip gave a refund, for part of my order however I was ripped off and was not properly compensated for what I didn’t receive. What a joke!!!!! Had the quality of the small amount of food I did receive present as excellent I wouldn’t be so harsh…. I will never waste my mobile again on this place…. To be honest very unimportant with how Skip handled the situation and done with them also…. Waste of $$$
Restaurantji Recommends
Wow bao is a top tier experience, I loved the atmosphere, creativity of the dishes and the flavor of the bao was delicious. I especially recommend the chicken teriyaki bao, and the apple pie bao, both incredibly delicious. The only reason why I deduct 2 stars is due to the pricing which is somewhat high for the taste and portion, and also due to the portion size which is miniscule.
I am in absolute disbelief of the service we experienced during our dine-in visit at Wow Bao a few weeks ago. To start, their kiosk which is required to order food was not functioning properly, and it took each customer a long time to place an order. There was a long line, but the employees still directed us to the kiosk and refused to ring up any customers on the registers. As other people were complaining about the kiosk, two employees in particular would just roll their eyes and make comments under their breath in disgust, clearly annoyed with all the customers attempting to place their order. They just stood there waiting for orders to come through and watching customers, including ourselves, struggle to use the kiosk. I would say it took close to thirty minutes to place our order and receive our food, and at least one couple just gave up and left after attempting for about 5 minutes. Once we received the food and we were just starting to eat, there was about fifteen minutes before closing time. There were also other customers dining inside and suddenly we heard the two employees yelling to everyone that we had five minutes to eat and they will be closing. Everyone looked around in disbelief as many of us had just gotten our orders with all the trouble. Then one employee said to the other, "If these people don't leave, I'm going to call security." We, along with the others in the restaurant, were shocked with the hostility used to get customers out of the restaurant (before actual closing time) and the total lack of customer service. I have never had a bad experience at Wow Bao up to this point, however this is beyond disappointing. As we left, I told both employees who had major attitude, "this is not how you treat any customer." One of them responded that they're short staffed. So many restaurants are in the same boat, and yet I've not been berated by any other restaurant's workers just for attempting to place an order and eat my food. I will not be returning to this location, and this might actually be the last time I eat Wow Bao.
I got the Orange chicken and it was horrible. The staff were not too friendly either.
the foods is not good the chicken teriyaki bowl did not have enough chicken even the soy sauce was horrible. worse than McDonald's is expensive for the quality of food
I have never been to a fast food bao place but this place was pretty tasty. I liked the food and the service was ok but people had trouble ordering and it made things kind of slow if people were ahead of you. But not bad at all