yummy and interesting take on bao buns. the guy working at the counter kept answering “idk, i just started” and calling over a different employee. i felt bad for the employee he kept calling over, but the one who got called over a few times was very helpful and nice. the bathrooms were horrendously dirty with super sticky floors for some reason. that turned me off a bit from the experience as a whole. however despite that i would still return for a quick casual bite.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 4
Service: 3
DaltonxDalton
Never had bao before, probably one of my favorite foods now. Service was great enviroment was nice. A lot of different options/flavors for the bao. Definitely coming back!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
leslie L
Wide variety, fresh and delicious food. Professional staff and cleanliness. Love this place
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Richard Hickey
Excellent food. Great staff.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Baos
Caleb Carter
Fat Bao takes Chinese cuisine as its foundation and fuses it with a wide range of other influences, resulting in slider sized bao sandwiches that aim to be playful and inventive. The restaurant is counter service, offering about sixteen different bao options, along with a small selection of appetizers and desserts.
We arrived for a slightly later lunch, and while it was not overly busy at first, a steady crowd built over time without ever becoming overwhelming. Ordering was straightforward, and the staff explained that most diners order two to three bao for a meal, as each is relatively small, about three to four bites each. Personally, I could have eaten four or five with an appetizer, though I arrived particularly hungry that day.
Many of the offerings were intriguing, and there is no shortage of flavor here. Each filling on its own was well prepared and enjoyable. The bao themselves were also good. My main issue was that the two did not truly connect. The bao functioned more as a delivery system than as an integrated part of the dish. The fillings and the bread never quite complemented one another in a way that felt cohesive.
Presentation also worked against the experience. Several fillings were quite wet, and serving multiple bao together in a cardboard bowl led to sauces bleeding into one another. This cross contamination blurred the individuality of each option. Using simple dividers or taco style holders inside the bowl would go a long way toward preserving the integrity of each bao.
In the end, I enjoyed the meal, but it fell short of being something I wanted to return to. There is promise here, and the ideas are strong, but the execution needs further refinement for the experience to feel whole.
My rating: ★★★☆☆ (3 stars)
Rating scale: 1 star — I will never return. 2 stars — If nearby, I might return, but without urgency. 3 stars — Worth a visit if in the area, though not a destination. 4 stars — Worth going out of your way to enjoy. 5 stars — I would fly around the world for this meal.
We come here every time we’re in town and it never misses🔥 Pork belly and duck are musts!
Recommended dishes: Baos
Nyunga Nkanika
Great food and service.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 5
Anthony (Beer Chronicle) Gorrity
A couple of years ago, there was restaurant food and there was food truck food. The places on wheels somehow had more boldness to make wacky stuff that didn’t seem like it should go together, but once I’d bite into it, I was like YESS!
Fat Bao is that same formula but with a bathroom and no wheels.
All kinds of weird flavor combos that seem unfitting until you try. I’m convinced that every one of their little baos are fire because I didn’t have a single bite that disappointed. The onion rings were unreal too.
Great/quick service, and the atmosphere was good too.
I’ll be back like the Terminator.
So good.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Baos, Bulgogi Bao, Crab Daddy Bao
hanieh nasrollahi
I’ve heard a lot about this place, but I didn’t find the bao very good. The bulgogi bao was not as delicious as I had hoped, and the others didn’t quite hit the spot for me. I wish they offered more authentic flavors.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 3
Service: 4
Manuel Barron
I always wanted to try this place as I’ve heard good things. Man, they did not disappoint. I got their most popular buns and they are all pretty good. It tasted like the pork was the coldest out of all the three, but all the sauces were good.
I would say the chicken and crab bao were the best out of three. The pork is good, but too thick for me to chew. Highly recommend trying out this place if you want to give it a shot.
Horrendous food. Tasted so processed without any quality. Got the bulgogi bowl and they just so overdid it with the sauce )overly sweet too) to hide the poor quality meat. Avoid.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 1
Service: 3
Recommended dishes: Bulgogi
Allison Swick
We have loved fat bao for years!!!! We don't live close anymore so we don't get the opportunity to come as often but it always hits!! The fat fries with bulgogi are a MUST!
yummy and interesting take on bao buns. the guy working at the counter kept answering “idk, i just started” and calling over a different employee. i felt bad for the employee he kept calling over, but the one who got called over a few times was very helpful and nice. the bathrooms were horrendously dirty with super sticky floors for some reason. that turned me off a bit from the experience as a whole. however despite that i would still return for a quick casual bite.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 4
Service: 3
Never had bao before, probably one of my favorite foods now. Service was great enviroment was nice. A lot of different options/flavors for the bao. Definitely coming back!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Wide variety, fresh and delicious food. Professional staff and cleanliness. Love this place
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Excellent food.
Great staff.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Baos
Fat Bao takes Chinese cuisine as its foundation and fuses it with a wide range of other influences, resulting in slider sized bao sandwiches that aim to be playful and inventive. The restaurant is counter service, offering about sixteen different bao options, along with a small selection of appetizers and desserts.
We arrived for a slightly later lunch, and while it was not overly busy at first, a steady crowd built over time without ever becoming overwhelming. Ordering was straightforward, and the staff explained that most diners order two to three bao for a meal, as each is relatively small, about three to four bites each. Personally, I could have eaten four or five with an appetizer, though I arrived particularly hungry that day.
Many of the offerings were intriguing, and there is no shortage of flavor here. Each filling on its own was well prepared and enjoyable. The bao themselves were also good. My main issue was that the two did not truly connect. The bao functioned more as a delivery system than as an integrated part of the dish. The fillings and the bread never quite complemented one another in a way that felt cohesive.
Presentation also worked against the experience. Several fillings were quite wet, and serving multiple bao together in a cardboard bowl led to sauces bleeding into one another. This cross contamination blurred the individuality of each option. Using simple dividers or taco style holders inside the bowl would go a long way toward preserving the integrity of each bao.
In the end, I enjoyed the meal, but it fell short of being something I wanted to return to. There is promise here, and the ideas are strong, but the execution needs further refinement for the experience to feel whole.
My rating: ★★★☆☆ (3 stars)
Rating scale:
1 star — I will never return.
2 stars — If nearby, I might return, but without urgency.
3 stars — Worth a visit if in the area, though not a destination.
4 stars — Worth going out of your way to enjoy.
5 stars — I would fly around the world for this meal.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 3
Service: 3
Recommended dishes: Baos, Bulgogi Bao, Crab Daddy Bao, Bulgogi, Yummy Fries, Pork Belly Bao
We come here every time we’re in town and it never misses🔥 Pork belly and duck are musts!
Recommended dishes: Baos
Great food and service.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 5
A couple of years ago, there was restaurant food and there was food truck food. The places on wheels somehow had more boldness to make wacky stuff that didn’t seem like it should go together, but once I’d bite into it, I was like YESS!
Fat Bao is that same formula but with a bathroom and no wheels.
All kinds of weird flavor combos that seem unfitting until you try. I’m convinced that every one of their little baos are fire because I didn’t have a single bite that disappointed. The onion rings were unreal too.
Great/quick service, and the atmosphere was good too.
I’ll be back like the Terminator.
So good.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Baos, Bulgogi Bao, Crab Daddy Bao
I’ve heard a lot about this place, but I didn’t find the bao very good. The bulgogi bao was not as delicious as I had hoped, and the others didn’t quite hit the spot for me. I wish they offered more authentic flavors.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 3
Service: 4
I always wanted to try this place as I’ve heard good things. Man, they did not disappoint. I got their most popular buns and they are all pretty good. It tasted like the pork was the coldest out of all the three, but all the sauces were good.
I would say the chicken and crab bao were the best out of three. The pork is good, but too thick for me to chew. Highly recommend trying out this place if you want to give it a shot.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Restaurantji Recommends
Horrendous food. Tasted so processed without any quality. Got the bulgogi bowl and they just so overdid it with the sauce )overly sweet too) to hide the poor quality meat. Avoid.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 1
Service: 3
Recommended dishes: Bulgogi
We have loved fat bao for years!!!! We don't live close anymore so we don't get the opportunity to come as often but it always hits!! The fat fries with bulgogi are a MUST!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Baos, Fat Fries, Fried Chicken
Tasty bao lunch at a reasonable price.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
Awesome food. Truthfully have nothing else to quite compare it, but practically everything on the menu is good
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
5$ for one soggy over stuffed baby asian taco that makes you use 10$ worth of napkins to eat
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 2
Service: 5
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