Baocos

I keep trying it because I live down the street and the owner is a nice guy, but it’s just not good. Everything is both too complicated and tasteless, and the price points are way too high. They keep changing their menu so it’s all still a work in progress but it’s just pretty whack overall. Belly Shack is a few doors down, doing very similar fusion style food, way better.

Had a great eating experience. The staff was very courteous and knowledgeable. The Bao Burger was very good. It was full of flavor, and not dry for a well done burger. My favorite were the Tiny tacos of seared tuna and wasabi. Spicy and flavorful. I look forward to eating here soon again.

This place is so yummy, fresh and quick. I’ve only had the spicy ramen. It’s so flavorful that I haven’t tried anything else. It’s also byob.

Honestly, the worst ramen I have ever had. The broth tasted like vomit. I don’t know if they were just having a bad day, I was the only customer in the place and it took them 3 minutes just to take my order at the register. The lady at the registered behaved as if I was disturbing her. Maybe they served me bad Ramon, just to make sure I would not return. It worked!!!

I had the pork belly baos and they were completely dry and tasteless. I also ordered the spicy ramen and it was terrible. I literally took two bites and couldn’t even finish it. Very overpriced for absolutely terrible food.

This was my first time here and the service was excellent. They took the time to explain the menu very well and explained the different cooking methods that they use. I got the pork boa tacos and they were excellent. It’s definitely a different type of place but you should give it a try!

It was a nice place very clean and the staff was nice. I got the spicy ramen and it looked great till I realized that it has a ton of mustard in it. I do not dislike mustard at all but it just doesn’t belong in this dish and ruined it. I bet it’s great without the mustard!

Ordered for delivery. The food was GREAT! and hot and timely… this was not our first pick so we had lowered expectations, but they were all surpassed. Will absolutely order from here again!

Great, fresh and easy! I love the wontacos and the crab bao buns the best. The interior of the place is clean and stylish. I think this is a great alternative to Belly Shack. Also their pineapple salsa is amazing! All around a great place.

I must say, I was a fan of this restaurant the second I walked in the door, as I was greeted immediately by (who I assume is) the owner.
I was picking up food on my walk home, so I made an order for takeout. After I sat down at a table for a few minutes waiting for my order, the owner brought me chips and two salsas for me to try and munch on while I waited. I was ready to write a positive review before I even tasted the food.
One of the salsas was a pineapple habanero which I immediately scarfed down, as it was pretty darn good. On my way out, he again thanked me for coming. This customer service is legitimate, and so underrated.
We tried the spicy ramen (delicious– especially on a cold night), as well as the Creole burrito and West Coast burrito. My boyfriend thought the Creole burrito was good, but thought it was going to be a little spicier than it turned out to be, but ate all of it nonetheless. My West coast burrito had a spicy peanut sauce that was wonderful. We will definitely come back!

This is a great concept that is executed so very well. Who doesn’t like tacos? Who doesn’t like bao? Aside from the obvious, «yes please, why wouldn’t anyone want this,» there are delicious burritos, smallish (but perfectly sized) tacos and really good Ramen. It’s not a conventional Ramen, it’s their unique take on it. That’s the great thing about this restaurant, there’s no dogma or pretense. Why not use fluffy, flavorful bao for delicious taco fillings like pork belly or crab cake? Don’t sleep on this spot.

MUST TRY!
Wow, this place is EXACTLY what my summer Friday’s and quick dinner rides home needed!
Outdoor patio+ great food+ BYOB= strong winning. Finish your night off at Green Eye after, Now THAT is a Bucktown Friday!
Oh to the food. Great, great stuff. If you like me LOVE Ramen, but HATE that Wasabi doesn’t do takeout. Get it from Baocos, their original take on Ramen is amazing, and their bowl and packaging for takeout is outstanding. Next up is the Bao Taco, MAN are the savory and sweet pork Baos delish! Call Felicia, I’ll be late to the party! Also recommend checking out the Burritos, pretty filling, and much more flavor than Chipotle (less E-​Coli I hear too).
The service and owner are awesome too, gave me a free app on first visit, the pineapple habanero salsa is BOMB.

Often times, the idea of «fusion» seems done, if not annoying, but this place dives in head first and the results are amazing. This «fast casual» joint actually has some of the most authentic tasting Asian food around, even it it’s wrapped in burrito! The pork belly tastes like genuine Asian street food and all of their burritos will blow you away. Of course, the bao kicks ass too.
Check out this place before the owner’s realize they could be charging more.
(it’s byob too)

I love the concept and the food. Reasonably priced, too.
If you want something fairly quick (that isn’t fast food or bar food) when you hop off the blue line, stop in here. I’ve been a few times and love everything I’ve had so far.
The staff is very friendly too.

The idea of a Asian, Mexican fusion sounded so good to me. This place is right by Bellyshack, literally by the blueline stop on Millwaukee and Western. Like many others said the concept is amazing this place just falls short on execution and flavors. The menu had a wide variety of stuff but it looks better on the menu then it tastes. Been here twice. The pork belly boas are decent but something is missing. The Philly boa is pretty bad, very dry and plain. As far as the burritos, they are pretty soggy and lackluster. I had high hopes for the western burrito thinking the «fusion» aspect would shine here but it doesn’t. There wasn’t the fresh, or savory notes you would expect. Maybe theres too much going on, or not seasoned protein, but something doesn’t make this a fusion, maybe a flavorless limbo in-​between that doesn’t work. With the quality of product, the price point I feel is too high as well. But this place has a lot of potential there aren’t that many places like this. It looks great, just need to work on some tweeks to the menu.

This is a great concept. I love the idea of upscale food with fast-​casual service. The place looks like a Subway and the food looks like art. Cool, right? You can dine in and BYO or take it to go from the cashier right in front. I just wish they would have put as much effort into conceiving the flavors as they did in planning the restaurant design & food presentation.
Since this was my first time here, I wanted to explore the menu, so I ordered a variety of things. Almost everything is mini, and comes in a set. So if you order tacos for $ 9, you get 4 miniature 2 inch wide tacos. I would say the portion of those tacos combined is about the size of a single taco. The baos come in sets of 3 or 5 (unfortunately you can’t mix & match any of this) and are also mini. There is a Wontaco, which they describe as an open faced won ton, and that is about the size of a small egg roll, sliced in half. And they also have traditional burritos.
On to the food. When it arrived, I was excited, because it looks absolutely beautiful. So many tiny garnishes, so many sauces, so much effort put into plating. I’m a chef and an artist, so this is the kind of thing I love. However, the food itself, to be perfectly frank, was gross. I was hungry and ended up eating very little of it.
The Wontaco was probably the best item, but had a strange aftertaste, and the meat inside was mushy, as if it had been sitting in a marinade for way too long. I also got the bacon cheeseburger tacos, which sounds awesome, but was such a strange, strange flavor experience. Visually, it’s perfect, little spirals of ketchup and mustard, a tiny sliver of pickle. But it seems like no one really considered what it would taste like. When you bite into a cheesburger, part of what makes it so amazing is the dichotomy of textures and temperatures — warm soft cheese, crisp cold lettuce, soft oozing tomato, fluffy fatty beef … In this case, all of the flavors and ingredients were there (with a bit too much mustard), but it tasted so odd. As if I were an astronaut and they gave me a cheeseburger milkshake in space!
I also had the pork belly bao, which was so fatty, soggy, and underseasoned that I immediately threw it away. And then, I ordered a simple burrito, which turned out to be perhaps the most disgusting burrito I’ve ever had. I don’t know how it’s even possible to make a burrito taste this bad, but they did. Once again, the meat had a very odd flavor, as if it was old (which I doubt because the place just opened, but who knows). I don’t think they seasoned it at all. The burrito was filled with plain white rice, limp veggies, and didn’t come with salsa. It tasted awful. I love real Mexican food, hate fast food, and can honestly say I think I’ve had a better burrito at Taco Bell. It was that bad.
I hate to trash any place this much, especially because I loved the artistry of the presentation, but I have to say this was some of the worst food I’ve had in a while, and it wasn’t cheap. I threw most of it away. Sorry Baocos, but maybe taste some of the food before sending it out?

Six Words: Yummy bao, sad tacos, fun sodas.
When I heard about a new fusion restaurant opening just off the Western Blue Line stop, I was intrigued. I usually enjoy fusion restaurants and it seemed super convenient. So I texted a friend and we decided to meet up there for a late dinner yesterday.
I’m not sure how crowded the place is during normally eating hours (like lunch or dinner rush) but it was fairly empty at 8pm on a Thursday (it closes at midnight most days). My friend and I entered the restaurant and were greeted by an employee behind a counter. It took us about 15 minutes to decide on what we wanted to eat because the options were interesting but the way you order is weird. You order 3 bao for $ 8 or 5 bao for $ 12. But you ordered one type of it. They have burritos too. And tacos. 5 teeny tiny tacos for $ 9. But again, you order one type. It’s not like you can mix and match bao and tacos to get a variety, which I found odd and annoying. I wanted to sample multiple types of tacos and bao, not just have one type. To me, there are Mexican restaurants where you just order beef or chicken tacos (or whatever) and get three tacos, and then there are boutique taco joints where you order single tacos to get an interesting combination. So I was confused when the menu items were weird and funky but you ordered them by type. I’m sorry if this is confusing but it’s probably because I’m really confused by their business model. But this is probably because I am used to the Big Star or Authentaco or Big & Little’s way of ordering sandwich-​like items.
Anyways. We ordered our food and sat down at a booth where it was delivered to us. We ended up going with the Roasted Belly Bao and the Beer Tacos. We also opted for some of their fancy sodas offered in the case by the register. One Rose Lemonade (super pink!) and one Dandelion and Burdock soda (a deep purple). The Rose Lemonade was sweet and flowery, as expected. The Dandelion and Burdock soda was completely unexpected. I don’t know what Burdock is but the combination was unlike anything my taste buds had experienced. We liked it but it was weird.
Food arrived and I was disappointed by the tacos. The Beer Tacos were adorably teeny tiny but sad. The toppings were delicious but the chicken tasted like unflavored grilled chicken. I’m not sure PBR was the best beer to use. The Roasted Belly Bao was delicious. The flavors were tangy and the bao was so fluffy it was like I was eating a cloud. Pork belly was nicely cooked.
Overall it was an interesting experience. I probably will be back to try more of the options. I really hope other tacos on the menu are more flavorful. I also want to try more of the bao. I think this place has potential. I just wish they changed the way you order your food.
One thing to note: none of the food is truly spicy. My friend is sensitive to spicy foods and we ended up talking to the manager about this. He told us that none of the menu options are spicy options — some have a little tang to them, especially the tacos that use Siracha sauce. So if you’re looking for spicy, don’t come here

What an AWESOME concept: Simplistic, fresh, clean Asian flavors mixed with all the love, textures, and spice of Mexican cuisine.
However, Baocos fell short from all the potential flavors from both ethnic cultures. «White-​washed» ethnic food seems like the appropriate word to describe the attempt this fusion of Asian and Mexican.
Just a tip: If you are going to garnish your pork «baocos» with vietnamese pickled carrots/​daikons, I expect more than 3 strands of carrots.

Sorry Baocos, but you only get a participation trophy.
The one word to describe the to-​go order that my gf picked up for me?
DISAPPOINTMENT.
I got the same feeling when a bouncer makes you wait in line of a «bumpin’» bar/​club and then you finally make it to the front. And as you walk triumphantly through the entry… empty.
Baocos, you left me empty.
So I drove past this place a couple times weeks before and thought to myself: «dang, bao + tacos? Genius! Let the FOMO begin» Then, when I got the impromptu takeout, I thought: «This is gonna be awesooo-​«
Then I took the first bite. «Whut.»
The first bite of pork belly bao was like being hosed with an onslaught of dismay:
Soft, soggy, fatty pork.
Over-​salty and not-​that-​crunchy daikon/​carrot.
Dehydrated bao.
The only, lonely highlight was that the pork was seasoned above average.
$ 8 for 3 regrets.
My mind panicked and I foolishly thought that it might just be the first bite that was magically mistreated… Then 15 minutes later with a pile of warm salty-​ass daikon, and massive regret, and the feeling of being robbed, and the feeling of getting a bad haircut, and the feeling I had at jr high dances, and the feeling when you look at student debt, and the feeling of suffocating on your own farts…
*drops mic*
(2 stars)

Really wanted to love this place. Granted this is their first week open so please take my review lightly.
Originally wanted to try a few different baos. BUT you can only order a set of 3 or 5 baos of the SAME flavor. That was a downer. Kind of a bad move on the restaurant part cause if the customer doesn’t like one, they won’t like their entire order. Also, if a customer can taste different ones, they will have a higher probability of loving at least one and returning.
I ordered the seared tuna since that is a bao I haven’t seen before at other bao places. The tuna was not super high quality. The slaw was really good though. Had fresh ginger and poppyseeds. The bun itself needed a little more sweetness for the sweet and savory aspect that baos have. The size and texture of the bao itself was on point though.
All the tables came with a jar of oil. I think it was chili oil? I wish the food runner would’ve explained what it was for. I tasted a little and it tasted like straight up oil. No flavor.
The menu is a lot of different stuff. From burritos to ramen??? Maybe too much? Don’t really understand the concept. I hope they take their customers’ critiques and improve because I can see this place being great once they improve their organization and make a few tweaks on their food.