Bao Bao is an amazing restaurant in Maine or any town. The food is delicious, unique, and well prepared. The beer selection is also solid. Staff always seem friendly and helpful. The reason for the low review is that Bao too often is not open, currently for an extended period, and the reason is "staff shortages." It is hard to believe that Bao has more difficulty than other successful restaurants in finding staff, still Bao had this problem often. Similarly, a sister restaurant in Brunswick, Tao, has not been open regularly since 2020 again due to "staff shortages." We find it hard to believe that Bao for some valid reason can't find staff while other restaurants can. Disappointing business model, despite having a world class head chef.
Dylan R.
Try making a few dumplings at home and then see how you feel about paying 13 dollars for 5 of them.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 3
Service: 1
James Fennen
My wife and I honeymooned in Maine back in 2022. We absolutely loved the staff and the food here. They also gave us a free appetizer and dessert since it was our first day honeymooned. Absolutely wonderful people and we can't wait to go back!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Bulgolgi Dumplings, Steamed Shao Mai Dumplings, Beef Bulgogi, Pan Fried Kung Pao Chicken Dumplings, Smashed Cucumbers
Yu-Han Chiu
The beef pan fried dumplings are very good!
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 4
Recommended dishes: Bulgolgi Dumplings
Charles Miranda
Great food and service. Tried some new
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Nicholas
Awesome like the bomb of food. Stupid good great staff very friendly and the atmosphere is very nice take away I mean it’s still Portland end of the day. Nothing that flattering about Portland Maine to me.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Christina Paul
Very cute spot. We were a little thrown off by the QR code menus and ordering at the counter instead of our table, but the food and tea was delicious. Beef bulgogi dumplings were my favorite.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Bulgolgi Dumplings
Jose Antonio Perez
Ordered 3 different types of dumplings, 1 fried rice, and the 2 different types on mochis. Staff slow on service, and the ordering system is a mess. Food is nothing special, mochis not worth it.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 2
Service: 1
Recommended dishes: Bulgolgi Dumplings, Steamed Shao Mai Dumplings, Beef Bulgogi, Deep Fried Crab Rangoon with Chili Jam, Coconut Mung Bean Fried Mochi
Nicole A
We dined in today. It’s great they have labeled vegan options, we were a mixed vegan/non-vegan group. Also liked the mocktails. We got a variety of appetizers, dumplings, and entrees. We all found the portions quite small for the price (and we moved from NYC so we’re used to expensive places). I also didn’t appreciate the guilt-tripping on the machine to tip higher than 18%, especially given that you order at the counter so there’s not much service. The flavor of the food was okay, each dish was missing a little something in my opinion. I’m not sure I’d go back given the portion size and the flavor in comparison with the price.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 3
Service: 2
Mary Jo L.
OMG. So good. There were 3 of us so we each ordered a dumpling. My favorite was the bulgogi. So tasty. We also ordered the "slaw" to ensure we had a vegetable and were not disappointed. Add to that 3 small bowls of rice, a tea egg and fried mochi for dessert. The plates were clean and we wanted to lick them. The atmosphere is very upbeat and the staff amazing. Thank you for a great meal.
We ordered two dumpling/potsticker dishes and one noodle dish. After quite some time the beef dumplings came out and they were delicious. It took a good 15 minutes before the shrimp and ginger dumplings came out and they were not very good, the meat mixture inside was like mush. Then the noodle dish came out and the noodles were tough and the dish was missing the bean sprouts. We mentioned that the dish was missing the bean sprouts and they said that dish was not actually supposed to on the menu because they ran out of bean sprouts. They didn't charge for the noodle dish and then we tried the sticky rice and pork and it was ok. The drink I had was tasty.Quality of food was fair, service was ok and the waiting time for the dishes was way too long.Over all our experience was poor and won't be going back.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 2
Service: 3
Tanya Miller
This little place is a gem! The beef dumplings were awesome! The crab Rangoon egg rolls were yummy too. Service was warm, friendly, and professional. Highly recommend!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Rob Gale
Fantastic atmosphere, personable staff and great food and cocktails! Try the 88 Slaw, you will not be disappointed, the Beef Bulgogi Dumplings & Shaomai were outstanding! 12 out of 10 would recommend!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Bulgolgi Dumplings, Steamed Shao Mai Dumplings, Slaw
Josephine Tsui
Tasty, but need more variety of dumplings, especially if the name is in the title of the restaurant.
Bao Bao is an amazing restaurant in Maine or any town. The food is delicious, unique, and well prepared. The beer selection is also solid. Staff always seem friendly and helpful. The reason for the low review is that Bao too often is not open, currently for an extended period, and the reason is "staff shortages." It is hard to believe that Bao has more difficulty than other successful restaurants in finding staff, still Bao had this problem often. Similarly, a sister restaurant in Brunswick, Tao, has not been open regularly since 2020 again due to "staff shortages." We find it hard to believe that Bao for some valid reason can't find staff while other restaurants can. Disappointing business model, despite having a world class head chef.
Try making a few dumplings at home and then see how you feel about paying 13 dollars for 5 of them.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 3
Service: 1
My wife and I honeymooned in Maine back in 2022. We absolutely loved the staff and the food here. They also gave us a free appetizer and dessert since it was our first day honeymooned. Absolutely wonderful people and we can't wait to go back!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Bulgolgi Dumplings, Steamed Shao Mai Dumplings, Beef Bulgogi, Pan Fried Kung Pao Chicken Dumplings, Smashed Cucumbers
The beef pan fried dumplings are very good!
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 4
Recommended dishes: Bulgolgi Dumplings
Great food and service. Tried some new
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Awesome like the bomb of food. Stupid good great staff very friendly and the atmosphere is very nice take away I mean it’s still Portland end of the day. Nothing that flattering about Portland Maine to me.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Very cute spot. We were a little thrown off by the QR code menus and ordering at the counter instead of our table, but the food and tea was delicious. Beef bulgogi dumplings were my favorite.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Bulgolgi Dumplings
Ordered 3 different types of dumplings, 1 fried rice, and the 2 different types on mochis. Staff slow on service, and the ordering system is a mess. Food is nothing special, mochis not worth it.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 2
Service: 1
Recommended dishes: Bulgolgi Dumplings, Steamed Shao Mai Dumplings, Beef Bulgogi, Deep Fried Crab Rangoon with Chili Jam, Coconut Mung Bean Fried Mochi
We dined in today. It’s great they have labeled vegan options, we were a mixed vegan/non-vegan group. Also liked the mocktails. We got a variety of appetizers, dumplings, and entrees. We all found the portions quite small for the price (and we moved from NYC so we’re used to expensive places). I also didn’t appreciate the guilt-tripping on the machine to tip higher than 18%, especially given that you order at the counter so there’s not much service. The flavor of the food was okay, each dish was missing a little something in my opinion. I’m not sure I’d go back given the portion size and the flavor in comparison with the price.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 3
Service: 2
OMG. So good. There were 3 of us so we each ordered a dumpling. My favorite was the bulgogi. So tasty. We also ordered the "slaw" to ensure we had a vegetable and were not disappointed. Add to that 3 small bowls of rice, a tea egg and fried mochi for dessert. The plates were clean and we wanted to lick them. The atmosphere is very upbeat and the staff amazing. Thank you for a great meal.
Restaurantji Recommends
Didn't have boa vaugly better than frozen
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 1
Service: 2
We ordered two dumpling/potsticker dishes and one noodle dish. After quite some time the beef dumplings came out and they were delicious. It took a good 15 minutes before the shrimp and ginger dumplings came out and they were not very good, the meat mixture inside was like mush. Then the noodle dish came out and the noodles were tough and the dish was missing the bean sprouts. We mentioned that the dish was missing the bean sprouts and they said that dish was not actually supposed to on the menu because they ran out of bean sprouts. They didn't charge for the noodle dish and then we tried the sticky rice and pork and it was ok. The drink I had was tasty.Quality of food was fair, service was ok and the waiting time for the dishes was way too long.Over all our experience was poor and won't be going back.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 2
Service: 3
This little place is a gem! The beef dumplings were awesome! The crab Rangoon egg rolls were yummy too. Service was warm, friendly, and professional. Highly recommend!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Fantastic atmosphere, personable staff and great food and cocktails! Try the 88 Slaw, you will not be disappointed, the Beef Bulgogi Dumplings & Shaomai were outstanding! 12 out of 10 would recommend!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Bulgolgi Dumplings, Steamed Shao Mai Dumplings, Slaw
Tasty, but need more variety of dumplings, especially if the name is in the title of the restaurant.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 4