Bao'd Up Dumpling Shop - Mueller Aldrich — Restaurant in Austin

With all the promising reviews I've read, I came in hopeful that bao'd up would be a new favorite of mine. Unfortunately, that was not the case. I was their first customer of the day, yet I somehow ended up waiting for nearly 30 minutes for my to-go order. And this was only the beginning.

At the cashier, I ordered 4 juicy pork buns, 4 veggies buns, 3 plain , 2 gua baos and 2 different drinks. (No, it wasn't all for me!) I'm not sure how either, but I ended up receiving 3 pork buns, 4 veggie buns, 3 plain buns, 1 gua bao, and 1 egg-cream bun along with my two drinks.

The only thing saving this review was the extremely friendly staff member who helped me carry my food to the car as there were 3 separate bags/trays and I only had 2 hands to carry. Thank you so much!

So, let's talk abou these buns starting with the pork. If you're raised in Asia, you'd know the differences between a good and a bad bun and the pork bun was sitting in the middle of the two: not really that great but not I-hate-it, either. Up next: the veggies buns. I've grown up with the veggies in my veggie buns soft, and the veggies from bao's up is everything but soft; the texture seemed to feel a little.... undercooked. Was I disappointed? Definitely. The plain buns, however, were just as I had imagined: soft, sweet, airy. The perfect ratio of the three and a miracle in this disastrous order. The only gua bao I received ended up being the chicken one. The chicken itself isn't bad, but if a friend of mine were to visit, I'd tell them to take out the lettuces. And last but not least: the egg cream bun. Oh my! Was this bun a surprise from the beginning to end! Although it was never ordered by me, the flavors and sweetness of this bun felt like angels singing from the sky above. This bun was exceptional and great snack to have whenever!

Concluding this review, will I ever visit bao'd up again? Not a chance. Do I recommend it? Nope. Should you try it? Why do you not...

The food was as bland as a 2 year old would like it!!! I went with my teens and husband, and not one of us were happy with the quality, flavor, and textures of the food.

Being an Asian American woman, maybe my standards are just too high for good quality Bao, Buns, Soup Dumplings, and Ramen. I expected so much better, I've had so much better.

Just over $100 for the following. It's not worth a single penny.... everything is frozen and thrown into a steamer. Not one fresh bao, and this is so disappointing, especially for this to be your specialty!

Juicy Pork Bao: Bland and mushy towards the inside.

Terriayki Bao: Slight sweet flavor but again overall bland and mushy inside. The texture was off-putting, to say the least.

Crispy Chicken Bun: The chicken was cooked well but flavorless along with the coleslaw.

Soup Dumpings: The filling and soup again had no flavor!

Ramen: This left so much to be desired! Everything was completely flavorless. The only good thing was that the noodles were not overcooked.

Fries: My teens actually said that the Fries were the only decent thing and only because they liked the with them with the slightly spiced dipping sauce. These are just your frozen crinkle cut fries.

Don't waste your time or money stopping here. The service was mediocre at best. Also, the water dispenser was as slow as molasses......

Too much hype, too pricey, and too slow of service.

I wnet here during their soft opening and tried a few baos. While the bread was great I felt the ingredients could use more flavoring. They didn't have all the bao flavors to try (which was fine since they were still trying to figure it out). What I wanted to try next time were the BBQ Pork and Veggie baos; their menu at the time had 6 baos for a little cheaper than just buying one.

A week after they officially opened I go back. Menu has completely changed and you can't buy bulk baos anymore. No one is going to pay $2.70 for one! I decided to try the BBQ Pork and Veggie baos. The BBQ porks came out ok, a little too sweet for my taste. The Veggie baos took 30 minutes to come out and were smaller in size compared to the bbq pork ones.

I also ordered the Taiwanese Popcorn Chicken...and it was super disappointing. No flavor and there were only a few pieces in the box. Please don't call your chicken "Taiwanese" popcorn chicken if you can't make them right!

The milk tea menu is super confusing. You're asked to choose a base, then a flavor, and then a tea? I don't quite understand why they had to word it like that when all other milk tea places keep it simple.

Overall too pricey for below average food. Will not be...