Bao Boi — Restaurant in Garden City

I heard about this joint a while back when they were at the Warehouse downtown. I never got to try it while they were there so I was bummed to find out that they weren't there anymore. I was wrong! They relocated to the dopest spot. Not gonna lie, Google has me going in circles trying to find this joint. After a quick call, I parked in the gravel parking lot next to the river. If you're trying to make it here, just turn on 41st and head towards the river.

This venue is going to be poppin once it gets warm! It faces the beautiful river and it has the big garage doors in the front that they can open up. Talk about a chill vibe to enjoy your meal at! Spring and summer is going to be fun at this venue.

I came in around 3 for lunch today. I was the only one there so that was nice. My server flashed a beautiful smile at me and told me to pick a table. I grabbed one by the window with a great view of the river. She handed me a couple menus, told me about the beers on tap and poured me some water. I stalked their online menu so i knew what goodies I wanted to order. I got the 2 baos for 14 bucks. I added a salad for 3 dollars. The kaarage and tofu were my bao selections.

My salad came out first. It looked tasty! I appreciate that it wasn't your typical iceberg lettuce. It was a pleasant mix of greens with cucumber, carrots and cilantro. The salad dressing was delicious! it was a heavier dressing so the mix was perfect for it! It also came with these shrimp chips that added a fun and crunchy texture to the salad. My bao buns came out in the cutest bamboo steamer. The buns looked soft and the protein of each bun looked yummy. I tried the kaarage first! Talk about magical! The bun was soft and sweet. The chicken was crispy on the outside and tender. It was so flavorful! It was topped with pickled diakon and a yuzu sauce. Every bite was a different taste. It as fantastic! I did get very full off the bao bun but I did try a little of my tofu bun. It was good too! The exterior of the tofu was crusty and crunchy with the tofu in the middle being soft. It was also topped with a brown sweet and savory sauce as well as pickled diakon. I packed that baby up to take home. I can't wait to enjoy it later.

I'm happy I got to try this joint out today! They also have curry options, sushi and bowl options. I'm so looking forward to coming back and trying other options...

Had lunch at Bao Boi yesterday. Our server was very kind and attentive, but unfortunately, a few things went wrong with our meal. He accidentally brought out the wrong dish — a beef rice bowl instead of the yakisoba noodles we had ordered. We took a bite before realizing, and honestly, the beef in that rice bowl was fantastic.

The server went back to the kitchen to get it corrected, but we were really put off when we overheard someone in the kitchen rudely say, “This isn’t McDonald’s” in regards to making the correct dish. We were sitting outside on the patio and could hear it clearly. It felt completely unnecessary — the server was doing his best and handled the situation graciously.

When the correct yakisoba noodles came out, the beef in that dish was a letdown in comparison. It was corned beef — not what we expected after how good the first beef had been.

I’ve been to Bao Boi a few times and usually love the salad dressing, but today it tasted different and wasn’t my favorite. I ordered the pork sandwich, and honestly, it was dry and the saddest looking sandwich I've ever been handed — but the pork itself was actually very tender and had great flavor once I dipped it in leftover salad dressing. At $17 (even with a side salad), it didn’t feel worth the price for what you get.

To top things off, the yakisoba noodles came with green and sliced onions, even though we had asked for no onions. Not a huge deal, but my husband only ate a few bites. The staff kindly offered to comp the meal and even offered to make him a chicken dish to go, which was thoughtful, though he doesn’t eat chicken.

All in all, it was one of those meals where everything kinda went sideways — but the staff (aside from the rude guy in the kitchen) really tried to make it right, and we appreciated that. We’ll definitely be back. It’s a great little spot on the Greenbelt, and the patio is lovely. Would love to see sushi as a lunch...

I had high hopes for this place. Came in with my daughter who just to give a reference loves Albertsons sushi, so not the most refined palette. I’m definitely more picky. To start we got miso soup. Let’s me just say I could have made it better at home. The balance of all the flavors were wrong. All the ingredients were apparently there but it tasted wrong. We came in for sushi rolls and tried to order from the limited menu but the waiter said there were only a Poke bowl available. Which is fine I love poke. I think we ended up taking 4 bites each. It was rice, an herb, raw salmon, green onion, wasabi and nasturtium (an edible flower) (props for creativity and effort) My daughter got a chunk of wasabi first bite that sent her into a “ugh I can’t taste anything else, smell this mom, it’s overwhelming”. Obviously not her favorite taste but was willing to trade bowls with me and I vigorously stirred. I asked for soy sauce because it was very lacking in moisture and flavor but in the end nothing would help. The waiter came by and answered my questions about the menu poke bowl (which had way more ingredients including avocado) but that this specific poke bowl was just that (what I mentioned before, rice, herb, salmon etc) and let me be clear. This bowl wasn’t on the menu and he didn’t mention that when we ordered and he said they had one choice of “sushi” type item to choose from so that was it. All in all we were very disappointed and left unsatisfied and still hungry. Then the bill came and I was once again reminded that I’m living in a Monopoly game and that currency doesn’t reflect quality or value. (And I’m not a cynical person, just a Gen Xer who’s lived through some shit and come...