Bao Bao Banh Mi — Restaurant in Houston

The hidden gem of the energy corridor, this place is a MUST VISIT. This hole in the wall features banh mi sandwiches, rice dishes, bulgolgi fries and bun (noodle dish). It's pretty legit y'all. Prices are fair, parking aplenty, restaurant cleanly and the food is so worth it. I live in the area and I literally squealed with delight when I saw this restaurant. I LOVE banh mi sandwiches but have not been able to find a place I really liked since I moved to Houston. Tired or tasting the same bland butter sandwiches with dry meat frequent in many banh mi shops, the banh mi at bao bao banh mi is amazing. I had the pork cold cut (similar to combo style at traditional places) which has different cuts of pork including pork belly. It is smeared with pate and you can ask for extra for a 50 cent upcharge. The bread? Crisp. Meat? Sufficient amount, not too fatty, good combo. Amount of mayo and pate? On point! Thumbs up. I also had the bulgolgi banh mi. They use ribeye and it is seasoned perfectly! Also another favorite. I liked that you can add on avocados, eggs, extra pate to really pimp out your sandwich.

We had the rib eye bun- a cold noodle dish which you pour fish sauce over. It comes with meat ontop and veggies. The bun is outstanding. It is far better than many of the Vietnamese restaurants in china town. Seriously. The fish sauce was very flavorful, savory and poppin'! I think they have their own special recipe because it was way different. If you are a fan of fish sauce you must try theirs.

I also had the bulgolgi fries. Also topped with ribeye meat and kimchi. So. Freaking. Delicious. We ordered the spring rolls which was also made very well. No complaints. For dessert we had the tiered jelly. Also worth trying.

I have zero complaints about the food here. If you haven't had this place you seriously won't be disappointed. They do their Vietnamese food right. Don't pass...

Having always enjoyed Vietnamese food & frequenting different eateries around town, I was happy to try this place out when asked to go. It's a small-casual and comfortable restaurant, where the food comes out quick and the staff seemed happy to help. We tried a couple different things on the menu and were pretty happy with everything that we ate. The 1st item, vegetarian steamed dumplings, were quite flavorful & the dumpling sauce made them even more delicious. When the food was dropped off at the table, so were 2 individually wrapped forks. I like to cut the dumplings in half and then dip them so I get more sauce. This was quite difficult with a fork, would have been easier with a knife. That's nothing to do with the restaurant, but I would recommend asking for a knife, if you like to eat dumplings like I do. The next item, the caramelized tofu on steamed bun, was quite good as well. I'm not usually a fan of tofu or necessarily the steamed bun either, but the flavor was delicious. After that came the pulled chicken on Hawaiian bun. This had amazing flavor & the bun complimented the sandwich very well, I highly recommend this. Last but not least, I also ordered the spicy pork Bahn mi. I like it spicy so I asked for extra jalapeños & still added the Sriracha sauce (which comes in packets). I think the Sriracha was a slight variation, not the usual flavor you see in the bottles, but it was still good. The sandwich was my favorite of the meal, flavor wise. I felt that it could have used a little more meat, the bread to topping was a lottle.more bread heavy than I typically like, but it was still really good & I would order it again, just maybe double meat. I should say that I feel like this is typical of Bahn mi sandwiches, so I wouldn't hold it against them, just wanted to make mention, in case you.like more meat, like I do. This place was good & I would recommend & be happy...

The gentleman at the counter was very welcoming and helped us with some fantastic recommendations. I ordered the soft shell crab bao bao and the Bulgogi fries to share with hubby. He ordered the Bulgogi Ribeye Beef bao-rito. We also ordered drinks - me, the peach flavored green tea with crystal boba and him, the strawberry smoothie with mango popping boba.

Y’all. Just wow. The drinks came to the table first and were SO freaking good. We enjoy stopping at boba and Thai places but this was the best we’ve ever had. The smoothie was so fresh, not watery. The tea was very refreshing after a hot day.

That set the stage and the food that came next was just the cherry on top. I was beyond excited to try the soft shell crab bao and it was the perfect bite, crab was hot and crispy. The spicy mayo was on point. Chef’s kiss! (I’m from Louisiana and soft shell crab poboys are my go-to, and this was 🔥)

The Bulgogi fries were crisp and freshly fried, perfectly seasoned and then topped with delicious beef, kimchi and fresh cilantro and spicy mayo drizzle. Eye rolling good but I still managed to share a few bites with hubby.

His burrito made him so happy! He was kind enough to give me a bite and it was yummy. We’re so happy we stopped in and I hope we get to come back tomorrow morning while we’re still in the area for their Vietnamese coffee with jelly 🤩

If you love amazing flavors that blow your mind and want it fresh, this...