Duck n Bao — Restaurant in Houston

We received a joint marketing email that included a "Duck n Bao" promotion for the 2024 Labor Day Weekend, where they offered Buy-One-Get-One (BOGO) on their name-sake soup dumplings, at the list price of $10.75. It happened to be our son's 18th birthday this weekend, so we paid the parking fee and went in to the Duck n Bao at Rice Village in Houston.

But after we were seated, where the AC does not seem to reach, our waiter carefully told us that they were not running any specials this Labor Day weekend, but they did have specials with their name-sake soup dumplings. Upon us pressing three times on what specials they were having with their name-sake soup dumplings, the waiter finally said that their speciality was in their name-sake soup dumplings, but they were not running any BOGO specials, nor any other specials, sounding exactly like an used car salesman, who was not surprised at all that we had asked about this BOGO special.

We therefore informed their hostess at their door of the discrepancy, to which she immediately said that "maybe the owner didn't tell us [about this BOGO special]". What a BS, and delivered silky smooth like female used car saleswomen.

Do they know how to spell "bait and switch"?

We left, wasting the $1.75 parking fee we had already, and gladly, paid for the...

We visited this restaurant around 6:30 PM on Saturday and unfortunately had a very disappointing experience. From the moment we walked in, we had a sense that this wasn’t the “authentic” Chinese dining experience we were hoping for.

While we were greeted politely and seated right away with menus, things quickly took a turn. Despite the restaurant not being busy as there were many empty tables, we waited over 20 mins without being offered water or approached for our order. We attempted to get the attention of a server but were overlooked many times. We watched as staff offered water to the table literally beside us without even glancing our way. The contrast was noticeable and left us feeling ignored and even discriminated against.

After waiting a bit longer with still no acknowledgment, we quietly got up to leave. On our way out, we passed 4 staff members standing near the entrance. Not one of them acknowledged us, and even the man at the bar who seated us didn’t even look up.

I don’t often write negative reviews, but this experience left us feeling disheartened. I truly hope that the customer service is addressed and improved so future guests don’t have a similar experience. IMO, every diner deserves to feel seen, welcomed,...

I've been dying to try this place the last few times I visited Houston. We finally had the opportunity and so glad that we did. Lunchtime was a great timeframe as the restaurant did not have a large lunch rush. Our server was Thi. She was fabulous! Impeccable service and she was very patient as our party went to the wrong location.

Parking options are street parking or paid parking in the garage.

We ordered the whole duck and the dumplings. The chicken Xiao Lung Bao and Black Truffle Pork Xiao Lung Bao were the recommended ones that exceeded our expectations. The consistency of the dough, soup and meat were smooth. We also ordered the Siu Mai. They were larger than the average ones at dim sum restaurants. Their filling was very generous and it was also another favorite. The duck was average. It may have been an off day as the meat was dry and considering reviews in the past said it was excellent.

I anticipate having more of their Xiao Lung Bao before I...