Wow Bao - SLC Airport — Restaurant in Salt Lake City

My family and I tried this fast food/fast casual restaurant on 14 Aug 2024. At first, I was a bit skeptical on wanting to try this restaurant because on the day we went there, this business had an average of 2.4 stars from 49 total reviews. Now, I'm not the kind of person to rely super heavily on others' reviews because unfortunately for Google and businesses on Google, there are some reviews that aren't legitimate, resulting in a negative impact to their overall rating. However, after reading through a lot of the reviews, it seemed authentic enough which was scary, but hey, this airport only had limited selections.

We ordered the Kung Pao Chicken Combination Bowl w/Spicy Mongolian Beef and Chinese BBQ Pork Bao Buns. We also ordered two Citrus Glazed Chicken Combination Bowls; one with Teriyaki Chicken and Cheeseburger Bao Buns and another with Ginger Chicken Potstickers. Personally, I enjoyed the Citrus Glazed Chicken Bowl more than my Kung Pao Chicken Bowl, but it wasn't awful either. Unfortunately, I tried my daughter's Fried Rice and they need to remove that from their menu and just stick with the Jasmine White Rice. I don't know what's going on with that Fried Rice, but the texture and flavor did not meet expectations at all. I don't think I've ever been to an Asian-inspired restaurant and had a totally botched Fried Rice dish. The Potstickers didn't look all that appealing either, nor did it pass the taste test. Also, my daughter ordered the Hibiscus Lemonade and I thought it was decent.

The service was great; I think our combination cashier and food prepper was Brenda E. (according to my receipt) - I appreciated how fast she worked. The prices are typical airport prices; however, I didn't think it was as extreme as some of those other airport restaurants I've experienced before, which was respectable. I think you definitely get your money's worth from a quantity standpoint, but not 100% from a quality standpoint. Although, I don't feel it was as horrendous as some folks are making it out to be...or maybe I just got lucky with my visit? Regardless, I feel that this fast food/fast casual restaurant is ok (hence my 3-star rating), and I'm still recommending this place to folks passing through SLC Airport. Would I try it again down the road? Probably not. But if this was the only food place in that airport, then yes, I wouldn't think twice about...

I'm torn. While legit soup dumplings are one of my favorite foods, what you get from Wow Bao is certainly not at that caliber. However, if you consider that this place is fast food, I think people are being overly harsh. No, this is not what you'd find at a local place on the coast, but for an inland fast food joint in the middle of an Asian food desert where you can't hardly even find the real thing, this is a perfectly acceptable alternative.

I'm not sure if it's just the airport location, but my wife and I recently spent over $50 here. Completely outrageous for two people eating fast food, but I'll chalk that up to the airport and ordering a little more food than we could eat.

I feel like the biggest discrepancy is the value. They need to either bring the prices down, the food quality up, or both. As is, you're getting fast food for table-serve prices. But again, I also paid $6 for a small bottle of water a few doors down, so it might just be victim to airport pricing at this location.

I'll definitely be back. Not because it's as good as the real thing, but because it's an acceptable fast food alternative in an area of the country you can't even get...

What's soggy, soupless, overpriced, industrial and totally NOT wow? That would be Wow Bao's Soup Dumplings, and the Bao not much better. Like an amateur from two decades ago I fell for the steaming baskets and authentic look of this place. Almost always I prefer Asian cuisine, especially from small family run authentic places - which is exactly what this place looks like. Ended up paying almost as much for 6 soup dumpling as the 36 count Costco package, only to find out it's the same type plastic tray, with 6 tiny, soggy dumplings that fall apart on contact, and surely cannot actually contain any soup. The chicken filling was ok, nothing more, but overall - a desaster. The two Bao's were a good size, and reasonable consistency for the dough, but the filling was cooked, not BBQ pork, which was disappointing. They cost $7. Too much for what it was! If you crave Asian - there's a P.F.Chang's up the terminal. Not authentic, but good...