Wow Bao

As others have said this is a ghost kitchen run by Wow Bao through TGI Fridays. I wanted to give the benefit of the doubt and disregard all the bad reviews. I’ve grown up with fresh home made bao and just had that craving. This isn’t a knock on TGI Fridays as they are operating under an agreement. Having had TGI Fridays food in the past, I’d say their cooking of Wow Bao foods is limited to the constraints of an unsteady customer base and frozen supplies. I’ve been told by TGI Fridays this operation has been ongoing for over a year. If this food is representative of Wow Bao’s quality and business model I’d be ashamed to work for their leadership. TGI Friday’s food is markedly better than what I just received. Service from TGI Fridays was nice, very cordial and accommodating staff. There is a dedicated person for handling of the ghost kitchen orders. They do not have menus but were happy to verbally describe their offerings. I used the online google page to search and decide. The ordering and checkout is typically door dash or the like, I ordered at the checkout and pickup area which is their drink station in the back of the main restaurant adjacent to the kitchen itself. I was advised my order would take approximately 20 minutes and my order took in fact approx 20 minutes and I’ll assume I received it just as it was completed off the ticket. No significant complaints with the service other than a physical menu would be nice. Now the food. The bao is the main desire i had and as their name is Bao Wow I was excited to try what I’ll assume their prized offering is. The bao is clearly frozen. They are very tiny, soggy, and they came out luke warm to cool. Their fillings of Mongolian beef and teriyaki chicken had a lack of true flavor. You can taste the flavors but they are so distant from existing frozen on a shelf until called upon to be steamed. The buns, I can anttest, taste ans if and are in fact steamed, which from frozen will lead to a soggy bottom that falls apart. You also will get a sticky heavy chew rather than a moist fluffy and soft texture. The chicken egg rolls seem to suffer the similar issues from sitting frozen. They have a fried crunch but the filling is where it’s apparent they have sat again frozen. The color of the chicken appears dull, dark, and blended to its close neighbors of vegetables. Again the flavors seem to be there but still lacking and bland. I would prefer a run of the mill corner store Chinese food restaurant egg roll to this. Clearly those are frozen as well, but these seem to carry the appearance of freezer burnt innards. The orange chicken had an air fried appearance. I have an air fryer and have been able to produce chicken with a slight crust but flavorful, juicy, tender chicken inside. This is not what I received. What was not coated with orange sauce was dry, hard, crispy, overcooked possibly. The chicken had a crunchy outside and dry dull flavorless inside. Also cool despite receiving my order supposedly at the time of completion. My assumption is the frozen aspect affecting all of the food except the rice. The rice honestly wasn’t too bad. Fresh, soft, fluffy, slightly soggy w parsley and a few tiny bits of veg. Wow Bao should rethink if this is how they want to be known. Stick to your dedicated shops and rethink the frozen foods. Quality over quantity. Selling food like this will not create a repeat customer. I would however visit TGI Fridays with my family again for legit TGI Fridays food. Additionally, I have had excellent food from other ghost kitchens and pop ups. Even some food trucks are more impressive than this Wow Bao offering. The portions are small, the food is mediocre, the price you’ll pay for what you’ll get is shameful. You’ll be left hungry, lacking, and wanting, and lighter in the pocket while not understanding why.

Ordered this through Uber eats and I was concerned because of all the reviews. I had it at the airport before and it was pretty good so I gave it a shot. Genuinely it tasted good. All food was heated correctly and did not taste freezer burnt or anything. The bao wasn't hard like some other people have said. Unsure if I just got lucky this time or if other people had waited too long to pick up their orders? And yes, apparently this is run out of TGI Fridays kitchen. I got this at like 8: 00pm on a Sunday night and genuinely I'm super happy with the food. If you think that portion size is too small for you then I would order something else. I enjoy the food so I don't mind.

This was an absolute waste of money!!! Spent over $100 to try different things on the menu. Bao was burnt cold inside. I got orange, sesame and fried chicken bowls. All were all half the size of a kids meal and all the chicken was DRY and BURNT. The crab ragoons are so stale that they were hard to bite into. And the potsticks were freezer burnt and was not the filling i asked for. The best thing I ordered was the Dr Pepper in a bottle because they could ruin that.

Ordered through door dash. The food came 2 hours later cold. The fried rice portion only had 4 bites for $6.99. The baos and eggrolls was disappointing. Will never ever order from this “restaurant” ever again. Save yourself!

Tiny portions. The bao buns were doughy and frozen tasting. Chicken definitely came out of a freezer as well. They gave me 2 pieces of orange chicken and some burnt crumbs. Didn’t realize this was a ghost kitchen.