Wow Bao 175 W Jackson, Chicago, IL 606024
Time: In the door at 12:30pm, seated with food in 6 minutes. Meal: Combo with spicy peanut noodles, teriyaki chicken, and a whole wheat edamame bao, fountain drink = $7.19
A bao is a steamed doughy bun with a filling and I remember when the first Wow Bao opened as a small stand in the lobby of Water Tower Place that sold little more than a small variety of bao, the thai herb broth soup, and a few drinks. Now, Wow Bao is a small chain (5 locations, most in the Loop/North Michigan area) and the menu has expanded to more Asian foods.
They have cashiers, but also have a self check out system that strives to be simple, but always leaves me with a nagging sense that I’ve done something wrong. In this case, my combo was called something like “3 for 5”, but I only had two choices. I figured out later that that was because the spicy peanut noodles (which were pretty tasty) were always included, but it might have been easier to have gone to the cashier who could have explained that, rather than me just wondering if I’d pushed the wrong buttons.
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