Bend the Bao

Bend the Bao is located at Universal Orlando City Walk. This has what the name says, Bao Buns. In my opinion, I feel it can be one of the most underrated locations. I think it can be very hidden as well. Their location is on the second floor, it is very small and sort of in the corner. If you didn't really know it was there, you would probably miss it. Their food though, is always great. Bao Buns are one of my and my wife's favorite food items and honestly, we forget about this as well. This place is really good, and we need to come here more. They are open from 12:00pm to 9:00pm most days, with Saturday and Sunday, open longer. They do have a few tables around as well as a few bar stools that look right into the kitchen. This is just a walk-up window, there is no seating inside. If you have an annual pass, there is a discount available, and you can order online using the Universal Orlando App. I recommend this as it makes it very easy and if you want any ingredients left off, you can still do that in the app. If you are unsure of using it or do not have the Universal app, you are still able to order online. My wife and I recently came here during the holidays, while visiting the Red and Green Coconut Club. We were inside and wanted something to eat. Their options are limited, just bao buns and a couple of drink options. They have about 10 bao bun options to choose from. You order them as a combo of three, with the option to add a fourth. They do have pictures of the food items at the register and also on the app. My wife and I shared 3 bao buns. Next time, we will probably get our own as they are not very large. It would make a great snack, but if you are ordering it as a meal, I would suggest adding the 4th. We choose the following: 1. Pork Belly- scallions, cucumber, honey roasted peanuts and cilantro2. Duck- kimchi slaw, XO sauce, cilantro and 5 spice aioli 3. Fried shrimp- cabbage, avocado, pico de gallo and chipotle crema We did modify all of them as my wife does not like onions or kimchi. When you order on the app, again, you can remove certain items. This really is a great spot. Bao Buns are not everyone's cup of tea, but I would for sure recommend checking them out. These are very delicious and some of the best we have had. They have a pretty wide variety of options. If you are a fan of bao buns, I would definitely recommend stopping here, grabbing a quick bite or sharing as a snack. Add it to your Universal list! Aces!

Unless you've never had Asian food, skip this place. The bao's come in a takeout box of soggy, mixed up watery sauces. It's nearly inedible. The bao is soggy and wet, the fillings are... unidentifiable. And the boba... it's just not boba tea. I don't know what it is. A sugar bomb of milk and ...sugar, and some jello-like balls that are suppose to be boba but are definitely not tapioca - at least not good tapioca. Even my kids hated it. Never wasting my money here again.

Bend the Bao is located at Universal Orlando City Walk. It is one of the most underrated locations in my opinion, I believe because it is really small, located on the second floor and sort of in the corner. Their menu is very small, but their food is absolutely delicious. This location opens at noon and is open until 9:00pm most days, a little longer on the weekends. It is on the second floor of City Walk and is really just a quick service location. There are a few tables around as well as a few bar stools that look right into the kitchen. If you have an annual pass, there is a discount available, and you can order online using the Universal Orlando App. I recommend this as it makes it very easy. I was a little nervous ordering on the app since I wanted to leave a few items off the bao buns, but it was very easy. My husband and I recently came here during the holidays. We were visiting the Red and Green Coconut Club and were looking for something to eat. We actually didn't know if we could bring food into the Coconut Club but once we noticed others, we knew we wanted to order from Bend the Bao. They have bao buns, that's it. Nothing extra but drinks. There are a few different options, and you order them as a combo of three, with the option to add a fourth. There are also pictures of each Bao near the registers so you can see what they look like. We decided to share three since we were not terribly hungry. However, we forgot how delicious they were, and we should have ordered our own. We went with the following three options: 1. Pork Belly- scallions, cucumber, honey roasted peanuts and cilantro2. Duck- kimchi slaw, XO sauce, cilantro and 5 spice aioli 3. Fried shrimp- cabbage, avocado, pico de gallo and chipotle crema We did modify all of them as I do not like onions or kimchi. When you order on the app, there is a list after you choose your three, that has every topping, just click on the items you do not want. Somehow, it translates to the employees, and they made them exactly how we wanted. I love this spot. We don't visit often but I do think we need to hit this spot more. I absolutely love bao buns and this one reminds me of the Bao Spot downtown. If you are a fan, I would definitely recommend stopping here, grabbing a quick bite or sharing as a snack. Add it to your Universal list!

On our last trip to Universal, we had lunch at Bend the Bailey, which is located on the top deck, above the movie theater. I order two duck bao and my husband had a three bao combo. The bao were quite small so expensive for what you get. My duck bao tasted good and we liked the pork belly the best. All the bao we ordered were flavorful, but again quite small so we're not sure how often we'll eat here again considering all of the other options CitiWalk offers.

Great spot to get a small bite to eat.We don't have a lot of good Asian restaurants in Tampa, so take this review with a grain of salt. That being said, I loved this place. You'll have to wait a while after ordering, since they make it to order, but it is worth it. I got the Duck Bao, Beef Brisket Bao and Shrimp Bao. All of them were delicious. The bao was fluffy and it had a good amount of filling. My son picked a bit at the breading, but neither of them ate a lot, so future Christina know that if you are going to eat this, you'll probably have to eat it all yourself. That wasn't a problem though since it was so good.There are a lot of tables around, but it is an order at the window type place. There are seats where you can look in the glass and watch them make your food, which is kind of cool.

Not a bad deal at an amusement park. I had the pork belly. It was dry but tasty. The brisket with the fried jalapeños. It also was dry but tasty. The last one I had was the duck. It was by far the best. The meat was tender if a bit under seasoned. My partner had the crab. It was bad. Stay away at all costs. The price was good for a park. All in all I would try it again if I was in need and didn't want to wait at one of the other restaurants. The service by the staff was great. Friendly and quick amid the chaos of a Saturday night.

The good, the bad, the ugly!The Good-We had the Kimchi Chicken and the Crab Cake Bao's! Let me tell you the Crab Cake was FIRE!!! Could eat the crab cake all by itself l! It really was fire! Believe me when I tell you!The Bad- I originally ordered a pork belly! Only to be told 5 minutes after ordering they were out of the pork belly! But that's when I got the crab cake order in so I guess it worked out!The Ugly- About ten minutes after ordering they called me up! Here I am thinking I'm bout to get my food. Only for them to tell me they were out of Duck (part of my original order) so I had to settle for 2 chickens and 1 crab cake! But real talk the crab cake made it all worth it!

We love Bao in our family. This is a relatively newer place to us. I have seen this place before, but my child did not know it existed until this trip. I love Citywalk and we were spending the afternoon eating snacks around the shopping area and tried three bao here. We got the pork belly, shrimp, and duck. While it was a bit pricy in my opinion for three little bao, it was a tasty snack. I liked the variety. The people working here were very nice. It is located upstairs in a spot with a lot of fast food choices, so for a snack it was perfect. If you were getting this for a meal I am not sure three would fill you up, but good if you are eating around Citywalk. It is also good if you want a light meal before a decadent dessert around here. If it is there when we come back, I am sure someone in the family will order bao again.

Walk up and order, ate elsewhere. Seating outside only and limited on the second floor of universal. 16.99 for 3, another $4 and change to add one on. Smaller, but good amount t of protein and great flavor. Overlooked and worth the price.

The only bao I actually enjoyed was the pork belly one. I felt the beef was way too smokey flavored and the duck's flavor left something to be desired.