Chef Joe Bracero is the Executive Chef at Bao Brewhouse, bringing over 30 years of culinary experience from top food scenes across the US, including Chicago, Miami, San Diego, Los Angeles, and New York. He...
Insights
JapaneseSushi BarSteakhouseChineseVegan-friendlyModerateLunchDinnerLate NightAll Day
Last updated: 8/7/2026, 3:55:58 AM
Key Information
Bao Brewhouse is an Asian-inspired restaurant in Denver known for its immersive design and playful dishes. The venue features a multi-level experience, with the downstairs Tap Room boasting graffiti-covered walls, glowing lights, and craft cocktails. It aims to offer a creative Asian fusion experience for lunch, happy hour, dinner, and late-night events.
Customer perception is mixed. Many praise the value during happy hour, highlighting flavorful food, solid portions, and standout dishes like buffalo chicken dumplings and bluefin crispy rice dim sum, noting the high quality of fish sourced from Japan. However, some reviews express disappointment with the food quality, describing dishes like xiao long bao as sour or tasting pre-made and reheated. Other criticisms include high prices for small portions, excessively loud music, slow service, and uncomfortable experiences with staff regarding photography policies.
Additional Details
The restaurant prides itself on its unique ambiance, with each floor offering a different mood. It partners with an omakase establishment on the lower level to ensure high-quality fish for its dishes. The menu includes a variety of Asian-inspired small plates, dumplings, and larger entrees, complemented by a selection of craft cocktails.
Happy hour is frequently mentioned for its excellent value. The restaurant is open for lunch, dinner, and late-night, making it suitable for various occasions. Weekday happy hours might offer a more relaxed atmosphere compared to busy weekend evenings.
5
My wife and I stopped in for happy hour and were honestly blown away by the value. A bunch of the apps were only $8.88 and the drinks were surprisingly affordable, especially for the area. We tried a little bit of everything, the buffalo chicken dumplings were the standout (seriously good), the soup dumplings weren’t as juicy as I’m used to but still tasty, and the DIY spring roll was fun and fresh. The Brussels and shishito peppers were great too, along with a few other small plates we grabbed.
Overall, the food was flavorful, the portions were solid for the price, and the whole experience felt like a win. Great spot for a casual, high‑value happy hour.
2/15/26 - Had dinner at Bao for a friends birthday! We tried a lil bit of everything on the menu and shared. Everything was great!
- Kobe beef dumpling
- Cheese rangoons with colossal crab
- Pork xaio long bao soup dumplings
- Mother clucker dumplings
- Wagyu NY strip
- Short rib spicy noodle
- Governors Baozhens
- Shishitos and Brussels
- Bday donut
My friends and I had an extremely disappointing experience at Bao Brewhouse.
The restaurant was not busy when we visited, and while the food arrived quickly, the way the staff handled the photography situation was unnecessarily aggressive and made us feel uncomfortable and unwelcome.
We initially used a camera with flash, but the moment we were informed of the policy, we immediately turned the flash off. Despite complying right away, staff continued to approach us repeatedly, insisting that we could not take photos if another table appeared anywhere in the frame. Our intention was simply to capture the restaurant’s beautiful red lantern décor—not other guests. Being constantly monitored and interrupted turned what should have been an enjoyable meal into a stressful experience.
Unfortunately, the food was even more disappointing.
The xiao long bao was particularly concerning. The soup inside had a sour, off-putting taste that genuinely made us question whether it had spoiled.
The other dishes were equally underwhelming. Everything tasted as though it had been pre-made, frozen, and simply reheated in a microwave. There was little freshness, texture, or attention to detail—certainly not what you would expect from a restaurant positioning itself as a premium dining experience.
Our total bill for four dishes and two drinks, including tip, came to around $150. For that price, the quality of both the food and service fell far below expectations.
We arrived excited to try Bao Brewhouse after hearing positive things, but left feeling frustrated, disappointed, and questioning the value entirely. This is not a place we would return to, nor one we would recommend to others.
Just too loud. I wanted to really enjoy this place. We showed up at 6pm on Saturday and the downstairs area wasn't full but we stood at the host stand for over 5 minutes before being greeted. The upstairs was full, we hadn't made a reservation which was my bad, but the downstairs was playing deafening music.
I was there with my two teens and my boyfriend and we got a table downstairs and couldn't even make conversation because the music was so loud.
We ordered an appetizer that tasted amazing, but it took 25 minutes to get to the table.
The decor was beautiful, the walls are painted amazingly downstairs.
The food was really good Latin Japanese fusion.
The music was too loud.
MJ our server was fantastic! Knowledgeable and helpful with our selections of cocktails and dim sum. The bluefin crispy rice dim sum was fantastic! They source their fish from Japan in partnership with the omakase at the lower level so the quality of fish was superb.
Only complaint was the top level was a little toasty in temperature, but we visited during the heat dome so that probably contributed.
