Shanghainese Restaurant Baos & Bowls Opens in East Village
A new Shanghainese restaurant named Baos & Bowls has opened on 13th Street in the East Village. The eatery's menu features dim sum, rice bowls, and soup dumplings. The establishment is currently awaiting approval for a beer and wine license.
- The restaurant is located at 401 E. 13th St., a space that was previously occupied by the Japanese restaurant Ichibantei before it moved to Third Avenue in 2023. - Baos & Bowls offers a menu described as "Shanghainese in New York," with specific dishes including pan-fried pork buns (生煎包), crab & pork buns, and a popular braised pork over rice dish called Lu rou fan (卤肉饭). - The eatery joins a dynamic and competitive East Village dining scene, which in recent years has been noted as a hub for ambitious and accessible new restaurants. - One customer review highlighted the restaurant's self-service model, which eliminates tipping, and praised the pan-fried baos for being perfectly cooked and filled with soup. - The opening comes during a challenging time for NYC restaurants, with many operators in 2025 citing rising food costs and labor shortages as their biggest financial strains. - Despite economic pressures, demand for restaurant space in New York City has been surging, leading to the lowest retail availability in a decade in the second quarter of 2025.
