BAO Just Made Fast Food Fashionable
With a new concept blending Taiwanese convenience store culture with the brand’s signature creativity.
BAO is flipping the fast-food playbook with its latest concept, “BAO Fast Foods (BFF),” a playful reimagining of convenience eating through a Taiwanese lens.
Born from a humble East London car park stall to a cult London restaurant group with seven sites, BFF brings the brand’s signature mix of nostalgia, design and flavor into a fast-food format that feels anything but basic.
Inspired by the energy of Asian convenience stores, the concept focuses on speed without compromise. The menu keeps things tight but inventive, think Taiwanese fried chicken reworked into a “split wing” for easier eating, or the “chopper,” designed with exposed bone so it’s easier to hold on the go. Alongside that, expect nitro teas served in frozen disposables, BAO-branded snacks, classic convenience store-style treats and a lineup of collaborations that lean into the brand’s creative spirit.
More experimental dishes teased on socials include a street-style shaved beef noodle soup and a braised pork-flavored distilled liquor created with SC Lab. As co-founder Shing Tat Chung puts it, BFF stands for “Best Friends Forever” and “Better Fast Food,” a way of asking what “better” could mean beyond health, and instead in terms of community.
Before opening its first permanent site in Singapore in 2027, BAO is heading back to its roots in Taiwan. A pop-up convenience store will run in Taipei’s Songshan District from June 11 to 27, giving locals a first taste of the concept.
Head to the brand’s website to find out more.
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