At The Ugly Bao, we are passionate about bringing modern, elevated Vietnamese cuisine to the world. Every dish we create is a labor of love, inspired by our founder, Linda, and her mom, Kim, who blend the rich traditions of Vietnamese flavors with a modern twist. We obsess over the quality of our ingredients to ensure every bite is an experience—one that feels like home.

But our mission goes beyond food. We believe businesses have a profound
responsibility to uplift their communities. That’s why we are committed to hiring, training, and empowering individuals who have faced barriers to employment. Through career development and support, we strive to provide meaningful opportunities for those eager to grow.

At The Ugly Bao, we’re not just serving food—we’re building a community, one bao at a time.

✨long live all the magic we made ✨

Dear Friends of the Ugly Bao, 

Starting and running The Ugly Bao has been one of the greatest gifts and challenges of my life. It's always been more than just food. It's been about connection, building community, and celebrating the ugly parts of life. Over the past two years you've become part of our family and I'm so grateful you've allowed us to be part of yours. 

I have some bittersweet, exciting news to share: Bryson and I are expecting our first baby!!! After much reflection (and doctor's advice), we've decided to pause operations on The Ugly Bao as we prepare to grow and care for our family. It was a tough and yet simple decision as we know it's time to take a step back and focus on this new chapter of life.

We still have two more chances to hang out and bao down together. We'll be at the Hollywood Farmers Market one more time this Sunday, May 25. And in good full circle fashion, we'll wrap it up where it all started at SACHI.LA on Sunday, June 1. We'd love to see you there so we can bao down and thank you in person for all the magic & memories we made.  

Thank you for supporting The Ugly Bao and me since day one. Every time you visited us at a pop-up, called us to cater your event, wore The Ugly Bao t-shirt - you really did help make my wildest, silliest, delulu dreams come true. I will always look back on the last two years with deep gratitude and joy.

We don't know when we'll be back, but we hope to return when the time is right. When we do, we'll bring all the love and baos we can. 

In all things ugly,

Linda