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OMG, I <3 BABS

BABS Pastrami Rachael
BABS Pastrami Rachael
Place

Bao's Awesome Burgers and Sandwiches

4646 Convoy Street, Suite 103, San Diego

How does the 4646 Convoy Street mini-mall manage to contain such a staggering array of tasty foods and drinks? Crab Hut, Shabu Shabu House, Raki Raki (except for that damn ramenburger), etc. Add BABS to the list! That’s “Bao’s Awesome Burgers and Sandwiches,” for the record.

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Sponsored

BABS stands as an example of how to do everything right as a restaurant. The entire operation is organized around a solid concept (greasy, overstuffed sandwiches), and nothing distracts from that heart-stoppingly delicious mission. The menu proudly owns the fact that every dish celebrates excess carbs, salt, and fat. Nothing attempts to disguise the indulgent dishes as anything less. In fact, the restau and its website are all decked out in kawaii (excessively adorable) style...because Hello Kitty would want you to eat a Ju(i)cy Lucy.

Own the calories. Dig into steamed buns filled with steak and cheese, a disgustingly beautiful fusion experience, and one that’s also available with BBQ pork. The bun part should be fluffier in accordance with dim sum style, but it's still a tasteful phenomenon.

Steamed buns stuffed with Philly cheese steak.

Afterwards, head towards the sandwiches. Perhaps the Rachael ($7.49), laden with fatty pastrami, cole slaw, French fries, tomatoes, and provolone cheese. It oozes grease and meat juice in a way that would be unbearable as an everyday meal, but triumphs as a once-in-a-while indulgence.

Don’t like pastrami? Try roast beef, ham, or turkey. Maybe the B-B-Beast, which is basically every meat piled high on a sandwich. Or, if sandwiches seem too pedestrian, move on to the stuffed burgers ($7-$9). Each one starts life stuffed with cheese, and the toppings are piled on from there. Texas burger gets sweet barbecue sauce and onion rings. White hot burger comes loaded with chilis and spicy sauce. Pastrami burger is exactly that; stuffed burger loaded up with shaved pastrami.

BABS Texas burger, loaded with onion rings and BBQ sauce.

Beside the fact that the overkill sandwiches are really good for at least one-and-a-half meals, maybe two, BABS totally owns this fatty-snacks dining extravaganza. Friendly, enthusiastic service ices the cake, but it’s unapologetic focus on gluttony that really seals the deal. There’s something to be said for identifying what your thing is and doing it as well as possible. Too many restaurants remain caught in permanent identity crisis. BABS knows exactly what it is, and does that to the very best of its ability. The restaurant lets diners know exactly what they’re getting into, and then delivers. That’s a rare and beautiful thing.

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BABS Pastrami Rachael
BABS Pastrami Rachael
Place

Bao's Awesome Burgers and Sandwiches

4646 Convoy Street, Suite 103, San Diego

How does the 4646 Convoy Street mini-mall manage to contain such a staggering array of tasty foods and drinks? Crab Hut, Shabu Shabu House, Raki Raki (except for that damn ramenburger), etc. Add BABS to the list! That’s “Bao’s Awesome Burgers and Sandwiches,” for the record.

Sponsored
Sponsored

BABS stands as an example of how to do everything right as a restaurant. The entire operation is organized around a solid concept (greasy, overstuffed sandwiches), and nothing distracts from that heart-stoppingly delicious mission. The menu proudly owns the fact that every dish celebrates excess carbs, salt, and fat. Nothing attempts to disguise the indulgent dishes as anything less. In fact, the restau and its website are all decked out in kawaii (excessively adorable) style...because Hello Kitty would want you to eat a Ju(i)cy Lucy.

Own the calories. Dig into steamed buns filled with steak and cheese, a disgustingly beautiful fusion experience, and one that’s also available with BBQ pork. The bun part should be fluffier in accordance with dim sum style, but it's still a tasteful phenomenon.

Steamed buns stuffed with Philly cheese steak.

Afterwards, head towards the sandwiches. Perhaps the Rachael ($7.49), laden with fatty pastrami, cole slaw, French fries, tomatoes, and provolone cheese. It oozes grease and meat juice in a way that would be unbearable as an everyday meal, but triumphs as a once-in-a-while indulgence.

Don’t like pastrami? Try roast beef, ham, or turkey. Maybe the B-B-Beast, which is basically every meat piled high on a sandwich. Or, if sandwiches seem too pedestrian, move on to the stuffed burgers ($7-$9). Each one starts life stuffed with cheese, and the toppings are piled on from there. Texas burger gets sweet barbecue sauce and onion rings. White hot burger comes loaded with chilis and spicy sauce. Pastrami burger is exactly that; stuffed burger loaded up with shaved pastrami.

BABS Texas burger, loaded with onion rings and BBQ sauce.

Beside the fact that the overkill sandwiches are really good for at least one-and-a-half meals, maybe two, BABS totally owns this fatty-snacks dining extravaganza. Friendly, enthusiastic service ices the cake, but it’s unapologetic focus on gluttony that really seals the deal. There’s something to be said for identifying what your thing is and doing it as well as possible. Too many restaurants remain caught in permanent identity crisis. BABS knows exactly what it is, and does that to the very best of its ability. The restaurant lets diners know exactly what they’re getting into, and then delivers. That’s a rare and beautiful thing.

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The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

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Submit a free classified
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4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
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