Taiwanese ghost kitchen Bao Bei will open its first brick-and-mortar restaurant in the Montrose Crossing shopping center in Rockville in early 2025, Federal Realty Investment Trust announced Thursday.
Since 2022, Bao Bei has operated a ghost kitchen at 11910 Parklawn Drive in North Bethesda serving bao buns, rice bowls, desserts and catering bundles. Bao Bei’s restaurant will open at 12055 Rockville Pike, next to Honey Pig Korean BBQ and Kosmo Nail Bar.
Federal Realty did not say whether the restaurant will keep the Bao Bei name or if the ghost kitchen will close.
Ghost kitchens are restaurants without dining space and no visible storefront, according to a release from Federal Realty, which owns Montrose Crossing and several other local shopping and dining developments. Food prepared in ghost kitchens is typically sold through third-party delivery apps.
“We welcome Chef Kevin and Bao Bei to Montrose Crossing,” Joseph Byrnes, vice president of regional leasing at Federal Realty, said in the release. “Bao Bei will be a savory addition to our merchant lineup offering another premium, innovative restaurant to this shopping and dining destination.”
The news of the upcoming opening follows Bao Bei’s recent participation in the 17th season of Food Network’s The Great Food Truck Race, which brings together nine aspiring chefs from across the U.S. and challenges them in an elimination-style race to win $50,000, the release said. The season aired this summer and Bao Bei made it to the finale, winning second place.
Bao Bei was created by founder, owner and chef Kevin Hsieh. The graduate of Gaithersburg High School and University of Maryland Baltimore County had landed a job as a financial analyst but found himself considering a culinary career. He launched the eatery in September 2019 at a street market pop-up in Washington, D.C.
“The job didn’t occupy my mind as I wanted it to, so I got the idea to sell my nostalgic childhood food,” Hsieh said. “I grew up in the Rockville area, where there is a plethora of Asian food—Japanese, Korean, Chinese—but not much Taiwanese.”
Hsieh started Bao Bei guided by mentorship from his father—who manages a restaurant at the MGM National Harbor in Prince George’s County and was a chef at several Washington, D.C.-area restaurants—and a research trip to his parent’s hometown of Taipei City, the capital of Taiwan.
After debuting at the D.C. street market, Hsieh also focused on selling food at festivals and markets. In 2022 Hsieh moved the operation to its ghost kitchen in Rockville and now operates it with his childhood best friend Zakary Keres.
According to Hsieh, Bao Bei is a term of endearment in Taiwanese, describing someone or something that one deeply treasures.
“A tribute to my family, I will share my culture with the community through Bao Bei’s dishes,” Hsieh said in the Federal Realty release.
After The Great Food Truck Race season ended, Hsieh posted a video on Instagram thanking the show’s viewers and his supporters for rooting for the Bao Bei team as it completed challenges including creating meals for astronauts.
“I’m really glad that Food Network and Tyler Florence gave us an opportunity to showcase Taiwanese food to a larger audience,” Hsieh said in the video.
“I hope you’re excited to watch us expand our power and influence to the whole realm,” he added. “I appreciate all of you very much. Your support is amazing. It’s going to help me continue to live the dream of bringing Taiwanese food to every block of the world.”