Bao Ju

Bao Ju sits just off Neenah’s main drag, its modest exterior belying the ritual significance it holds for locals and Chinese food devotees across the Fox Valley. Step inside during lunch rush and you’ll witness a living snapshot of small-town Wisconsin: families squeezing into tight booths, old friends catching up over battered plates brimming with General Tso’s chicken, solo regulars hunched over hot and sour soup. The dining room is snug—a little too snug at times—with a hum that never quite tips into chaos but always feels alive. This is not a temple to culinary innovation. Instead, Bao Ju delivers exactly what generations have come to expect: heaping portions of familiar Chinese-American comfort food at prices that rarely sting. Some dishes shine—crispy-edged General Tso’s comes out piping hot, the sauce sticky and balanced between sweet and fire. Broccoli stays bright green in beef stir-fry, with a snap that speaks to practiced hands on the wok. Other offerings can stumble; crab rangoons are sometimes more shell than filling, and egg foo young has disappointed even loyalists on more than one occasion. But when Bao Ju gets it right—and it often does—the experience feels like a reward for loyalty or simply knowing what to order. Service moves briskly, often handled by staff who juggle tables, bar orders, and takeout with the calm efficiency of veterans. At times, interactions around tipping can come off as awkward rather than warm Midwestern hospitality, but there’s an undercurrent of genuine care in how diners are looked after. For many families here (and even some who drive an hour or more), Bao Ju is woven into their own traditions—birthday dinners, Friday night takeout rituals, a taste of something both exotic and deeply familiar in this corner of Wisconsin.