Super Bao & Cake Girl opened May 12 in the former KC’s Pastries space at 109 N. 10th St. in Chinatown, and the gleaming glass cases are already pulling in lunchtime lines for bright, offbeat baos and pastries. The new bakery leans on Hong Kong-style staples with a twist, serving Portuguese-style egg tarts, buns with matcha-crusted tops, and novelty bao stuffed with Oreos or durian.
Owner-operator Cai Ban, 42, who immigrated from Guangxi and took over the lease last August, says the menu grew out of family tradition and neighborhood input. "We make similar types of bread in China, and my family has been doing this for about 20 to 30 years," Ban told The Philadelphia Inquirer. The outlet also notes that the shop has kept the KC’s Pastries sign up for now, letting regulars adjust while the new team settles in.
What’s In The Case
The display case, as detailed by The Philadelphia Inquirer, is packed with buns filled with corn and topped with flower-shaped sprinkles, oblong loaves with cheese and pork floss, glossy durian pastries, buns coated in pork floss and seaweed, and Portuguese egg tarts with brûléed custard. Most items land in the $1.50 to $3 range, a price point the paper notes helps explain the steady midday crowds.
Old Sign, New Crowd
Local business listings show KC’s as a long-running presence at that address and mark the corner as a familiar Chinatown bakery stop. Allmenus lists KC’s Pastries at 109 N. 10th St., and neighborhood chatter captured the changeover in mid-May. A Reddit thread in r/PhiladelphiaEats shows users spotting a balloon arch and applauding inexpensive, fresh pastries while others lament KC’s closing. Older neighborhood write-ups have long framed KC’s as a cheap, reliable dessert standby, underscoring that Super Bao & Cake Girl is stepping into a well-worn set of shoes.
Super Bao & Cake Girl is open daily from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. and currently takes cash and Venmo only, a bare-bones setup the owners say helps keep prices low while they build a following. Whether the playful newcomer becomes a Chinatown fixture or a brief novelty, the early lines suggest locals are more than willing to let the first bite be the judge.
