Chatter about the closure started making the rounds on Facebook foodie groups the same day. Duck N Bao’s website only lists the Rice Village (5215 Kelvin Dr.) and Memorial (5535 Memorial Dr.) locations. Grace and Leo Xia, owners of Duck N Bao, released a statement Tuesday afternoon, announcing they had chosen to not renew the lease and instead close up shop.
“Saying goodbye to our original Duck N Bao is bittersweet,” the couple wrote. “Cypress is where our story began, and we will always be grateful to our regulars, neighbors, and all who supported us from day one—especially through the challenges of the pandemic. Your encouragement helped shape Duck N Bao into what it is today.”
The Xias opened the Cypress location at 17333 Spring Cypress Rd. in 2019. Previously, Grace Xia worked at Deloitte and left to operate a Kung Fu Tea franchise. Leo Xia had past experience at his family’s restaurants, including Cajun Cafe & Grill in Baybrook Mall and Green Garden in Cypress. The latter restaurant eventually transformed into Duck N Bao.
Duck N Bao’s menu is largely in the name: Peking duck and soup dumplings. The restaurant also serves fried rice, noodles and other entrees, but the duck and dumplings are the real sellers. The restaurant expanded to Memorial in 2021 and Rice Village in ’24.
“As our businesses, family and future plans have become increasingly centered in Houston, the end of our Cypress lease felt like the right time for this next chapter,” the Xias wrote.
The Xias have a few other restaurants in their hospitality portfolio. The couple opened Hongdae 33, an all-you-can-eat Korean BBQ concept, in Bellaire Asiatown’s Dun Huang Plaza in 2023. More recently, they opened Seven Sushi & Robata, also in Dun Huang Plaza, in 2025. Grace Xia also told Chron in December 2025 that a Seven Sushi concept was in the works inside Loop 610.