  We present a detailed study of open heavy flavor production in high-energy
$pp$ collisions at the LHC in the color dipole framework. The transverse
momentum distributions of produced $b$-jets, accounting for the jet energy
loss, as well as produced open charm $D$ and bottom $B$ mesons in distinct
rapidity intervals relevant for LHC measurements are computed. The dipole model
results for the differential $b$-jet production cross section are compared to
the recent ATLAS and CMS data while the results for $D$ and $B$ mesons
production cross sections -- to the corresponding LHCb data. Several models for
the phenomenological dipole cross section have been employed to estimate
theoretical uncertainties of the dipole model predictions. We demonstrate that
the primordial transverse momentum distribution of the projectile gluon
significantly affects the meson spectra at low transverse momenta and
contributes to the largest uncertainty of the dipole model predictions.
