Lao Sze Chuan
4832 N Broadway St, Chicago, IL, 60640
Lao Sze Chuan Menu
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Address :
4832 N Broadway St
Chicago, IL, 60640 - Phone (773) 293-4653
- Website https://tonygourmetgroup.com
- Click To Get Directions
Opening Hours
- Mon :12:00 pm - 11
Specialities
- Takes Reservations : Yes
Delivery : Yes
Take-out : Yes
Accepts Credit Cards : Yes
Good For : Dinner
Parking : Street
Bike Parking : Yes
Wheelchair Accessible : Yes
Good for Kids : Yes
Good for Groups : Yes
Attire : Casual
Ambience : Casual
Noise Level : Average
Alcohol : No
Outdoor Seating : No
Wi-Fi : Free
Has TV : Yes
Waiter Service : Yes
Caters : Yes
Categories
Chinese Cuisine
The popularity of Chinese food in America can be adjudicated by the appearance of China Town in many major cities in the United State of America. The popular trend of ordering or opting for Chinese take away food isn't unknown in America. Chinese take away food comes to rescue when you're too tired from work or too exhausted to cook. No one can resist the temptation of eating spicy noodles, shrimp, chicken, beef or pork cooked in the sweet and spicy sauce. The cooking method of authentic Chinese food is a lot different compared to what is served in America.
Generally, Chinese use dark meat small bones and organs to cook dishes but this changes when you are eating American-Chinese fusion food prepared using white boneless meat cooked with broccoli, carrots and onions. Back in China, the food is less spicy and oily as they favor steaming and braising method for cooking the most popular dishes. So, if you have a taste for authentic Chinese food, then try finding a real Chinese restaurant in the city. You can also try the most popular fusion Chinese food like Pecking Duck, Chicken Feet, Hot Pot, Shrimp Dumpling Soup, Mapo Tofu, Wontons, Chop Suey, Egg Rolls and not to forget Fortune Cookies.
There are not many restaurants in America serving authentic Chinese food. A little research on Restaurant Listings directory can help you locate the best Chinese restaurants in the city. Chinese cuisine is continuously evolving, and you can find a variety of dishes categorized as the food for lactose intolerant, gluten intolerant, vegan, vegetarian, and diabetic friendly. So, if you have a group of friends with different taste patterns, save the hassle and visit the nearest Chinese restaurant in your city.
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scott r.
Let me start by saying our order took 2 HOURS to arrive. This is not the fault of the restaurant, it was the fault of EAT 24 through the YELP app. The restaurant didn't receive the order until 45 min after the order was placed. The food was great. Crab Rangoon were huge and very flavorful as were the Gyoza. Sesame chicken was very good and the Mongolian Beef was awesome. We also enjoyed some of the egg drop soup. Always driven by this place but now I want to go in and try it hot out of the kitchen.
(4)Jennifer E.
This is a delivery review via Grub Hub. So we missed the call from the delivery guy which was our fault because we didn't hear it because our baby's cry overpowered my ringtone. Anyways, we called the restaurant and they were so understanding. They sent the delivery guy with NEW food (they didn't want us to have cold food). Exceptional service. Love them!
(5)Ms W.
The food and service is good but is overly priced for the amt you get. Also the chairs that we sat were dirty and I think they need to replace those!
(4)Ian L.
Best Chinese I've had in my almost 20 years. Looking forward to going to China to rival the Lao Sze Chuan's Crab Rangoon.
(5)Jane T.
I go to Lao Sze Chuan about once a week because the food is SO DELICIOUS. It's a little pricier than some other chinese restaurants in the area but the ingredients are good, and the preparation for most of the dishes is spot on. Some of my favorites are the cold cheng-du noodles, string beans with garlic, eggplant with garlic sauce, mapo tofu, and the lemon shrimp. I've had a couple of dishes there that weren't to my liking (I think I had an octopus dish I didn't care for and the sizzling rice soup), but it's otherwise pretty solid across the board. I'm not sure it's the best Chinese place in the city, but it is definitely in the running.
(5)Donna S.
Terrible is all I can say! Not sure where to start! Price is extremely expensive! I order a few different things and all was either mushy or really spicy. I will not be returning that's for sure. It's a shame thought it would of been at least half way decent.
(2)Cecilia B.
Tony's Three Chili Chicken is all you need to know. I love that place and my fiancee always gets that. We both love it, you should go and eat that right now. Right now.
(5)Tyler W.
A solid place for the basics. I don't experiment much- but at this price point the orange chicken is well worth the upgrade. Spiciness gives it that extra kick I prefer. Delivery was fast and friendly. No complaints.
(4)Janet C.
We went with friends who had been there before and they are vegetarians and thought it was tasty with good selections. We had the crispy shrimp with lemon sauce, excellent, and the dry Szechaun shrimp, also excellent. It's our new favorite Chinese restaurant. Portions are large and I think it's reasonable for the quality and portion size. Service was good.
(5)AJ G.
Overall, this is the best Chinese food I have found on the North side of the city. The dry chili chicken is excellent, as are the string beans with garlic sauce. The only downside I have found is that, on busy days (read holidays) their delivery service is horrible. We have waited for more than 4 hours for delivery. I suppose that is what I get for ordering Chinese food delivery on Christmas eve, but no word from the restaurant and no one answering the phone (I ended up having to drive over and pick up the food) was frustrating. Every dine-in experience I have had here has been superb.
(4)SK M.
How in all the hell does a place this renowned let their liquor license expire? I am sooooooo disappointed. This is a little ratchette
(1)Reggie A.
Great place for Chinese. You don't have to go all the way to Chinatown for great Chinese food!
(4)Talia G.
Customer service was great.. Servers are very friendly and attended ... Dry chicken is good... Lamb curry was ok but wasn't that good. Beside that it's a nice cute looking place.
(3)Adam W.
Stopped through Lao Sze Chuan for a mid afternoon lunch and liked the place - clean interior and design for the restaurant itself. I had the house special hot & sour soup, along with the dry chili chicken - soup was fantastic and the dry chili chicken was pretty good. Will definitely be back to try other dishes! Price point seemed to be a bit high, but the quality of the food served was worth it.
(4)Michael C.
Got take out from here 5 days ago (Thursday). My wife and I both became violently ill, and were sick all through the weekend. I'd had decent experiences here previously, but now I definitely won't be back.
(1)Erin B.
Unquestionably the best Chinese food I have ever had. Service is terrible, but it's so worth it!! Crispy shrimp with lemon sauce is heaven.
(4)Natasha R.
A friend and I had a Groupon: $32 for $50. We had so much food for the two of us--we each had lunch for the next day, what a plus! The whole staff was really great, especially our waitress, Pooki! She was perfect: attentive, genuinely friendly, and thoughtful all throughout our meal.
(5)Belle L.
Lunch Special ($8 on select dishes) is an excellent value for $$ (comes with soup, egg rolls/crab rangoon). Good portions. The first Chinese table service to offer plate change. Yay! Venue -- clean and organized. Mongolian Beef -- need knife. Delicious. Lots of beef. Add chili to take the flavor a notch.
(5)Sarah Y.
The menu is huge, but not helpful. Human beings are unable to make an informed choice when presented with more than 10 options. And this menu has about 500 options, with no pictures. However, they do have a Top 10 menu items section, which should just be the entire menu anyway. Get the spicy cumin lamb, mapo tofu, skip the spicy chili chicken. The chicken pieces were so tiny!
(4)Courtney K.
Love this place! Delivery is fast and food is awesome! I love their spicy hot and sour soup! Like really.. I need a stock pot full of it. The one bowl I order is never enough. So delicious.
(5)Aaron S.
I actually have two different opinions about this place, because I get a completely different experience when I dine in vs takeout. I first found this place by walking by and stopping in for dinner - my meal was great and I really enjoyed the food. On a more lazy day, I decided to use the Seamless app to order takeout. I quickly noticed a much lower quality of food with takeout than my previous dine in experience. I was actually pretty disappointed but decided to give takeout a try one more time, but no luck. I won't be ordering again, but I might consider dining in when desperate.
(2)Meghana P.
I order delivery from them on the regular (although sometimes they're closed without warning or explanation on Grubhub or their website), and I am never disappointed. They serve authentic, delicious Sichuan cuisine - although you have to know what to order, don't go for the classic 'Americanized' dishes like Sesame Chicken. The Ma Po tofu is amazing and never disappoints, and I've been told that the Dry Chili Chicken is fantastic as well. The 'Chef Recommended' dishes like green beans generally do not disappoint, and their portions are large enough that I always can make at least another meal or two out of a single entree (definitely sharing style).
(5)Mark K.
This is amazingly good food. I ate there again last night and woke up this morning craving the Dry Chili Chicken. I tried the jumbo shrimp app last night too. It's all good.
(5)Farzeena L.
We walked in at 10:32pm to grab takeout and were quite excited to grab dinner from Laos despite the negative reviews of commercialized, oily Chinese food. Laos closes its doors at 11pm as is posted on the door. We were promptly and rudely turned away at the door & were told that the chef leaves at 10:30pm. Why would the chef leave 30 mins before closing? Laos is a slap to the face of Chinese hospitality and service. No number of token celebrity pictures with can make up for this Lao
(1)Savvy R.
This review is based on issues I have had with a recent delivery from here. I have ordered from grubhub once, and the food got here quicker than the quoted time and the food was good. The issue I'm having now is that I ordered food this past Monday night from delivery.com and I never received it. I have tried calling the restaurant 20+ times and the phone just rings and rings and doesn't get answered. I have also tried to call the delivery company, and they are having issues trying to contact Lao sze schuan as well. All I want is a refund for the food I never received, and it's feeling like it's impossible to talk to anybody from this restaurant!
(1)Adam Q.
I recently moved to the Uptown area and had been looking for a new Chinese Resturant to call my favorite. Glad to say my search is over. I loved the spicy cabbage that was served to us when we arrived and thought the Mongolian beef was really tasty. We also ordered some dumplings that were extremely flavorful and could have eaten all day. I definitely will be coming back to this resturant soon.
(5)Christian L.
If you can't get the staples of a typical American Chinese restaurant right, then how do you expect to survive? It's like going to a Mexican Restaurant and having terrible tacos. I ordered the usual, wonton soup, Egg Rolls and Seafood combination. Nothing crazy right? I didn't ask for Steak au Poivre or Escargot. I've had more flavor at Taco Bell. The egg rolls were cold and tasteless, the wonton soup had two lousy wontons and the seafood combination has weird flavors. Won't be ordering again, nope, not today Satan.
(2)Matt T.
Meh. The food was decent but nothing special. The price was no bargain, either. The beef tenderloin dish looked promising, but it was a fairly flavorless mixture of beef and vegetables. It didn't stand out from any run-of-the-mill Chinese restaurant. The salt-and-pepper scallops were pretty good. We also had the chef's special dry chili pork. I was excited since this is one of the dishes the place is supposedly known for. However, it was solid but not spectacular. Far too many red peppers wasting space on the plate where meat should have been. And the meat was quite salty- so much so that the friend I was with did not even want to keep eating it. Overall, the place was not bad, and it has a decent atmosphere, but there are much better choices around. I would not go out of my way to return or even recommend it. But I would visit again if I was with people who wanted to.
(3)Erika G.
I love this place in Chinatown, and I love it even more in my neighborhood. This location is a little more stylishly designed, which always appeals to me. Same kick ass food. Went here on a Saturday night, no wait for a table. Which is not to say it was not crowded, it was, but the tables were turning over briskly. Lots of people enjoying lots of food. The dish . . . Interior: spare and well designed. Very stylish bar area. Nice attention to detail. Staff: Adorable, helpful and just attentive enough. Drinks: Straight up martinis for the both of us. Martini for him, and a Vodka Martini for me. Both great, icy cold, well made, and a real value for $9. THE FOOD! There's a Yelp check in special for a couple of Shanghai egg rolls. Very nice little bite. I had the Chef's Special Mongolian Spicy Lamb. I keep ordering "Chef's Special" dishes with a side of Chef, but no one ever laughs at my joke. Whatever, I know it's funny! This dish was no joke, though. A GiANT plate of juicy lamb, a few Szechuan peppers and some cut up vegs. Accompanied by a dish of white rice - which I am a big fan of, this dish was a real winner. Spicy, but not overwhelmingly so, it was a pleasant heat. This dish lasted for two meals - dinner and lunch a couple days later. My luscious companion had the Chef's Special Dry Rub Spicy Chicken. I think he got more excited about this dish with every bite. It was lightly breaded, savory and juicy. A TON of chili peppers, it was actually a bit comical how many there were. The price, WOW. We managed to get outta there for $60ish for dinner for two, including tip. That's not bad, and worth many return trips.
(4)Jacob J.
This is a greatly upgraded venue than the old digs down south (Chinatown) but there are many Lao's so get your favorites in order. It's ritzy, snazzy with an upbeat look and attitude. A perfect spot to celebrate with a group or dine on date night. Unfortunately though, there isn't a presence from their host staff to match their new look. We decided to dine the other afternoon and even with host recommendations found the meal to be lacking. Lunch for two came out to be $62 dollars with tax and tip. Without booze! Portion sizes could be okay if pricing weren't so expensive. Many entrees were highly priced, I'm talking about $14 dollars plus and for items not considered premium. Vegetable entrees starting from $10.45 plus. In comparison to restaurants in the same category, it's pricey eating. I wouldn't of minded, if we thought our meal to be exemplary. But maybe we ordered the wrong items? Looking at other highly rated reviews, we might try it again based off dishes recommended or photographed on Yelp; rather. At the end of the meal we were full but not satisfied. Although we took recommendations, the flavors didn't mesh well. I remember two entrees being overly salted. A green bean and tofu dish and the orange chicken. At the end we decided to try a dessert which was also recommended. A sticky rice stuffed with sweetened bean and topped with granulated sugar. Not very imaginative and straight to the trash it went. The random guy at the corner of Western & Lawrence begging for money & food got our leftovers. I wonder what he thought? "Lao Sze", maybe? Get it? No? ...Fine, whatev's.. I dig the Lao eateries but often realize that it's best tried when eating within a group. Go with a large number of people, order a bunch of appetizers and entrees and then share the cost per person. I feel this is the best and only way to find out what is or isn't good. Via shared smiles.
(3)Dane K.
Decent food. No "real" hotpot, need to go about 80 blocks south for real hotpot:/
(3)Rachel L.
I was kind of disappointed by this place. I've been to the other location, which is great. The ambiance is very nice here, and the service was good, though appeared to change half way through the meal with no explanation. We had the vegetarian chicken (sounds unappealing, I know), which was really tasty! It's tofu wrapper with mushroom inside. I had chicken and vegetables, which was utterly tasteless and Americanized beyond belief. On the one hand, I knew it sounded that way. On the other hand, I wanted protein and vegetables. Not one or the other and this was one of a few items that appeared to have both. I can't tell you how much other things I've added to the leftovers to make it more palatable. I thought it was pretty expensive, though I guess you do get a lot of food. Also, the menu has no descriptions of the food, which is really annoying.
(3)Tony C.
I've been on the search for a good Chinese restaurant in the Chicagland area for well over 10 years. The search continues. We were referred here because apparently, it is regularly filled with Asian customers. We don't know what they see in this place. While the menu is attractive with colourful pictures of good looking food, the actual food is a disappointment. In fact, it's a stretch to consider this Chinese food, it's more an eclectic mix of various Asian styles including Vietnamese and some Korean influences. Still, we think the food quality leaves a lot to be desired. A good hangout for the college crowd, not so much for the foodie crowd.
(2)Angela C.
I'd sum up Lao Sze Chuan like so: great Chinese food for above-average prices, but slow service. I came on a Thursday night for dinner with a group of friends, and we tried and liked the mapo tofu, sole fish in chili bean sauce, baby bok choy in garlic sauce, yang zhou fried rice, and beef with snow peas and water chestnuts. It took a while to decide on those dishes given the plethora of options presented in their menu, but the menu was cleverly designed to neatly categorize the many foods available. Otherwise, this restaurant has a nice layout and interior.
(4)Larisa O.
This is definitely the best Chinese I've had, period. I've done Chinatown in San Fran and Chicago. This is the first place I keep revisiting. The dishes are very exotic, very ethnic, especially for a chain. Doesn't seem like a chain at all. Too good. So far I've tried this location and Evanston. Its on the pricey side but worth it. This location has lunch specials and when I go we order 4 and take the rest home. They're large. And even the lunch specials are exotic, not your standard fares.
(5)Justin B.
Closed? Called two days in a row and no answer.
(4)Bryn L.
Seriously best Chinese food I've had in Chicago. I'm obsessed with their spicy cabbage and can hardly go a week without satisfying my craving for it! I've never eaten there and only done take out/delivery but the interior looks pretty nice
(5)Mel A.
I will start off with that the service was nice (although they didn't check back to see how our meal was) and the restaurant was clean and nicely decorated. I have just had better food elsewhere. Tonight was our first dining experience. We ordered: #404 Beef Brisket Noodle soup Szechuan Style $6.95. Huge bowl with lots of noodles. Good flavor yet too greasy. Minimal meat and what was there was very fatty! I did take the noodles/broth home. #S08 Lamb with Pure Cumin Powder-spicy $14.95. Spicy which we didn't mind but we did mind how greasy & gristly the meat was. We ate probably 1/4 of it and left the rest. Overall there are WAY too many items on this menu. I think they should simplify and perfect no more than 15-20 items and get rid of the rest. They may have a better chance of creating a following with perfection rather than vast variety. We will return for another go and perhaps try a seafood item. Best of luck to this location.
(2)Aleksandra S.
Love this spot! I regularly haunt this place now. The ginger spinach, the salt and pepper shrimp, the spicy cabbage, the egg drop soup, the orange chicken! I could go on and on and on! I've only had one thing I haven't loved--the egg drop soup. Everything else has been awesome!
(5)Linda B.
2 stars for the food plus 1 for the great service and here we are at 3. I went to this Lao location last night around 6:00pm and was greeted warmly when I entered. The restaurant offers a free Shanghai spring roll with a yelp check-in and I ordered pot stickers and the boiled pork spicy szechaun. My food came out quickly, actually just a little too quickly. I got my appetizers within 10 minutes and 5 minutes after they got to the table, my (humongous) entrée was placed in front of me. A little work on timing of the food may be in order. Everything tasted okay and the restaurant itself was nice enough looking but I don't have strong feelings about it.
(3)Kailey W.
This is for order through grub hub. I ordered at 7:15, food didn't come until 1 hour 57 minutes later. (45 minutes after expected delivery). Food was not even hot when it came, just warm. Grub hub is awesome- they get the one star I'm giving this restaurant. They offered free grub. The gh rep said Lao would call to offer 'potential compensation' for the food being late.... Doubt it. So disappointed. Definitely do not order delivery from here. Also should mention, I live ON Ashland... So being lost/can't find the address is definitely not an excuse.
(1)M L.
I've been to the Lao Sze Chuan in Chinatown a few times (I think it's overrated but fine), so I figured the uptown location would be a similarly solid experience. I was mistaken. One of my go-to orders at the other Lao Sze Chuan is the twice-cooked pork. However, the version I got here was very salty. We informed the waitress and they brought out a new one -- which seemed even saltier, if that was possible. And the ma-la lamb had no peppercorn at all. Not sure if Tony Hu just sends his reject chefs to this location. The service was ok -- they seemed nice, but no one came to refresh our hot water (which would have been nice given how salty the dishes were). All in all, a disappointing experience.
(1)Jessica G.
I'm not sure why it took so long for me to review the Uptown Lao Sze Chuan - I can only blame my own laziness! This place is amazing, with a huge menu, delicious food, and both American-y Chinese dishes and lots of authentic Chinese meals. I've eaten in and ordered delivery, both were quick, hot, delicious, and great. Minor peeves I had was that hot tea was provided in a cup with a teabag, not the big pots like in the Chinatown location. But maybe they've changed this since I last dined in? (See above laziness - I've been getting delivery!) Also, I miss the complimentary spicy cabbage dish you'd get in Chinatown. But, these are very minor, as you'll see by the 5 star review they still get. Go outside your comfort zone and try ordering something new and different! I got the "Dong Po Spicy Pork Elbow" and it was delicious. :)
(5)Laura J.
So much food. This review is for delivery from the restaurant. We ordered the moo shu chicken and the boiled beef in spicy sze sauce. I ordered the moo shu because I have nostalgic memories of ordering it as a child from Chinese restaurants. This moo shu is not like any- this us really good quality. The boiled beef was just as good as expected. Best part is that we received two large containers of it- enough for two meals. Happy meal.
(4)J N.
Food was amazing, service was lacking. My friends and I went to get dinner there around 5:00. I had been to the Evanston location twice and had loved the food there, so I had hoped for the same quality at the original location. We went in and were seated very quickly, but it took a while for the menus and the water to show up. When I asked for water, the waitress rolled her eyes and brought it five minutes later. Before we ordered, I made it abundantly clear that we were all on separate checks, nonetheless, when the bill arrived, it was not separated. I ordered the curry chicken, but instead, I got the tony chicken. While my food was good, it was the opposite of what I wanted. It had more of a sugary sauce instead of a curry sauce. At the end of our meal, I had to explain to another waiter who seemed to be in charge of checks that it was all wrong. While I explained what was wrong and who paid what, she seemed to be very irate and unprofessional. It took what felt like 20 minutes for use to finally pay and leave the restaurant behind. I recommend the food. The cooks in the best are second to none in Chicago, but staff is a nightmare. Get your meal for take out.
(2)Megan M.
I love this place. The food is delicious. Their Mapo Tofu is my absolute favorite. The owner is really cool too.
(5)Christie B.
Delicious and seriously spicy. We went with a friend of ours and he ordered up enough food to feed 8 people easily. Hospitality, Szechuan style, that's for sure. I can't even remember individual dishes since there was such a great variety but everything was delicious and spicy hot. Our friend, who is from China, verified the authenticity of the food, and my husband, who's lived in China, seconded it. Service was attentive and friendly, interior decor was pleasant and attractive although a bit noisy, as these hard surface type of restaurants can be. Could use some tapestries for dampening sound, but otherwise, nice experience all around.
(4)Emily H.
Goodness gracious, great balls of fire! This place does not play around. If you order anything but the mildest of spice levels, they will set your sensibilities and taste-buds a-fire! But the flavors are so good you'll want to power through the burnination, much to your detriment. The Kung Pao - tasty, SPICY, not greasy, good mix of cubed chicken and veggies. The Mongolian beef had decent tender cuts in a savory sauce, but was also burningly spicy. The Cheng du dumplings were filled with perfectly seasoned ground meat (pork I think), and arrived drowning in a mild sauce that looked nuclear-reactive in color. They were a nice change from the same floppy potstickers most places serve. The Singapore fried rice had a distinctly curry flavor to it, mixed a little sweet and a little salty to create a mellow flavor, or it would have had we not ordered it spicy. The meal burned in and out, was amazing regardless, and I will go again once I recover.
(4)Jonathan H.
NB this review pertains to the Uptown restaurant, not the restaurant in China Town. My friends and I were excited to try delivery of the Uptown location after having great experiences in China Town. However, the dishes were incredibly disappointing. We ordered the Tony's Chicken, which was A) cold upon arrival and B) 2:1 portions of peppers to chicken. Yes, we ordered spicy, but we didn't shell out $13 for a bucket of peppers. The Shrimp in lobster sauce was bland and the mushu beef came with what I can only guess were flour tortillas and enough plum sauce for one person. Very upset. Had the quality been on par with the China Town location, I would've made this a regular dining spot. Oh well.
(2)Rob Y.
If you are using Groupon, DO NOT let them redeem it before you order and finish your meal. Order and eat what you paid for first, the max value of what you bought and than when they bring you the check, show your groupon. I made the mistake of having the waitress redeem my $50 groupon before I even ordered. After we finished eating, someone brought a check with full amount and tax ($52 and change) . Our cost of meals were around $48.00. I had to look for the waitress who redeemed my groupon. After finding her , I told her you redeemed my groupon before we ate and asked her to correct the bill. She said you have to pay tax and I bring you a different check. So they brought a second check, the tax showing $5:18. I paid it with my card with $5 tip. The food is good though. I saw someone's review for their location in Skokie where the cashier refused to accept his Groupon and even asked them to pay the full amount in CASH for 5% discount. Very weird and bad management! yelp.com/biz/lao-sze-chu…
(3)Ray D.
Go here for AMAZING EATs! Fresh ingredients and tasty food. Top Chinese place in the Shire for sure. Ambiance is better then China town location. Service is very good and staff very friendly. Look forward to going back!
(5)Kate F.
I can't get over the positive reviews this chain restaurant receives. Save your money and just open a can of La Choy instead. Rather than bore you with a run down of all their disappointing dishes I'll just point out that their crab Rangoon is sweet, really sweet. To mask the fact that the crab is missing or to laugh at American tastes I cannot say, but crab Rangoon should NEVER be sweet! The best I can come up with is they're a one trick pony. They seem to get bargain basement prices on dried chili peppers so they are trying to build a chain on odd cuts of meat drowned in them. I'm still searching for good Chinese in Chicago. Seriously, their soup tastes like they opened a can.......why pay higher prices for this?
(1)Girlatchicago L.
Ma po tofu is delicious. Ordered at this spot 2 years ago and was not impressed at the time, now it is much better. The one in Chinatown always had good qualities. I am giving 2 stars due to the high delivery fee. maybe the delivery fee can be reduced a bit? Most places only charges 2-3 and this place charges 4. You can try to increase your min price order instead of penalize everyone who orders delivery from you. Food is 4 star, service is 1 star(rude delivery guy) and price is 1 star( overpriced comparing to the rest of chinatown and high delivery fee).
(2)Jessie W.
You won't imagine this rest serve authentic Sze chuan spicy food by its interior look and the romantic music they play. But beyond imagination, their food would blow your mind. It's that good!' Trust me!! Spicy won ton is a must try!! Their cocktails r good too!! Dream girl is a very girly drink, every girl would love it!! Enjoy the great food in the romantic environment!!
(5)Steven G.
I was so happy to find a Chinese restaurant open past 10 in uptown. I walked in and ordered the Mongolian beef to go. It was 13.80 with tax - a little expensive in uptown but if it was good it would have been worth it just for being open late. The Mongolian beef was bland. The portion was small. There wasn't a rich brown sauce just a runny light tan sauce and there were large chunks of almost raw yellow onion and almost no green onion. They also used mushrooms as filler for beef and the dish was missing the white puffy noodles under the beef. They boast awards for excellence and I would guess that the people gave them this high praise also think that panda means yummy. Do not be taken in by the pretty décor go get a good meal someplace else.
(1)Bryant R.
The food and service was excellent. The lemon chicken and smoked duck was very delicious.
(4)Viv M.
It used to be very good, but lately, the past few times we went to the uptown location (4832 N Broadway), the food is less than average. It's definitely not to the standard when Lao Sze Chuan was rewarded as one of the top-rated Chinese restaurants in Chicago. All the dishes are too salty. We ordered the Octopus in black beans source, it was simply the ingredients "swimming" in salty, brown source. The Szechuan green bean was way too salty and oily, like the ones you will get from a cheap Chinese takeout place where culinary skills are virtually not existed. Very disappointed!
(3)Kraig B.
Lao Szechuan is rapidly becoming one of my favorite restaurants. I've never had a problem with the service here, and I like the calm ambiance, but what I LOVE is the food. The flavors are crisp, pronounced, and bold, and that's what I love (well... crave) about Szechuan food. It helps that I really like spicy food, and Lao Szechuan does spicy well. Perhaps I should say Lao Szechuan does spicy POWERFULLY. It's the rare and special restaurant that knows how to mix good flavor and spicy heat just right, but Lao Szechuan does, and they do it consistently. You'll taste flavors here that you just can't find outside of well prepared Szechuan food (I'm thinking, in particular, of the hot/tangy/numbing flavor of Szechuan pepper, which is unlike anything I know of in Western cuisine). Three of their specialties that are out of this world are the dry chili chicken, the mapo tofu, and the twice-cooked beef tenderloin. I rave to my friends about these dishes, and after I take my friends there, THEY rave about these dishes. My biggest problem with eating at Lao Szechuan is that the dishes I know are so good that it's hard to branch out and try new things, but every time I take a chance, I'm rewarded with great new flavors. To be clear, they do non-spicy well, too. There are sections of the menu specifically dedicated to non-spicy options, so you can take your friends with delicate palates here without worrying. A typical visit for me will include an order of the String Bean Spicy Black Bean Sauce (207 on the menu), which is brightly flavorful without being especially hot. I'll usually get an order of the Chengdu Dumplings (F02), done Szechuan style to get my palate warmed up. The great thing about those dumplings is... well, everything; I love those things, but what I love in particular is the sauce they're in, which is AMAZING. I'll usually keep the sauce after I've finished the dumplings so I can pour it over my rice. The flavor is fantastic. My go-to entrees are the dry chili chicken (S01) and the twice-cooked beef tenderloin (715), both of which are exploding with great flavor. To balance out the meaty/starchy element, I often like to get a vegetable, like the baby bok choi, which is also really tasty (and good for you)! This section of Uptown, being near the Little Vietnam of Argyle St., is not short of places to go for great Asian food, and a hungry diner has many options, but if you're craving spicy, bold flavors (or if you're looking for a change of pace from pho), Lao Szechuan is a gem, and you won't regret taking your hunger here.
(5)Jeana C.
I love spicy and this place is great for it! Dry Chili Chicken- great! Service was wonderful. Great experience.
(5)Skye B.
Extremely disappointed in their service because I usually love this place. I ordered a meal for delivery and when it arrived, it was missing the vegetables that I was told that it came with. When I called to tell them, they said they would give me a "$2 credit for the missing broccoli." When I asked for a refund because my order was incorrect (and I paid $20 for their mistake) the manager said that it was not a good enough excuse for a refund. How is receiving the wrong order not a good enough excuse?! I have worked in the service industry for years and find that appalling. This food is expensive but good so I am usually willing to pay the extra but poor customer service on top of the prices means I will be taking my business elsewhere.
(1)Stephanie H.
This is a one star for me because I couldn't eat the food I ordered and threw it all out in the trash. I don't have food poisoning or consider myself to have a weak stomach in general but this food was so oily and greasy that I will never eat food from here again. i didn't feel well last night. My friend (from Chengdu who said this isn't authentic at all) and I ordered delivery. The delivery took 40 minutes which for a Saturday evening was pretty good. We ordered extra food for leftovers. I had the pork with wood ear mushroom which was fine until I noticed that some of the pork was rather chewy or crunchy but all oil. I also had the beef tendon noodle soup which was disgusting. It was incredibly bland and full of oil. Fortunately the pork dish came with a side of white rice so I could eat that. We also had the fried rice (C07) which was ok. I don't know why but I'm always skeptical of places that have huge menus, and this place has a huge menu. It seems many of you like it but I can't stomach the grease.
(1)angela h.
I'm house-sitting for friends and ordered some delivery from here. First off, who has delivery times of 1 1/2 hours at 8pm?? Fine. Weird but whatever. Delivery guy comes and doesn't have proper change when I pay with cash. Are you freaking serious?! That's just skeevy. Lastly, the food. The pork pot stickers were good, I'll give them that. But the Kung Pow Shrimp was gummy, the veggies super soft w/ no crunch left in them, and the whole dish was *swimming* in oil. Not greasy, you reviewers say?? Well I got the other chef I guess. No thanks. Never again.
(1)Pam D.
I really enjoyed the food. I had their special hot and sour soup, which was sprinkled with sesame seeds. Nice flavor and texture. The smoked tea duck was good too, though not the best I've had. Christopher had the wonton soup. It was ok, but the portion was rather small. He also had the Szechuan green beans. They were not spicy at all, but were very flavorful. He polished off the entire plateful. The restaurant was attractive and modern. BTW, the ladies restroom is behind a giant velvet curtain. I was expecting to see the great and powerful Oz when I pulled it back. The service was ok, but kind of scattered and not particularly friendly, but it all worked out. We will be back because there are about a bazillion items on the menu that I want to try.
(4)N A.
The fried rice is exactly what fried rice should be. Great consistency, not too greasy. General tsao's tofu was delectable.
(4)Lisa A.
Lao Sze Chuan in Uptown is just as good as the Lao Sze Chuan in New Chinatown! Consistently good Szechuan food...that being said don't order Cantonese Style when you're here. This is known for their spicier dishes. Salt & Pepper Prawns are a favorite as is Ma Po Tofu...the spicier the better. Too bad they don't serve Japanese Style Tofu (Egg custard tofu) which I like the best. The one in Chinatown serves it. Pot Stickers are usually bought and not made on the premises.
(4)Akhil C.
Hi Yi D, Thanks for getting back to me. Most restaurants don't even bother to do that. I was there with my wife last Friday 1/17/15 in the evening. I'm a big fan of Chef Tony. I love almost all of his creations( with my experience from Chinatown) I've tried almost all of the extensive menu during the course of past four years. My favorites are the lamb cumin and dry chicken chili. I did order the lamb cumin and bok Choy for the main course and the bamboo shoot appetizer. I guess the bok Choy( no chef can spoil a bok Choy) was good and bamboo shoot was pickled/preserved so nothing wrong there. It was your signature lamb cumin that was utterly disappointing and a big disgrace in the name of the great chef Tony. The pieces of meat were sweet and stale( I've never had sweet lamb cumin in my life) I told my server and he said he'd fix it. Took it back to the kitchen and brought it back over cooked still sweet but added more spices. I was tired of arguing. We left it almost untouched on the table. They probably garbaged it. We asked for our bill and paid for that lamb cumin too. I thought it pointless to argue and not pay. Our evening was ruined already. Please don't let anyone else eat that again. They will believe that this is how chef Tony's food is for the rest of their lives. Your location was empty compared to the long waiting lines at Chinatown. I wonder if anyone will come back if you keep serving food like that.
(1)Mj S.
when this was in Chinatown - I was a FAN with a capital F! now it is more expensive and is meh. I too had high hopes. We sent for lunch - I lived in Chengdu Sichuan and my friends that came along also traveled extensively through China. We started with the Jaozis (Chengdu styled dumplings) bleh. We EVEN told the waiter (#1) that we wanted it to be HOT and we could handle Sichuan Hot... yea we got... nada. Waitstaff #2 enters the scene and we get the cold noodles. It was probably the best dish we had. Lots of peanut sauce but watery so a few people dribbled on their shirts.. good luck going back to work with THAT! LOL. Waitstaff #3 takes our lunch orders - finally... we are now into 45 minutes... we tried sweet and sour chicken (just cuz) MaPoDoFu, a hotpot bowl with lamb and "dry chili green beans" - green beans came out wrong so Waitstaff #4 took them back - they looked like a stir fry green bean with garlic - what returned looked like a stir fry green bean with garlic and the addition of hot sauce... not so much "dry" they were OK - but not really all that hot. I was so disappointed that they attempted to call something Mapo Dofu but it was vegetarian style... um... you need that flavor of beef or in Chengdu the pork to give it that extra flavor - and the stuff needs to be layered so that you get the heat - this came out and it was clear it was a rush job - it's a simple dish - a peasant dish and it is wonderful and spicy and addictive.. this I didnt even want to take home let alone eat but at $13.95 I chose to choke some of it down - bleck. The sweet and sour was for a less adventurous friend - it was "ok" enough - but had better up at Wing Ho. The Sichuan Hot Pot pre-made was a big bowl like pho - we had been told it would have bock choy and two other veggies in it - it had cabbage - cabbage was tasty. asked and paid for glass noodles - but they chose to cut them making it a sloppy mess. It did have a good flavor but wasn't that great. We ended with our favorite steamed bread with condensed milk. What a disappointment!!! When you get these little dough loaves and they are home made they are fluffy and soft - however if you get them from someone that uses frozen ones and waiter #5 lets them sit - well they are firm and stale tasting - bummer because the condensed milk had a bit of coconut flavor to it... so high hopes dashed. 2 hour lunch that should have taken an hour. 5 Waitstaff that didnt know what the other was doing and $30 a person (no drinks just water) Nope I will go to one of the other businesses just north closer to Argyle - they might have the name from Chinatown but not the food or chefs
(2)Haidun L.
It's great. Quite authentic. I ordered a Sichuan beef noodle. Very large size. A bit too much oil!
(5)Rawlins R.
My friend is a huge fan of these kinds of authentic Chinese restaurants and I think I am becoming one as well. This style of Chinese food is very good with a wide variety of flavors and spices to choose from. I rarely choose what I want to eat, because my friend knows best, but whatever he picks is usually pretty good. Many of the menu items will indicate the spiciness of the plate by number of peppers shown. One being medium and two being really hot. I enjoy spicy food and some of these dishes can really test your tolerance. While I was here I was able to "Tap" by Belly Card as well as receive a free Spring Roll with my Yelp check-in. Life is a game, why not play it.
(4)Danielle C.
One happy, over- fed, old school brunch describes my visit to Lao Sze Chaun. It was delicious! A few of us gathered to celebrate a birthday, overindulge and check out a new (to us) restaurant. What more could you ask for? The ambiance was right on, soothing with upbeat music featuring lighting that actually allowed you to see your compainions. What an idea! We had a FEAST! Yes, I am not exaggerating the amount nor quality of the food by using the capital letters. One of my friends ordered the Three Pepper chicken. I was thrilled that she did. I am not a fan of spices and would have never tried this dish. It was amazing- not too spicy but with a bit of heat after the taste. I would happily order it myself on my next trip. I ordered the Mou Shoo Beef. The beef was tender and flavorful. Another friend ordered the smoked tea duck. I tried a bite, it was not what I expected but was something I would consider! Another ordered an amazing looking soup/noodle dish. If I can ever remember the name, (it was featured in a picture) I will be trying it sometime. The crab ragoon was our appetizer, it ranked high on the scale for this type of crack! They also provided a free, spicy cabbage. I did not partake. We ordered the ginger pork stomach (served cold). It was very interesting. The flavor was not overly strong but pleasant. I really enjoyed!
(4)Holly L.
Used to be a great franchise. Slipping as they expand. Waited two hours for my food to be delivered.
(1)Jane K.
I somehow end up here often. Probably because it's easier to get here than to Chinatown for me. Nevertheless, the food is good. The novella sized menu isn't my usual cup of tea but you can find some gems hidden amongst the mediocre dishes. For example, the spicy fish is pretty great! A tiny pet peeve of mine is that the service is great but they insist on pouring your beer for you and it isn't done right which leaves my beer with a big, foamy head. Please don't pour my beer or pour it right!
(4)Joseph C.
Upscale setting, so-so drinks and the same old Chinese food that you can get anywhere else. I feel like there is a single food provider to the Northside Chinese food restaurants. The egg rolls, the fried rice and most plates all seem the same. What differs is the atmosphere, the service and the PRICE!!! Lao Sze Chuan is a nice restaurant, has good service and an upscale atmosphere for the neighborhood. However, it is expensive for what you get---the same old fried-up, pre-made food. Too much money...especially if you order out. I spent $48 on a delivery for JUST MYSELF and it was the same as Wing Hoe down the street for $24. Never again!
(1)Sam K.
Oh Lord. I have eaten so much Mapo Tofu. SO MUCH Mapo Tofu. I don't mean today. I mean over the past year. I shudder to think of how many pounds of mapo tofu I have eaten from Lao Szechuan over the past year. Since mapo tofu is heavy, I imagine it represents a very sizable proportion by weight of the food I've eaten. I can tell you this - with their rewards system through Belly, I have eaten enough to earn free mapo tofu. The staff have not only learned my face and my name; when they see me, they look me up in their system by phone number, since they've even memorized my phone number. I always order it "suicidal spicy. As spicy as you can possibly make it." Szechuan spicy isn't like other kinds of spicy - they have something called "mala," which is more like a vague tongue numbing spicy under a layer of soft oil. It does not sit well with my stomach. I eat it anyway with a chaser of unflavored yogurt, which helps. I also usually order their spicy cabbage, too - I justify it to myself by saying that cabbage is good for my gut flora. Bullshit. I order it because it's delicious. Occasionally I've deviated from this order, and tried their other specialties, like their dried chili chicken. When my friends come they usually order something else, and I taste it. Honestly, it all seems mediocre. But their mapo tofu makes up for everything else. The service is crazy good, and was so before I established myself as a mapo tofu cash cow. Every single server there is willing to go the extra mile to make your visit enjoyable, and if you get delivery, it's prompt and friendly as well. Go there and get the mapo tofu. I can't vouch for anything else, though.
(5)Karla U.
I LOVE Lao Sze Chuan's food. I am always impressed at the quality and freshness of the food. The menu has an extensive selection and prices are reasonable. I always get take out or delivery. Sometimes I'll grab a drink at the bar and while I wait and the bartenders friendly. I finally had a chance to dine in for the first time and I'm glad I did. I was in HEAVEN! Not only was the great but service is excellent as well. It was a on a Sunday evening, or server always checked on us or passed by us to assure that she's keeping an eye. I cannot wait to return again with friends. :)
(5)Colleen W.
Er. Mah. Gahd. This is the best Chinese place in the entire city, hands down. Even better than it's Chinatown counterpart (poor service, food is good but not grand) The service is impeccable, the decor is unexpectedly nice. I LOVE their lychee martini (what is a lychee? no idea! i doubt thats even how you actually spell it, but who cares when you're drinking a good martini). We had cold sesame noodles, the twice fried pork and dry chili chicken (SO HOT), and the crispy shrimp in lemon sauce. Let me repeat: crispy shrimp in lemon sauce. I would bathe in this. It is sweet and crunchy and light and buttery. I will pass up any other plans if someone suggests dinner here. Keep it up, Lao Sze Chuan Broadway.
(5)Arturo B.
I haven't reviewed anything on Yelp for several years, but eating at Lao tonight woke me up, because the gospel needs to be spread. In my nearly 30 years, I have never had an inexpensive Chinese meal on the Northside of Chicago that was worth repeating. For some reason, almost all Nortshide Chinese food tends to just be of the over-breaded dry meat with that brown gunk sauce variety. I really thought it was over for us, and kind of gave up several years ago, only ordering Chinese food on the off occasion that I made it down to Archer. Then I ate here tonight, and hollllllyyyy shit! This is hands down, without a doubt, THE BEST CHINESE FOOD ON THE NORTHSIDE OF CHICAGO! Oh, and it's ridiculously cheap ($6.95 for a massive bowl of brisket Szechuan noodle soup loaded with tender meat and half-cloves of fresh garlic). It used to be that when I headed out to the Broadway-Argyle area for noodle soup there was only one place (Pho 888). This is gonna make things very tough in the future. Oh, and the service is fantastic and as friendly as could be (you can tell that these people are TRAINED to satisfy). Oh, and the ambience is incredible for a place where you can eat for $10 a person. Oh, and the music (old jazz) is awesome. I do not have a single bad thing to say about this place, other than that it's probably going to make me gain 50 pounds in the next year. The cabbage in spicy oil that they serve right away is delicious. The person I was eating with said the dumplings were the best they'd ever had. I don't like dealing in absolutes, but as a lover of meats encased in chewy, pan-fried dough, I can't really think of a better one I've had. And the Szechuan string beans (crispy and coated in salt and tossed with garlic and ginger) are just the best fucking string beans I've ever eaten. The main takeaway here, though, is that there is actual, real, amazing Chinese food on the Northside for the first time ever. Thank you, Tony Hu!
(5)John P.
Fantastic food, shitty delivery. Go there to eat, never order out lest you want to reheat your cold food that takes 2 hours to deliver. Everything on the menu is great. Truthfully, be adventurous and just know that it's very spicy but worth it.
(4)Monica S.
I was craving authentic Chinese food one weeknight, so I decided to venture to Uptown. Food adventures typically mean that I try something new or challenging, and that is precisely what I did. So I admit that I'm a pansy when it comes to eating spicy foods. This is coming from a girl who, before her college days, would have to down one glass of cold water for each hot Cheeto I ate. But after eating the mapo tofu here, I've realized my tolerance for spiciness has gone waaaay up since my pre-baccalaureate days. Hooray for me! Oh, 2 other things to note--the garlic string beans are a must try! If you want more Asian food, make sure to stop by Broadway Supermarket, which is right across the street!
(4)RaShelle G.
I absolutely love this place! Best Chinese place in Chicago, or at least from what I've tried... and honestly I have no interest in exploring any other places! I always get their delivery through GrubHub. They always deliver my food before the estimated delivery time which is just awesome!! I always get the chicken chow mian and crab rangoons! My roommate and I sometimes even get two orders each because it is just as delicious as left overs!!! I seriously don't have one negative thing to say about this place! Love Love Love It! You have to check this place out!!!
(5)Tian Y.
was way overdue to try the new lsc. I actually wanted Sun Wah... but eventually really craved yu xiang rou si (they call it pork garlic sauce here)... so the new LSC won. Entering the restaurant: Nice environment of this location, bright, laid back and casual but still has a feel of sophistication. I like the Chinatown one too, but they definitely feel different. Why do we get a fancy laminated leather bound drink menu and a flimsy take out paper food menu? Service is very friendly and attentive here. Their uniforms remind me of the servers in fancy jiu lou's in China. They also seem younger and more outgoing than the Chinatown location. We were checked on multiple times! How refreshing for an Asian restaurant. FOOD: We ordered the dry chili chicken, a very similar chili pork intestines but with more chili oil on the plate, yu xiang rou si of course, and the szechuan beef brisket noodle soup. WAY too much food for 2 people. Strangely, rice is extra?! How absurd at a place that serves spicy saucy food. Food came really fast. Free pickled cabbage tastes different here compared to the Chinatown place. Different recipe? Beef noodle soup.... I always get this at every Sichuan restaurant, almost every time I go. This one was definitely one of my favorites. SUPER flavorful, delicious tender beef, and the perfect amount of spicy for all the other flavors to come through. However, those who are used to really spicy versions of this may easily find this mild. Also, huge portion. Unfortunately, not too much soup. The dry chili chicken and intestines were both very flavorful, but 1 chili sign-spicy is soooo mild imo, and I'm relatively wimpy when it comes to spicy. Don't be intimidated by the 2 spicy signs on the menu. I think it might not even be enough for some. Consider asking for extra. As for the yu xiang rou si... BIG disappointment. Not aromatic or garlicy or remotely flavorful at all. Also way too sour. Blegh. Normally, this is one of the dishes by which I judge the caliber of a sichuan place. If I just ordered this, I would be very reluctant to come back to this location. It could be an off night but a classic like this, I would expect it to be something they could pull off perfectly. It was just *so* off. Made me wish I had gone to Sun Wah. In conclusion, the 2 Lao Sze Chuans are kind of different restaurants. I wouldn't consider either a substitute for the other. They are really just related by name and Tony Hu... I actually tend to want to treat them as different places. Like, they might as well have different names and I couldn't make the connection. But two solid restaurants. Yay for having one closer to me!
(4)Radha K.
Even if I didn't live close to Lao Sze Chuan, I'd go out of my way to come here. Their service can sometimes be so-so, but their food is always worth it. I even had to wait +1 hour once for delivery (Uptown location), but I just know the food is worth the wait, so I wasn't upset! My go-to is always the Cumin Lamb and I enjoy Tony's 3-chili chicken...even though the later may require some Tums to compliment it! On the other hand, the egg rolls have zero grease/oil which I feel is hard to find. Can't wait to try more at Lao Sze Chuan soon!
(4)Ashley C.
Tony's 3 Chili Chicken is amazing! A bite of this and you will be addicted! I Ordered from this place as of May 2013 and I am HOOKED. I also enjoy the fact that food could be made as spicy as you wish from mild, medium, spicy and extra spicy. Me being such a dragon, I MUST have my extra spicy in any chicken dish I order and they never fail to impress. I would one day love to come inside the restaurant and eat in. The location is quite chic and gorgeous. Small but pretty gorgeous. The black and red brings some type of mystique to me personally. Delivery is 30-60 minutes long but I find it worth the wait for the food I ordered. Quality chinese and while some items are typical take outs, like General Tsos Chicken, mongolian beef, Kung Pao Chicken, and Orange chicken (which uses real oranges!) they also have szechuan chicken, beef and pork dishes that you wouldn't see in typical chinese places. No Chop Suey, none of that in this place! Got some good, spicy and hearty szechuan food. Even Hot Pot! One day I hope to go inside to eat and make a new review of my experience eating inside. But their food never ceases to impress me.
(5)Cynthia Z.
In response to the comment on my earlier review: Yes we were a party of four around 7:30 on Saturday March 14. The young woman hostess was alerted to the screw dish and she took the dish away. The batter on the sole fish filet with bean sauce was so overly salty we each could only eat one filet each. Sauce on that was seasoned fine except there was so much sauce we didn't know there was bok choy underneath until the end, since it was more like soup. The larger chunks of twice cooked pork were very tasty but the only problem was that most of the dish was small pieces and had way too much coating of salt. The Szechuan string beans must have had the same salty coating. The sauce of mapo tofu was also salty and the only thing that saved the dish was the fact that tofu is very bland so made it edible. We had the dried tofu with strips of pork and it was not overly salty however it had a strange lingering aftertaste. We ended up eating so much rice and drinking a ton water to compensate for the saltiness. Our entire dinner was very unpleasant and unsatisfying. Please keep in mind that we are all Asian, 2 Chinese, 1 Vietnamese and 1 Korean. We are all quite familiar with Chinese seasonings, cooking techniques and flavors. You would be well advised to work on quality control. Taste your food and no foreign objects.
(1)David S.
If they would deliver that Dry Chili Chicken to San Francisco, I'd be calling in an order right now.
(5)Amy J.
I HATE Chinese food! The sauces all taste the same - like brown sludge. Always too greasy, too heavy, too salty! This is the first time I have not only liked - but REALLY liked - Chinese! Worth the $4 extra per entree! I will be back! Dined in and ate $13 dry chili chicken $13 Mongolian beef $3 hot and sour soup
(5)Izzy N.
I mean really. So overrated. Gloppy near pudding like sauce (I HATE that. Oooo I hate that so much when it comes to food, it's disgusting. Might as well pour some corn starch down your throat cuz that's basically what you're eating in "sauces" like that), not spicy at all but mild at best if you're weak sauce. Flavorless clumpy flat rice noodles. Clumpy! Lots of sirarcha helped out the flavor a little. Time to learn how to cook with flat rice noodles all over again, hell my dad taught me when I was 12. Dry chili string beans- greasy with red specks of pepper for the color not equating spicy from numerous bites. I'm not amused. Of course the lightly battered and deep fried seafood dishes enticed me but I learned my lesson the last time around. That szechuan shrimp is a guilty pleasure but I won't be coming back. Even after requesting it to be extra spicy, nothing really registered on my tongue. I hate that it can be a gamble if your dish will come out with a normal sauce consistency or pudding like clumpy sauce. Barf. I was livid when I opened the containers up to see the condition of my food. Half my order went out to the trash for the homeless of River North. I walked that bag down the street on my way to go get wasted to wash away the memory of blowing 65+ dollars on shitty chinese food. Lesson learned, there's no need to go out of the way for this place. I coulda saved time and went to Big Bowl or Panda Express instead. I wish I was making this shit up cuz I hate wasting money. It pisses me off. ugh can't believe people go goo goo gaa gaa for this shit. No standards eh? or so use to eating your mom's shitty meat loaf and lasagna that this is an epiphany? I'll be classy and not name names ;-) NEXT!
(1)Joshua D.
Really good as far as Chinese.
(4)Elise R.
Lao Sze Chuan? More like Lao Sze NOMNOM. Finally, after YEARS (okay 6 months) of searching, I finally found perfect takeout in Chicago. The food was hot, spicy, delicious, everything. Huge selection on the menu and have yet to order something that was disappointing. 5 stars for you Lao Sze Chuan, YOU GO LAO SZE CHUAN!
(5)Mitchell F.
Super great place!! Wonderful tasting both traditional and new takes on Chinese classics. Great delivery!!!
(5)Cameron H.
I've been wanting to go to this place since it opened. The wait was well worth it... I've read mixed reviews but that doesn't stop me from trying a place. In walking in, it still reminded me of Marigold. But the food and the service was completely different. For starters, free, you get spicy cabbage. Delicious. To me it wasn't spicy (that might be due to me eating sriracha every day). We also ordered the egg rolls. Very good!!! I ordered the Chef's Special Dry Chili Chicken and my partner ordered the Kung Pao Chicken. Both were delicious. Service was great, we received our food within 10 min after sitting down, and the prices were very reasonable. I cannot wait to go back.
(4)Jorden H.
This place is phenomenal. They have a huge variety of items on the menu and not all of them are going to be great. Swing over to yelp and read the good reviews on what to order and figure out what you like. I recommend the spicy green beans and tofu it's super spicy but just outta this world good. The dan dan noodles (not on the menu but obv you can order) cooked Szechuan style are simply a solid order, I will order them every time. Now for the home run boiled pork cooked Szechuan style, for me spicy is the option you can go less spicy) is just tender sweet salty spicy to where you can't stop eating it (like the other two items) so many gems in this neighborhood. Our waitress was Elana or something along the lines and she was sweet and funny and the best.
(5)David N.
My favorite Chinese restaurant so far in the city. It has a great atmosphere which is very contemporary and lounge-like. The staff is always super friendly! I usually get the mixed vegetables which is delicious.
(5)Zhe M.
Haven't been to this place for a while, just heard they started to serve hotpot recently, my friend and me called for a reservation for it and checked it out last week. And now I'd say this is exactly as fabulous as I had in China after I tried out almost all the other hotpot locations in the city. We ordered the healthy pot with green onion sauce and garlic sauce, also the beef, mussel, beef tendon ball, cabbage, crispy rib(can't remember the exact name), crab sticks, tofu and potato noodle. The soup looked kinda clear but was very delicious, my favorite was mussel and cabbage, yummy! Beef and ribs were awesome as well, tendon ball was a bit salty but ok, crab stick was also kinda different as I had in China but it was ok. Then we ordered mussel and cabbage for the second round! Btw, our server was pretty nice and attentive, good plus for a perfect meal! Now it's getting colder and I'll try their hotpot again very soon! This place is gonna be my regular dining hall I guess lol!
(5)terry l.
I just picked up dinner from here. Got it home. Honestly, this is the worst meal I have ever had. Sesame Beef? Gummy with a thick brown sauce that was sickly sweet. The Szechuan Smoked Tea Duck? ALL bones. A LITTLE meat. LOADS of fat and rubbery skin. Crab rangoon was mediocre at best. After a few bites of each dish I threw all of it in the trash. I double checked my receipt for correct charges, as the meal seemed high...$43. Unfortunately, the receipt I received lists items WITHOUT pricing. Odd to say the least. Truly a shame and a total waste of money.
(1)Bobbi O.
Excellent food. Excellent service. Went there on Christmas (reservations only on that day). We were welcomed with complimentary House Special Spicy Cabbage, which was garlicky-spicy deliciousness. The Chef's Special Dry Chili Chicken was is something I've never seen anywhere else...it was outstanding. Their black bean sauce is the best I've ever had. The Orange Beef Tenderloin was delicious, as well. Great place! We'll be back!
(5)Kennen M.
The interior hasn't changed much from when it was Marigold and I hoped I would enjoy it as much as Marigold but unfortunately I didn't. The wait staff is very adorable and sweet, but very confused. We had many people attending to our needs but things were forgotten, our dishes sent to other tables, confusion and so forth. The order of our food came out in a manner which wasn't too enjoyable. Our main meat dish came out first, shortly followed out bok choy. After a while our mediocre spring rolls came out while out hot tea still hadn't showed up. Once it did show up, we had to let it stew for a while because it just tasted like hot water. Even after 15 minutes of seeping the tea, it still tasted like hot water. It tastes as if they gave if used tea bags. The menu was very large and narrowing down the dishes was hard so we stuck to a few of the chef's specialties. The pork belly was good but it is basically a lot of thinly sliced fatty mean with lot of chili oil on it. The orange beef was my favorite dish as it came out super crispy with some nice heat. However, the next day when I warmed up the left overs, I was disgusted by the amount of grease that was in it. The bok choy was disappointing and bland. If you like Furama's, you will be disappointed by this one. I think I had another dish but honestly can't remember it. The dishes cost in the range of $12-15 but the portions are huge. Perhaps they will find a niche cliental for this place but as far as I am concerned, I will just head up the block to Argyle for a much less expensive, less greasy meal.
(3)Jonathan Z.
Good food but the service is so awful I won't ever go back. Unbearable and impolite. So I tried to order take out and the order was wrong. Shame.
(1)Yanyao N.
I am pretty enamored with all the Lao restaurants. Tony Hu has been a pioneer in opening Chicago's eyes to regional Chinese cuisine - hey, the entire population of China doesn't live off of broccoli beef, thankyouverymuch. Once I heard that he has opened a Lao Sichuan outpost on the north side, I immediately made plans to eat here. The restaurant is located in the former Marigold space (which has now relocated to Andersonville) and has kept that colorful and sleek decor. The service is quite friendly. And most importantly, the food is delicious and spicy. Whenever I have meals with friends at a Lao Sichuan, I always order: - Tony's Dry Chili Chicken (think the best version of spicy popcorn chicken you've ever had) - Mapo tofu (a rich, saucy, spicy concoction of tofu and ground pork) - "Ants Climbing Trees" AKA Rice Noodle with Ground Pork (I find the translation from Chinese to be far more interesting) - Some type of garlic stir-fried vegetables - peapod leaves are my favorite. Throw in some soup, cold appetizers, and lobster if it's a special occasion, and you have yourself a really flavorful meal. Spicy food also stimulated the taste buds, so you may end up here for 2 hours during lunch. SO GOOD. Welcome to Uptown, Tony!
(4)L S.
Extremely disappointing experience. The service was super slow and careless. The food was below average and overpriced. There are better restaurants in that neighborhood and a lot cheaper. Will not come back ever.
(1)Grace M.
I feel sick. I was used to the location out in Downer's Grove, which (years ago) had some of the best food I'd ever eaten in my life! The hubby and I just ate again at the Broadway location, and again, it was HORRIBLE food! The appetizer was disgusting, undercooked in the middle, like rubber and not edible on the edges. My gag reflex actually kicked in while I was chewing. The beef was so fatty, that again, it wasn't edible, I couldn't chew it, and had to spit it out while I was chewing, which made me feel like vomiting. The beans had a funny wrong smell, I know the dish well, and the smell was such a turn off we ended up wasting money on a dish no one would eat. The price is too high for this level of quality. The service can sometimes be snooty. I want to love this place, truly I do, but, you couldn't pay me to eat this food again. As I write this, I'm very concerned I'm going to end up hugging my toilet in a little while. Very uncool. Also the headache I now have is making me question the msg and sodium levels in this food, which is NOT what I expect from this restuarant. What happened to the award-winning Lao Sze Chuan we used to love???? So disappointed.
(1)Christopher D.
Their online ordering through BeyondMenu.com didn't work, so I took my business somewhere else.
(1)Chicagoan L.
Food was great! Decor great! Service terrible.
(3)Debra L.
I did not like this location's food. I have been to the Chinatown location and I loved everything I ate. I agree with the reviewers that said this place is too heavy on oil and just throws a lot of chilis on everything, which does not add to the taste. I ordered pot stickers, which were over-fried, tasted like oil, and were almost inedible because they were so chewy. I ate one and threw the rest away. I ordered the dry chili chicken because it was the special and other reviewers had recommended it. I would NOT recommend it. It is basically popcorn chicken with whole chilis. I was not a fan. I got the spicy cabbage, which was supposed to be mild but was definitely super spicy. Not sure why spice level was an option on this. Also, an hour wait for takeout at 3 in the afternoon seemed a bit too long to me. They did not screw up the rice. So all in all, I will be returning to lao sze Chuan but only at the Chinatown location. There are much better Chinese restaurants with faster carryout times in this area, avoid this one.
(2)Brittany L.
I had a really great meal here. Potstickers were huge and delicious. The lemon crispy shrimp was excellent. We also got the crispy duck. I haven't had duck in awhile and it was good, but I think you could probably get better duck from places that really specialize in roast duck. The service was excellent and deserves 5 stars just for that.
(5)Divya N.
Love the service! Their dry chilli chicken is really delicious!! But my only complaint will be that there is more red chillies in it than the chicken it self. tried their vegetarian dishes like chow main noodles and veg fried rice- very good.Portions are great too. All in all good Chinese food :)
(4)Mike P.
Busy and bustling on a Sunday night. The waitstaff hustled to catch their stride. Drinks wait on the bar to go out to the table. Seems like the dinning room might be short a couple of sets of hands tonight. Sitting at the bar, waiting for my first take out order, another patron us returning an incorrect order and he is handled quickly with respect and undivided attention. Tony Hu himself is helping his staff correct the errors. The staff is friendly and professional. They are eager to get there feet under them. What they say about the menu being huge is correct. So many dishes! Some I recognize, some I've never heard of or thought would appear on a Chinese take out menu (Lamb?) Anyhow, we've ordered take out from them twice and both times have been made very happy. I'm waiting for a visit from my family to share the dinning room experience.
(4)Rachel K.
The hunt for amazing Chinese delivery in Uptown has ended! Why didn't we ring up Lao Sze Chuan sooner? I didn't use the online ordering and instead called them directly. Our order was delivered in 30 mins and was still hot. Like another reviewer here, it might have helped that we live only 5-6 blocks north of the restaurant. The crab rangoons were amazing. Easily the best we've had in a long, long time and certainly the best we've had in the neighborhood. I love potstickers and the pork potstickers didn't disappoint. They are extra large and stuffed full of flavorful pork. I loved Szechuan sting beans that come sautéed with big chunks of garlic and ginger, yum! The appetizer portion was giant. We tried the general's chicken instead of the dry chili chicken and weren't disappointed. Huge chicken chunks and an extra large portion. It comes with a full side of rice. I didn't realize this so I also ordered shrimp fried rice, which actually came fried with full sized prawns--bonus! The only thing missing was fortune cookies, but does it matter? I felt fortunate enough to have amazing dishes. I would give it 5 stars but it is expensive. Our order came to $55 plus delivery. It's a splurge but as you can imagine, I for one think it's well worth it!
(4)Ying L.
I love Chinese food, but I can barely find a good restaurant around north area. However, after I tried Lao Sze Chuan uptown, I feel surprised. Warm decoration, good service, and the most important, great food! I have been to the one in Chinatown, but even though the food is great, it takes me so long for getting the seat. I just found that there's one in uptown and decided to try with my friends. We order the pork pot stickers, crispy shrimp, smoked tea duck, dry chili chicken, string bean and the dessert. I recommend shrimp and chili chicken the most. They're too delicious. So overall, same quality of food as the Chinatown one but has a better environment. PS: we got a free dessert for my friend's birthday. It was so nice :)
(5)Marty L.
Placed an order on GrubHub. Got two meals and three apps. Delivery is four bucks and after 10% tip + tax, the bill came to nearly $50. The food arrived in a decent amount of time (~an hour). Well, let me change that to some of the food arrived in decent amount of time. The rice was missing and the only sauce delivered was the spicy sauce (expected sweet and sour for pot sticker and/or rangoon). Called and asked them to send rice. Moments later, wife asked me if I called, because she wanted to address the staple sticking through her rangoon. Seems the rush made them not only forget food, but also hastily prepared the delivery. Thankfully my wife caught before she took a bite. So after my wife called to complain, we got refunded the rangoon. Food on top of all that is a little extra greasy. Never ordering here again.
(1)Erica L.
I was so excited to stumble upon the new Uptown location now that we moved away from the proximity of Chinatown. It's getting harder and harder to get into the original location because the wait it so long on the weekends. First off, we did not have to wait for a table for 2 on a busy Saturday night. The decor is definitely more modern and Americanized compared to the other location, but they share the same enlarged cute baby panda photos hanging on the wall. Second, the food was good, but not as good as the original location. They still offer the complimentary spicy cabbage, but the taste and texture is a little different. I ordered my favorite crispy shrimp with lemon sauce, which is apparently the 2nd best seller on the menu. I also thought this tasted a little different than the original (was it always lemon sauce or orange?). Hubby ordered the Chef's special dry chili chicken which is the #1 best seller. It was too spicy for me, but he likes it hot. The garlic peapod leaves were very good and a nice compliment to both dishes. The servings are a nice size and we had enough to take home for leftovers. Third, the service is friendly and prompt which is an improvement from the original location. It's nice to have two options offering the same menu and that this one is closer to our current place.
(3)Amy S.
Ordered delivery from Lao last night just for myself as I was craving some spicy "better than average" Chinese food. Plus: Grubhub quoted an hour for delivery, and food arrived in under 30. Since I live right down the street, this was about what I expected. As far as food.... crispy shrimp with lemon sauce OMG I ate EVERY SINGLE BITE!!! Sweet and light and delish. I might order again and get JUST this. Minus: $4 for delivery is pretty steep, especially when I live about 5 minutes away from this place. Price is really high. Just for myself ( two dishes and an app) I spent over $45. For me, the pork pot stickers were a little gummy and bland. The lamb with cumin tasted like nothing but cumin. I couldn't even taste the meat or veggies. Would not order again. All in all, due to price and hit or miss dishes, I would skip this place in the future. Perhaps eating in makes it more worth it?
(2)Jiayi Q.
Lao Sze Chuan is definitely in my opinion, the finest Chinese restaurant in town! Having been in the US for a quite long time, I was sooo excited to finally find a restaurant where I can have authentic Chinese food again. Everything I have tasted so far is amazing, and the staff is also super friendly. I highly recommend Lao Sze Chuan to whoever wants to get a real taste of high quality Chinese cuisine!
(5)Mary C.
I really enjoyed my visit. The food was nice and the service was great. Very friendly and helpful. I've never really been a fan of northern chinese food but this place was nice. I ordered the two flavor lamb (half Mongolian lamb & half cumin seasoned lamb) and sze chaun eggplant. The lamb was great. I love lamb and they made a great dish. The Mongolian flavor lamb is easy for the newbies and the cumin was really good, reminds me of the lamb sticks you can find in flushing, queens ny. The decor of the place is nice too... I can't wait to go back in the summer time for the patio seating they have. I also ordered an ameretto sour that was okay. Overall, I do recommend this place. Thanks!
(5)Adam A.
Host "5 stars": Greeted us right away and was super friendly. Service "5 stars": Also very friendly and prompt. We were greeted very quickly and she explained the menu in great detail. She was very knowledgeable and helped by offering suggestions on appetizers. Food "4 stars": Appetizers: When we arrived our server brought over a complimentary spicy cabbage dish. It was flavored with a spicy chili oil and was pretty spicy. This really is why the food is only 4 stars. It was difficult to taste the flavors of the rest of the food after eating this dish. It was absolutely amazing but maybe not the best appetizer. Crisp peanut with dry bean curd "4 stars": This was great and also covered with a spicy chili flake oil. It had onions, tofu and peanuts. Really great and I would highly recommend it. Shanghai spring rolls "3 stars": These came out hot and fresh but it was difficult to taste due to the spiciness of the first two dishes. Orange Chicken "5 stars": Absolutely amazing orange flavor! Why is it so hard to find a good orange chicken dish in Chicago? It must not be an authentic Chinese dish. This came with white rice and was flavored with green onions, chopped garlic cloves and you guessed it, chili flake oil. A bit spicy but not overwhelming. If you love orange chicken but cant seem to find a good one, this is your place!
(4)Jennie C.
I've only had hotpot in the Chinatown location so I don't really have a baseline to compare with, but this Uptown one is clean & new and has good attentive service. The food was good, but didn't get any of that spicy/numbing punch I expect from Szechuan food (not that I'm complaining though, I can't handle too much of it. But thought this would be useful for fans of those flavors.) All in all a good addition to the neighborhood.
(4)Andrew L.
Everything I've ordered from here has been fantastic! Beware, this place has crazy spicy food. The type of spicy that puts you out of commission for the entire next day (if you catch my drift). Mapo Tofu, twice cooked pork and chili chicken are all solid.
(4)Daniel C.
Superlatives are thrown around too easily these days. Everything seems to be the "best" nowadays in today's throwaway culture. It seems to mean less and less every time someone says it because either their criteria is low or they really don't know what the best truly is... but this place is truly the best Chinese restaurant in Chicago. And I'm Asian. Listen to me. I know what I'm talking about. Take a risk and ask the wait staff or someone who works there to make a recommendation for you and live a little. They made me this lamb with cumin, ginger, and pepper. Pleasure centers in my brain were activated that have never been activated. Yikes.
(5)Laura C.
Wow, what a disappointment. After hearing so much about Tony Hu's empire, I was excited to try his new outpost in Uptown. The decor is great, but I was a bit worried when walking in Sunday at 1145AM, that we were the only ones in the restaurant. When we were seated by the sole employee, he told us that the server was late and he wouldn't be able to take our order since he really didn't know much about it. Strange, but okay. After about 30 minutes of waiting, we finally asked him if he could just write down the numbers of the menu items and take it back to the cooks. He agreed, after talking us out of getting the Cheng Du Hot Pot, which I thought would be a specialty of the restaurant. Oh, side note, the menus are thin, takeout style menus with spelling mistakes galore. Apparently, they are working on the real menus with pictures. Our dishes started coming out one by one, and I asked about the complimentary pickled cabbage that everyone always raves about on Yelp. The tiny plate arrived halfway through our meal, and it was nothing special. When we asked for rice bowls, the server asked me how many, and I told him five, thinking it was pretty common sense to give us one for each person in our group. He returned with three. Moving on, I couldn't eat most of the dishes since they were too spicy for my palate. Everything was dripping in chili oil surrounded by hot peppers. We tried the Cumin Spiced Lamb, Sizzling Beef, Rice Noodles with Pork, Beef Tendons, and Tony's Three Chili Fish. The fish was the best dish, by far, with its sweet and spicy flavors and perfectly cooked fillets. The tendons were surprisingly tender, almost the same mouthfeel as a thick chow fun noodle. For an appetizer portion, it was practically the same size as our main dishes. With the hefty price, overly spiced food, and lack of service, I'd be strongly inclined to eat across the street at Silver Seafood if I were to come back to the neighborhood looking for Chinese food.
(2)Shari B.
I ordered take-away from Lao Sze Chuan- first time trying the Uptown branch as I usually order from the Chinatown one. First, was disappointed that they don't have the spicy pig ears in this branch but no worries I instead ordered the pork stomach and beef tripe. Both were pretty good. We also ordered the salt + pepper squid which is usually very tasty but this was bland. Disappointing. Also, they forgot to give us extra rice that we ordered. Overall, I think I'm going to stick with the Chinatown branch.
(3)Dan G.
This is some of the best Chinese food you can find in the city. This place doesn't hold back from flavor, taste, and spiciness. When they say spicy, they mean spicy. Now, it may be spicy enough to make you sweat but you keep coming back for another bite. It is that good. Some of the dishes you must get are Twice Cooked Pork Szechuan Style: This is pork belly/bacon stir fried with cabbage and chili peppers. It is a spicy pork lovers dream. Tony's Chicken w/ 3 Chili: Breaded fried chicken pieces covered in a sweet yet spicy sauce. These things are like crack, you will dream about these little guys. Double Fried Sliced Duck: The name says it all. Extra crispy duck, peppers, and a whole lots of taste. If you are a duck lover (which I admit sounds strange) then this is the dish for you. As for the soups, egg-rolls, crab Rangoon, etc. they are all fresh made and delicious. The only thing holding this place back from 5 stars is the service. This has been mentioned in many reviews and I have to agree. It can be down right cold sometimes. This really stinks too, cause I love this place. Please don't let it deter you. This is some of the best Chinese food you can find in Chicago.
(4)Christina K.
Probably the best Chinese food I've had since moving to the city. Obviously, Uptown is home to billions of Vietnamese and a good number of Thai places; quality local Chinese has been more elusive. Lao Sze Chuan offers both takeout/delivery and dine-in. The restaurant is bigger than anticipated, with slightly weird but endearing pictures of pandas on the walls when you walk in. Service was not too involved, but efficient and nice enough. We got a little spicy cabbage starter, so that was neat. Not the best thing I've ever eaten, but still pretty good. Food. First, brace yourself for a mega-menu. If you're not terribly familiar with the restaurant/Chinese food in general (join the club!), there's a nice little menu with the chef's recommendations: 10 spicy and 10 non spicy. Thank goodness. I ordered Tony's Special 3 Chili Chicken and the dining partner had the Orange Beef Tenderloin. The 3 Chili Chicken comes with more than 3 peppers. Just FYI. That said, it was crispy with well cooked meat inside, there was just enough sauce, and the spiciness was not overwhelming. The Orange Beef actually tastes like orange, which is a sad rarity in my experience. And it stays crispy in the sauce. Portions are generous. If I had self-restraint, I easily could've (looking back, probably should've) made two meals out of my serving. Oh, and as mentioned in other reviews, rice is extra. Keep that in mind.
(4)Ling B.
I always go there when I am craving Chinese food:)Not as crowded as the one in Chinatown, full bar,GREAT service and really delicious food.They have a HUGE menu, it maybe difficult to choose the first time.I like the pork stickers,shrimp with lemon sauce (god dammit good) , three chilly chicken and mongolian beef. All the chef's recommendations are excellent (safe choices). Just found out they do lunch specials,one dish+white rice+one appetizer+soup for only 7.95. I have to say, the reason that I give five stars is they give you some candies when they bring the check that have a unique flavor, sweet and perfect after spicy meal!
(5)Monte H.
Best Chinese food in the city. There, I said it! Like it's sibling to the south, but only better! Yup, the food is spectacular and unlike the C-town spot, the service staff are great. No need to break out the Szechuan dictionary here. The space is much more inviting than its C-town sibling too. Sort of a hip Hong Kong bar transplanted to Uptown. And much less chaotic and cramped! If you order anything, make sure to order the string beans in spicy black bean sauce. There were a revelation of taste, texture and complexity. Spicy, funky, sweet, and tasted like heaven on a plate. Followed it up with the Tea-smoked duck. Yeah, I know, Sun-Wah Bar-B-Que is right down the block, hovering like an enemy warrior, waiting to ponce, with it's wide array of duck, quacking in the breeze. But LSC's duck can more than hold its ground to SWBBQ's duck. The accompanying hoisin sauce only added extra depth to the smokey and quite flavorful duck. Pricewise, a great value to boot. What more can I ask for? Well, a space next to my residence would be nice but I digress..
(5)N D.
Best authentic Chinese food I've had in the states.... not your typical American take on Chinese. We lived in Beijing for a few months and this restaurant captures some of the true diversity of Chinese food. Get the flat fried noodles! My favorite Chinese dish.
(5)Kyndal K.
The food, aside from being served cold hot and sour soup twice, is delicious. It's the service that is extremely disappointing. For instance, I have no idea who my server actually is. A woman took my order, guy #1 brought me cold hot and sour soup, guy #2 took the cold soup, guy #1 brought the dried spicy chicken without rice or serving plates. Four minutes later guy #1 brought the second entree with rice (No plates), then guy #2 brought plates with lukewarm soup. Later, the lady came back and asked us how everything tasted. Haven't seen any of them since... I'm just so disappointed. I don't think I will ever come back. I wish I could just rate the entrees, but this place as a whole doesn't deserve much attention.
(1)Christopher G.
We ordered two entrees with the understanding that each entree came with a small steamed rice. The food was delivered to find one large rice and two entrees. We called to fix the order. Forty mins later, two plates and dinnerware were delivered. Another call was made to the manager, who agreed to send a small rice, but not before suggesting that we split the rice, or go to the restaurant and pick it up ourselves. And the manager asked if the small rice will be fine, or will we complain that it was not enough, or the food went cold. After another hour and fifteen minutes, we called back and finally got the rice. BREAKDOWN: DISTANCE: 0.6mi COST: $30 (including tip/delivery) ORDER PLACED: 6:15PM ORDER COMPLETED: 10:30PM We pay for convenience. It did not matter that this restaurant had to pay the driver three times. NOT THE CUSTOMERS' FAULT. All they had to do was drop off the small rice. All that to save the cost of a small carton. The other cost is maintaining your loyal clientele...an ENTIRE HOSPITAL. Was it worth it? Oh, they took back the plates and utensils. Dine in...DO NOT ORDER DELIVERY!!!!!
(1)Jie S.
Wanted to try this location for a while. We got the plan to go to the beach on the north side on a nice weekend afternoon so the family stopped here for lunch. The parking was quite tricky in this area which was a turn down for us coming back. The decoration was nice and comfy. The dishes were decent. I'm so used to other Lao's location but a few our regulars are not available here. No scallion pancakes nor Xiaolongbao was kind of disppointment for our kids. The staff were friendly but kind of new so she almost needed to check everything and come back to us. I felt this is slightly more expensive than China town one. I guess I'm OK with the west burb's Lao's and Chinatown one instead of driving up here.
(3)Neil C.
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(4)C.C. H.
The house special lamb is done in a style close to the famous dry-chili chicken but far more moist. The spring rolls were good but small for $2.50 a serving (two rolls/serving). I wish the ma po tofu were more spicy and numbing but the chow mein was tasty despite not being spicy as ordered - our server was a good sport about adjusting our bill to reflect the misunderstanding.
(4)Michael H.
I have been coming here on and off for about half a year. My girlfriend and I loved it the first time because the food was so good. Every time since then the service had become worse and worse. The management is rude and doesn't care, and the seethes are confused and uncoordinated, not to mention disoriented. This last time we got ice cold soup, sent it back, and got slightly warm soup the second time. They are so clueless I could write a whole article about it. But instead I should just say SO NOT EAT HERE, unless you want to have a bad time.
(1)Freddie L.
A Delicious Variety of Asian Cuisines. Everything we had was great! The spicy cabbage is my favorite. It truly is a fusion restaurant. It's a pleasant change if you're in the mood for something different than your standard Chinese place. The interior is very clean and beautiful. This is definitely much higher scale than your typical Chinese restaurant.. For the quantity and quality of the food we received, I thought pricing was reasonable. Wonderful for accommodating groups with vegetarian/vegan tastes. This definitely one of our favorite restaurants in the Uptown area.
(4)Linh L.
Cool set up. It has to be the classiest restaurant in Argyle. The service was good. No complaints. We ordered the spicy chicken, vegetable spring rolls, and a hot pot. Chicken was good. The vegetable spring roll was just a much better version than the typical Chinese egg rolls (I hate Chinese egg rolls with a passion). The hot pot was disappointing. It's not considered hot pot anymore if they're going to precook for us. It was also terrible because there was half an inch of oil on top. We couldn't eat it. We took it home to prepare it ourselves. Note: My man is an amazing cook! Just wait until we open our own restaurant.
(4)Alana S.
Ordered through Grubhub. (Before people judge how much food was ordered- I WAS WITH A FRIEND) Delivery took exactly an hour (which they quoted). This can either be A) extremely terrible if you're drunk or starving or B) refreshing, since you know you'll be getting fresh food and have the patience for it. I fall in the latter category. I ordered Kung Pao Chicken, potstickers, hot and sour soup, egg drop soup, and spicy cabbage (kimchi). My friend and I split everything- portions were huge! The potstickers were the best ever, as was the hot and sour soup. The Kung Pao was delicious, but very oily- we literally drained it before eating. That being said, we devoured the entire thing, and it was giant. Egg drop soup was okay, as was the cabbage. Good but not great. We didn't go nuts, but we ate it happily. Overall, gonna order again with no qualms. Definitely wanna try a couple things. Also, didn't think it was ridiculously expensive, but felt I got what I paid for.
(4)Jenette K.
I've gone to the Chinatown location and have always loved the spicy cabbage appetizer. This time, I ordered the spicy cabbage for delivery and it was moldy. The cabbage had turned black and was covered in mold. I called the restaurant and they delivered another batch which still had black spots throughout the container. I question whether the rest of their food meets health code standards and suggest you question whether you should order food from this location in the future.
(1)Emily D.
The boyfriend and I visited LSC last night with Groupon toward $50 worth of food in hand. I called the day before to make a reservation (as it explained on the Groupon), but was told they don't take reservations of less than 5 people and to just walk in. Walking in turned out to be fine on a Friday night around 6:45pm. We were seated immediately but had a rude awakening when we were told that their liquor license is in the process of being renewed and they are currently BYOB. I would have appreciated knowing that in the conversation I had the previous evening! Many other customers that came in also had the same moment of panic and we saw a couple run off to the nearest liquor store (JJ Peppers on Sheridan & Lawrence, if you're wondering). So anyway, immediately after being seated we received a little appetizer of kimchi. I thought it was a little strange that the server that gave us the app and our water didn't explain what the dish was or tell us that it is pretty hot (not a problem for me, but it may be for some). It was just not a very hospitable welcome (however, I later saw the same server respond to a customer asking if there is a liquor store nearby with a rude 'no' and walking away rather than asking around and being helpful, so maybe he just has a bad attitude). Our actual waitress was super sweet and friendly and did her job very well for the most part. Since we had $50 to spend, we ordered a TON of food. Here's what we got and my thoughts: Crab Rangoon: served with four pieces. This is definitely good because it is deep friend cream cheese. Not much crab to speak of, mostly just a cream cheese wonton. But delicious nonetheless. Shanghai Spring Roll: served with two pieces. I wasn't a fan of this at all. It was WAY too greasy so it was overpowered. I didn't taste anything except grease. Would not recommend. Vegetarian Chow Mian: I actually can't remember exactly what this dish was called. Basically veggie lo mein. SO GOOD. This is essentially exactly what I think of when I want lo mein (which is SO hit or miss many places!). The perfect amount of sauce, good flavor, salty, kind of sweet, and just noodly and delicious. Very, VERY pleased with this. 5/5 for this dish. Dry Chili Chicken: This is one of the chef's specials and was very highly recommended on Yelp so we had to try it. I thought it was great. The chicken was crispy on the outside but not dry on the inside, and it had a nice flavor and was pretty spicy. I love spicy food though, so I would order with caution. After a couple of bites of this, I did have to take a bite of the lo mein to cool off! Orange Beef Tenderloin: also a great dish. I love LOVE LOVE orange chicken so I was interested to try breaded fried saucy beef. It was a hit. It is a bit sweet with a definite orange flavor, but also with a considerable amount of spice which I appreciate. I don't like a sickeningly sweet orange sauce. Definitely some heat to it, but not as spicy as the previous dish. Pork Fried Rice: Amazing. Just what you want fried rice to be. As a plus, there was a ton of pork in the dish. You know when you get chicken fried rice and you have like 3 pieces of chicken and 2 lbs of rice? Not here. Definitely great. I'll say that none of these come with rice as a side but it is only $1 to purchase a side of steamed rice. We were going to, but we didn't have room on the table! Overall I had a good experience. I wish the person on the phone had told me it was BYOB right now, but not a HUGE problem. It is a solid Chinese restaurant where you can get the old favorites as well as some really interesting things (maybe next time I'll be more adventurous!). I agree with other reviewers that the prices are higher, but the quality and flavor are so much better than other Chinese places I've tried in the area (Wing Hoe and Hunan Egg Roll King) that I am willing to pay the difference. I also have no idea what people are talking about with small portions! The portions were HUGE. We could have ordered one dish (Orange Beef Tenderloin, for example) with rice and been satisfied for two. That would have come to about $16 with tax and that is not bad for two. The reason I did not give 5 stars is because the service was a bit spotty from the start. Around 7 the place got super busy so we waited a long time to get our check. Also, aforementioned server with the strange attitude would NOT leave our water alone. Take 1 sip, he was back 30 seconds later filling it up. And here's the short version: I would definitely recommend this. Portions are huge and food is very good. Just skip the egg rolls. We will definitely be back, even without a Groupon!
(4)Dana B.
Yummy food and great service. I had the General Tao Chicken and it was delicious. Lightly breaded with a great sauce. Was in the area and came based on a friend's recommendation. My husband had the Mao Po Tofu and that was delicious as well.
(5)Jared D.
Well designed interesting place. The food was really good, haven't had Chinese like that before. Our server was very pleasant. Also the prices were very reasonable. id definitely go back. (NOTE:THEY ARE RENEWING LIQUOR LICENSE SO TEMPORARY BYOB)
(5)Steven M.
I came here for a quick carry out. I ordered the Bon Bon Chicken, Fish Hotpot, sesame noodles, and scallion pancake. Here is a review of each. Bon Bon chicken $5.95 - 4/5 - spicy and flavorful. A bit salty but overall good. Fish Hotpot $7.45- 3/5 - spicy but a bit bland. Sesame noodles $5.95 - 4/5 -nice flavor and sauce. Scallion pancake $4.95 - 1/5 - not flakey and light as a scallion pancake should be. It was dense and you only get one pancake for the price. Overall the menu items are on the pricier side. Definitely interested in trying some of the items but definitely disappointed by the scallion pancake which is a basic dish.
(3)Joe J.
Service was so slow today, they need more servers. Food is always good, today was not good at all. Cumin lamb was so bad, was not able to touch it, you cannot taste anything but cumin. La la chicken spicy pot was not cooked enough and chicken was bloody. I will come back for my regular dishes and no more experimentations with the menu.
(3)Sean T.
The General Tao chicken (called General Tso most other places I've been to) was different than most I've tasted. The sauce itself was sweeter, but offset by more chiles in the sauce. Overall, a good flavor, but not the best I've ever had. The chicken was fresh and came in mostly larger chunks, making it slightly more difficult to eat. Came with a meager amount of broccoli and a sufficient amount of rice. Also tried friends' vegetable-fried rice, which was good. Service was excellent! We were waited on by it seemed three different servers. The menu is fairly extensive. However, no liquor license when we dined, so BYOB. Good atmosphere for a dinner with friends, date or even a big group. Not at all crowded on a Thursday night. The owner has pictures of himself with famous people including Bill Clinton and Yao Ming. How could you go wrong!
(3)Shuang Z.
The portion here is larger than the one on Michigan Ave. the shrimp fried rice was tasty to me, but my friend said the dish in Michigan LSC is more impressive. We ordered chilly Szi Chuan bead, some kind of fish fillet, and shrimp & tofu. The shrimp and tofu is our favorite one!!!! Definitely will come back again!!
(4)Claire Y.
Came here with two friends on a Wednesday night. The place was empty when I arrived at 6pm. We ordered beef tendon and beef tripes. Not a fan of either of them; the tendon was like covered in MSG and I had to ask for a replacement. The new one was ok but still doesn't meet my expectation. I've dined in many Lao restaurants and have had better. We also got home tofu and fish filet in bean source and bean sprouts in garlic source. All of them were okay. Nothing special. As I said, service was good, but food could be better. And next time I'll definitely try to ask for no MSG.
(3)Mark L.
Delicious. They mean spicy. The orange tenderloin was the best orange sauce ever. It wet my pallet with goodness.
(4)Joshua R.
It's 2015... And no wifi for customers? What's the management trying cut the costs on? All that publicity for an Asian restaurant and is celebrity chef but NO WIFI? COMMON GUYS.... You can do better than this..... If the management is listening????... FOOD - makes you feel you're at a little above average Chinese restaurant... Nothing great.... STAFF - friendly but somehow the management seems to have hired a bunch of college kids doing part time and so typical kids and their tantrums and attitude AMBIENCE - pretty decent considering the location PRICE - $$ OVERALL - I'm only giving three stars because I had lots of expectations before going in. I read a lot about the chef and his achievements but somehow I had to stick to three because of its lack luster presentation or I could be there on a wrong day at the wrong time...
(3)Lindsey A.
I think we went on a bad night - last night, to be exact, with a 1/4 full restaurant at 8 p.m. So, Tony Hu is a well-known chef who has 10 Chinese outposts throughout the city. Ok. How about Tony work on the front of the house and get his staff up to par with his food? We sat for 10-15 minutes before being acknowledged by the bartender (who left her post to meander over and take our drink orders.) We then ordered our food from someone else about 5 minutes later. Our food - and I am not joking - came out 5 minutes after. Our drinks, on the other hand, took about 5 minutes longer, despite there not being a big crowd of people anywhere near the bar or in the restaurant. I asked for hot sauce from one waiter, nothing, I asked for hot sauce from ANOTHER waiter, finally. But it wasn't hot sauce - it was smokey. I wanted some chili bam! Sigh. Then, I ordered veggie fried rice to take home with me from one of the four people roaming around, only to have another person come up and try to ask what it was that I wanted. We had to flag down our server to get our bill and then I had to ask where the goddamn fried rice was!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Just really, really poor service and attention. The food was also kind of pricey - $13 for an entree? That came out in 5 minutes (which means it was probably pre-made and simply reheated?) Meh. Mehhhh meh MEH.
(2)Scott O.
I had been to the Lao Sze Chuan in Chinatown a few years ago twice and had terrific meals there. My partner is someone who likes to stick to the tried and true and had been going to Moon Palace for years. I loved that place too but recently we went there and the food had changed for the worse. So, when we were looking for places for an early dinner on New Year's Eve, my partner suggested here. And, oh, are we glad we came here. First off, for anyone posting a bad review of this place, you clearly do not understand, appreciate, or even eat great Chinese food. We both love Chinese more than any other cuisine and this place is it!!! I started with the egg drop soup which was a wonderful golden color that you rarely see in this soup. In most places, it's a bland pale watery broth with egg drop floating inside. This soup had this beautiful color and you could taste a hint of the egg yolk in the soup. For my entree, I went with the Chef's recommendation of Crispy Shrimp with Lemon Sauce. It was cooked to perfection and the sauce was not overwhelming at all. When I'd eaten at the one in Chinatown, they had a dish on the menu, Prawns in a mayonnaise sauce, which is the best thing I've ever eaten in a Chinese restaurant. Unfortunately, they don't have it here. My partner decided to order his usual meal that he would get at Moon Palace. He started with the hot and sour soup. One spoonful in, he looked up at me and said, "This is divine." (later in the evening he said to me, "Do you think I could get a gallon of that soup delivered here?"). We then shared the potstickers and both of us just raved about them. There is something (an herb or a spice) that they add to the meat mixture that gives it a really unique flavor, almost bacony. He finished with Kung Pao Shrimp which he said was spiced perfectly. He likes hot food but says sometimes it feels like a restaurant just throws some hot pepper in there or overdoes it to the point of not being able to eat it. This, he said, was amazing. So, we are now HUGE, HUGE fans. And, it's only two el stops from our house! And, they're open for lunch. We plan on coming back soon. Next week actually. And, probably, the week after that...and the week after that...
(5)Jane W.
Lao Sze Chuan kind of baffles me. As an avid lover of Szechuan food (been to China too), I had high hopes for this place, especially since Chef Tony's food has received many accolades. I've visited the location in Chinatown as well as the new one in Evanston, and decided to order in from this place when my family and I were too lazy to go out to eat. We ordered the green beans, boiled fish Szechuan style, and the (supposedly) famous dry chili chicken. Overall, I thought the food was on the blander side. I chose the "spicy" option for all my dishes, and none of them were particularly spicy to me at all. The chicken just tasted like fried popcorn chicken with a slight occasional kick, the green beans were okay, and the fish was also bland and lacked the mala pepper flavor (which is what I eat it for!). Prices are also pretty steep, but at least they're not stingy with portion sizes (they gave me two plastic tubs for the fish). I will give them props for fast delivery time. I was sad to see Grubhub give an estimate of an hour for delivery, but I received my food within 20-30 minutes.
(3)Sheila K.
I have been craving Chinese food, so my husband and I decided to check out this place for lunch. We were in luck because they have an affordable lunch special. You get an appetizer, soup and rice along with an entree. It is a very good deal and I would not hesitate to come here again. We tried the Dry Chili Chicken and the Kung Pao Shrimp. Both were very tasty and left us very full. The portions are nice and generous as well. Service was also very good and attentive. Our water glasses were never empty. We came on a Thursday and they open at noon for their lunch service. We'll definitely be returning here to try other things on their menu. They also have drink specials depending on what day you go.
(4)Sarah S.
Lao Sze Chuan in Uptown! Atmosphere is very different than Chinatown because it has more of the feel of a nice classy restaurant, great for dates compared to the big open room in Chinatown. My friend and I had: Seafood Hot & Sour Soup is huge! $7.45 Chef's Special Dry Chili Chicken $12.45 2 Rice $1 each (lame to pay extra for rice) Diet Coke $2 Crispy shrimp w/lemon sauce, exchange with chicken $16.45 I'm allergic to shellfish and they were nice enough to replace the Lemon shrimp to chicken. I can't complain too much and it has no bearing on my starrage but they didn't adjust the price at all. It was priced at $16.45 due to the shrimp but with me switching protein, the price remained the same. They are one of the more pricey Chinese establishments in general, as well. Just good to know moving forward. We had good service throughout our entire meal and portions are huge. I brought half of my lemon chicken home. I loved the dish, sauce was sticky in a good way and very flavorful. Another success for Lao Sze Chuan!
(4)Carlos S.
If I had written this review after the first few times I've had food from here, it would have earned four stars with the one star reflecting a bit of over-pricing based on other comparable restaurants in the area. When it first opened, it was getting high reviews all around. What happened? I've only ever ordered delivery through GrubHub. This restaurant is supposed to be one of the top ten Chinese restaurants in the US, but lately I can't wholly agree with their self-proclaimed greatness. And this has to do more with the service than the quality of food. The food is often too oily, which seems like it might be a part of szechuan style. But even when we ask for easy on the oil, the dishes are HEAVY on the oil. I really like the Pork Stir Fried in Peking Sauce, because it is a lot of pork in a great sauce, but the prices are kind of high compared to other Chinese restaurants in the area. Every entree is at least 12 dollars. That is on the high end of prices for Chinese restaurants in Chicago. This would be okay if the quantity of food was consistent and the quality of the service was that much greater than other restaurants. The other issue is the delivery. Most restaurants through GrubHub deliver within an hour, but Lao's usually takes a little longer. On one occasion, they estimated two hours for delivery. I called the restaurant to check on this estimate, and they assured me that my food would arrive in 20-30 minutes from that point. 1 hour after this and my food hadn't arrived. I understand they may have been busy, but they could at least communicate better with the costumer and be honest about delivery times. I would have ordered from somewhere else if I knew it would take 2 hours for delivery. On top of that, the delivery person calls and says they will be there in 2 minutes. Ten minutes later and still waiting for my food. With the high cost of food, they have some issues to work out. My food arrives and they gave me about a quarter less of my entree than I usually get. See the picture below. I get this dish all the time and it just seems to get less and less every time. I keep ordering because I really like this dish. Next time, I will try a different location rather than the uptown one. Perhaps the service is better at the other locations.
(2)Hannah A.
Food is quite good. Would be 5 stars if they let us sit in the "decorative" table and chairs they have lofted on display in the back of the restaurant.
(4)Andrew E.
Came here with a big group to celebrate CNY, so we sampled several things from the menu. It's not the easiest thing to figure out what the heck you're ordering. Unless you're from Chengdu I'm not sure you'd already know what Chengdu-style fish is. Perhaps "Chengdu style" means a pick-two combination of 1) garlic 2) black bean sauce or 3) chili sauce. Cynicism aside, the food was fairly average - the garlic-vegetables were good, the beef chow fun was tasty, but one of my favorites probably wasn't all that chinese - it was the fried shrimp with a lemon-cream kind of sauce. Lastly, service and prices seemed to be fine.
(3)Diva G.
I've been disappointed the last 2 times I've been here and this being the 3rd disappointment, I definitely will not return! The food has been inconsistent and I was told the last 2 times that it is dependent upon the chef in the kitchen. REALLY??!! Ummm, wrong answer! The same dish should be prepared the same way every time by each chef. My orange beef was swimming in sauce the last time I was here. After having it redone, it was then drowing in sauce. The server was rightfully embarassed for even bringing it to me wrong for the 2nd time. The server never asked if I wanted my order redone for the 3rd time and brought it out when my fiance and I were both obviously finished with our meals. We originally ordered 3 lunch specials: 1 beef dish, 1 chicken dish and 1 veggie dish to share. In addition, I ordered a bottle beer, which was warm, so I couldn't even drink it. The server asked if I wanted a glass with ice for the beer. Again, REALLY??!! No thank you! I just didn't drink it. I'd rather drink cold red wine than beer with ice! Because the service always seemed pretty good for the most part and the food was good, although inconsistent- usually it was the hot & sour soup and the orange beef entree that were inconsistent- I kept coming back. The kung pao chicken has always been good and the schezwan style green beans are so addictive! But today, the server was awful! She gave me a dirty sticky plate and never apologized before taking it away or bringing me a new one. Then, when I pointed out all of the grease from the spring roll and said she can take it because it's too greasy for me to eat, she just took the plate away with an attitude and never said anything let alone apologize. After I received my orange beef entree, which was good, I had to flag her down to bring me a coke. She never asked how was my meal or if I needed anything. I was definitely on my own. So, after I finished eating, I waited awhile and turned around looking for my server, but she was lollygagging behind the bar. After waiting awhile, I finally got up and went to the bar and asked my server for the check. She said "sure". I asked why she never came back to check on me after I received my entree and coke and she proceeded to argue with me that she came back once and I told her everything was good. WTF??!! I wonder what she was drinking at the bar to make her delusional, because she never checked on me. The portions are also much smaller than what they used to be. Is that also dependent upon which chef is in the kitchen??? Another inconsistency or just a cutback on quantity?? Needless to say, that was the final straw for me and I will not be back.
(2)C B.
Well...I must say...the MaPo Tofu and the spicy green beans are really good. BUUUTTTTT...... The service (Especially at the Chinatown location) is really not that good at all especially for it being a Wed night and not that busy. I'm a very polite person and I get super embarrassed when I have to physically wave down someone or walk to the front to get service. Our server brought us our food with no water, no chopsticks, no silverware, no napkins and then just disappeared as if we were supposed to eat tofu with our hands. In addition I would say that $10 for a mediocre order of green beans that does not come with rice is outrageous regardless of how good it is. Chinatown has Sze Chuan Cuisine on Wentworth which I would recommend over Lao Sze Chuan for price, amount and quality.
(3)Grace A.
EXPENSIVE. Most of the entrees were over $12 and none come with rice - you have to pay extra for rice(and they know you will want rice with your dish); We had the beef satay as an appetizer for $5.95 and got four extremely thin sticks of beef - SO disappointed how thin the beef was - for the price they should have given at least six sticks. Will NOT be coming back again because we can find comparable Chinese food for a much reasonable price. The service was great but, it honestly does not make up for the very expensive prices. Two entrees, two appetizers and one dessert - no drinks (we just drank water), it was over $50. Maybe we are very cost conscious but, honestly if the portions were larger and the white rice was included with the entrees it would not have been so bad - we just don't like getting nickled and dimed.
(2)Brianna B.
My partner and I have been going to Lao Size Chuan in Chinatown for years for the Mapo Tofu and Szechuan style string beans; always this combination because it is so good. We now go to this newer location in Uptown because it's closer to us, and although I'm not sure that the Mapo Tofu is as good as what we used to get at the Chinatown location, it's still great and we're still happy. We eventually figured out that the Szechuan string beans are not vegetarian (the menu explicitly identifies which items are vegetarian, which the Chinatown location did not used to do... whoops for not asking before!)... so we stopped ordering those. The other varieties of green beans and the peapod leaves are almost as good; still looking for the perfect accompaniment to the fabulous Mapo Tofu. Heads up that they use a lot of salt, so expect to eat a lot of rice. Also, the entrees are huge (really 1.5 to 2 meals), so also expect to have delicious leftovers.
(4)Zac S.
Ordered Tony's chicken, mild spicy level, as I have many times before. Where as it usually arrives pleasantly peppery with a hint of heat, this time it was a fiery inferno in my mouth and there were more chilis than chicken. Also the chicken was of a much MUCH lower quality than in the past and over fried and rock hard. Since I live just down the block, I called back to see if I could get an order much less spicy. They were apologetic and said it would be ready as soon as I could get back there. They included a spring roll but when i got home, this was was just as spicy as the first. At that point I was really just done trying. I called for a refund and was told that they dont do refunds but I could get something else. I was done fighting and starving so I just ordered fried rice. I asked if they could drive it the block down and drop it off for all the trouble (also the delivery guy was sitting in his car in front of the restaurant when I was there the last 2 times) and they said they would have to charge the delivery fee. Needless to say I'm done with Lao Sze Chuan.
(1)Jane P.
The spring rolls didn't do much for me but the crispy shrimp with lemon sauce more than made up for it and the crab rangoon is some of the best I ever had.
(4)Zack P.
I'm sorry to say that the other reviewers are right and the service has really dropped off. Maybe there's new management or something because the service was slow, inattentive and unapologetic. Came in for the lunch special today and wasn't greeted at the door the bartender ignored me for a minute before coming over to seat me. I ordered right away and my appetizer came before my drink. I saw the bartender doing something behind the bar so it was pretty obvious she forgot. I asked someone else for my drink. Then my soup came out in a dirty bowl with food crusted on the side. When my entree was brought out there was no side plate to put the rice and entree together on. Not the service I remember here at all and at these prices seems pretty bad. The food wasn't even as good the dry chili chicken wasn't crispy, such a let down. The blond bartender with the roots basically ignored me the whole time, and kept forgetting to refill my water which was a pretty awful given how spicy the food is.
(2)