Read the reviews - decided to try it. Not worth the price. I had several dishes our total bill was 92.00 dollars. My order was a carry out - to make matters worse we picked the order up and when we got home they messed up. They had forgot to give us my husbands dish. Had to go back and get the missing dish. The food was nothing special and the vegetable did not have the freshness. The Golden Wok in La Grange serves a better chinese dishes. Thats my opinion - I do not recommend this restaurant.
(1)
Mark C.
I think that reviewer Michael W. lost all credibility by stating PF Changs is better than this place.....seriously? Dude has dead tastebuds. Lao Sze Chuan is one of the best Chinese places in the suburbs, hands down. Food is outstanding, unbelievable menu, potsticker meat is fabulous, etc, etc, etc.
(5)
Theresa C.
This is one of my favorite Chinese restaurants in the 'burbs. The food here is always fresh and delicious. My family has even abandoned our old standby Chinese restaurant to eat here now. While the food is very good, it cannot compete with the one in Chicago's Chinatown. I'm a little disappointed that the menu is different. You can clearly see that it caters to a more American crowd than it's Chicago counterpart. Regardless, the food here is excellent. I'm slowly making it my mission to try a different dish every time I visit. So far, I have not been disappointed. My one complaint is the fact that sometimes they run out of spicy cabbage. I absolutely love it and could eat a bucket full of the stuff. It saddens me when it is not available.
(4)
Rita D.
Great deal for lunch. Food is great
(5)
Neil D.
Must say, I was thoroughly disappointed with my experience, especially after reading all of the positive feedback here on Yelp. Got the Hot and Sour soup for appetizer, it was OK. nothing to write home about. I do prefer my soups to be a bit thicker and this was more on the watery side. Flavor was okay though. For dinner, we informed our waiter (who was very nice and personable) that we LOVE spicy food. So he gave us a number of options, and it being our first time, we took him up on his recommendations. The Chinese Broccoli came first, and this was probably the best part of dinner (besides the rice). It was not spicy, but the flavor was very nice. Next came the Dry Chili Shrimp. It was okay. Shrimp was NOT fresh, which made the dish lose points almost immediately. The shrimp was lighly battered, fried, and tossed with garlic and chili peppers. Again, not super spicy, but looking at the amount of chilis on the plate, one would have assumed otherwise. Next, totallly based on recommendations in a number of reviews, along with me being a sucker for spicy, I tried the Bild Beef in spicy sichuan sauce. I feel like a broken record here, but once again, NOT SPICY!! This was becoming a pattern. The beef was extremely tough, but the overall flavor of the bok choy and green onions along with the broth was very tasty. But I think I would not order this again, that is if I ever go back. And finally we got what our waiter called "one of our most popular dishes." The Chinese-style Kung Pao chicken. Where to start with where this one went wrong. He said he would make it spicy and it was actually sweet! Also, i assumed that the dish would be made with white chicken, but instead we found a big plate of tough, dark meat. The sauce (other than it being sweet) was okay. Not great, but definitely not the worst I have ever had. I do not think I will be revisiting this establishment again. It held so much promise, especially since we saw other Chinese people in the restaurant (usually a very good sign at any ethnic place). I would have given them 1.5 stars if I could, as the service was excellent. The staff is very attentive, nice and polite. The hunt for GREAT suburban Chinese food continues.
(1)
Deepika B.
The Taste of Chicago that I attended led me to this place as I had tried their Dry Chilli Chicken here. This dish was to die for. It was awesome and the most excellent chinese appetizer I had ever had before. In fact, it was so wonderful that we had it twice and their fried rice had run out of stock. Since then I had been waiting to try them out. We decided going against the Chinatown branch and went to the Downers Grove instead. Not a great choice I guess. I had the wonton soup which was hot and good. The next was their most famous dish ' Dry chilli chicken' that I was dying to have. It was good but was nowhere close to the one that I had at the Taste of Chicago. I was a bit disappointed. Next was the salt n pepper calamari that was well made and tasted wonderful. The egg fried rice tasted great. Service was good and quick. Would have given a 5 rating if the chilli chicken had the same wonderful taste as before. The next time I visit this place, it would be their Chinatown branch.
(4)
J J.
The food is great here every time I've come and so is the customer service. However, the last time I went, our portions were significantly smaller than usual. I'm not sure if they were trying to save money or it was just an off night....I even asked an employee there, but she said there was no difference, but that they had a new chef. So, that would certainly make a difference. I don't know what's going on here, but I don't think the lady was telling me the truth. The price was the same as always, but the portion was much smaller than I've ever had before. I might give them one more try, if I'm in the area...but, I won't go out of my way, like I used to, to eat here. I wish the lady I spoke to, would've just said, "We have a new chef," or anything else, instead of trying to pull the wool over my eyes, by telling me the portion is the same, when it definitely was not. I would know, considering I've been eating there for years. Don't know if I'll be back on account of the dishonesty and the significant change in portion size.
(3)
Will C.
THE BEST SPICY ASIAN FOOD YOU WILL EVER EAT IN YOUR LIFE. Here's a list of what I get every time I go...been coming to this place for over 10 years and loving it every time. Remember......you come to Chinatown for food, not service, so stop griping! lol...and FOOD is greater than service. Their spicy cabbage is yummy~! Dry Chili Chicken (A Chef favorite) Dry Chili Prawns or Dry Chili Shrimp (if you dont like the shell) Salt & Pepper Scallop Dry Chili Pork (i call this dry chili bacon as that is what it looks like) Broiled Beef or Pork is Spicy Szechuan Sauce (Also, anythign with black bean sauce is always delicious!) If you don''t like this place, there is something wrong with you as all who come here would agree.....you won't be disappointed. **Note: If you are one of those people who go to Chinese restaurants to order the "American Chinese" dishes like kung pao chicken, sweet & sour pork, egg foo young, fried rice, etc....don't bother eating here or ordering those" You must order form the "Real Chinese Menu"....if you don't you will probably gripe about the price, and no one likes whiners lol =) **Update: You don't go to a Chinese restaurant, especially in Chinatown, for the service...ONLY the food lol.
(5)
Michael W.
I don't know about the downtown Chicago Lao Sze Chuan restaurant, but the one in Downers Grove, IL, is TERRIBLE! I went there last night with my wife for dinner and had a bad experience. The hot/sour soup was lousy, the pot sticker meat was awful, and my entree, Kung Pao Delight, was mediocre and undercooked. To top things off, the waiter took our hot mustard and sweet/sour sauces and gave them to the table next to us without even asking if we were finished with them. What a hole! Avoid at all cost! Never again! If you want the best Chinese/Szechuan in the Chicago area, go to "The Pineyard" in Evanston. Also, any PF Chang's in the area is much better than this joint.
(1)
Eric S.
Wow... Tony Chu would be highly disappointed if he knew how bad this food is. Ribs that taste like they've been reheated at least three times and COLD dumplings. #SadDay. LSC in Chinatown in my favorite Chicago restaurant too
(1)
Heather S.
Best Chinese Food in the city! The wait can be long, but it's well worth it. Cold pork appetizer is the best and works as a meal. Delish!
(5)
Danny Y.
Even though this place is just around the corner, I've actually been avoiding this restaurant because I'm not crazy about spicy food. Decided to finally take the chance tonight and give it a shot, and to my surprise there was plenty of non-spicy menu items. We opted for the following: braised string beans - 4/5 crunch, tasty salt and pepper pork - 4.5/5 yum, with just a hint of spicy dan dan noodles - 3/5 too salty, but noodles were fairly decent black sesame dessert - 3/5 tastes like it's supposed to All in all, we're SUPER glad to have found a closer (and superior) chinese alternative to Joy Yee's in Naperville. The lifeless vibe of the restaurant could use a little help, but otherwise this is an excellent chinese restaurant!
(4)
Christina K.
Contrary to the gross exterior, it's very swanky inside, but I always order takeout/delivery. Their broccoli chicken is standard, but they get a few other things messed up. Their orange chicken is like General Tso with a dash of orange. It confuses the tongue. In my experience, they don't give fortune cookies unless you ask for them, and two dinners gets one carton of rice. People are dry, but have ok customer service.
(3)
Corin W.
Fiery! Fiery! Fiery! If you want Sze Chuan: this is it. THEE place. There are three dishes we go for all the time. Boiled Beef. Boiled Pork. Or special Dover spicy fish. FLAMING AS HALSTED ON HALLOWEEN EVE! (The special fish is my favorite, by the way) If you cannot handle the spice do NOT attempt to eat any of these. I once had the chili chicken. Nothing but perfectly tender chicken and chilies. That's it. About forty or so chilies. Wow was it good. There are a couple of standards I like here too. I love fried wontons and they do excellent ones: crispy with a slightly tender center. The egg rolls are good. The soup is great. Wonton and hot and sour. Prices have gone up substantially over the last couple of years but they still have lunch specials during the week. There's one in China Town square too: right on the western end. I've never noticed a variance in quality. Either way it's been superb.
(5)
Latonya D.
Delivery via Grub Hub since it's New Year's Day. This SUCKED! Food was average, barely warm. Dumb delivery guy forgets the soda, when I call- he says: I don't understand call manager! I call the " Manager" and when I threatened w/ a bad review- she sends him back- WELL THE JOKES ON ME- get ready folks- $1.75 for 1 can of warm coke. Never again...sigh.
(1)
Stephanie B.
Meh, It's generic Chinese food. I got beef lo mien and egg drop soup during the lunch specials and it was kind of bland. I got a horrible migraine right after eating probably due to MSG so I definitely will not be going back here. At least it was really cheap so I didn't feel too guilty and the servers were very nice so I'll give them that.
(2)
Jenni E.
Yum! I have passed this place 100 times and never would have thought to try it because of how it looks on the outside. When someone clued me in to the fact that they have super authentic Chinese food, and I read some Yelp reviews I had to try it. We ordered a few things so we could try a variety: won ton soup, eggrolls, homemade spicy sour noodles, crispy duck and a chef special - stir fry beef with cilantro. The service wasn't the best, but I didn't really care - the food was great and if I asked for something, I got it. They did give you a pot of hot tea, which i thoroughly enjoyed. Now for the food - I am an eggroll snob and I usually judge a Chinese restaurant by their eggrolls. These ones weren't great and I wouldn't order them again. But the noodles more than made up for the mediocre eggrolls. They were perfect in every way and I could eat pounds of those noodles and die happy. The soup, which was my husband's favorite was okay to me, but I am not a huge soup person. The duck was great and so was the beef with cilantro but the beef was super spicy. I love spicy food, so when I saw the chili indicator on the menu, I wasn't worried. But this was mouth-on-fire spicy, and I wished that my waiter would have told me that so I could have asked them to put less hot red chilies in it. My only other gripe was that they had a few authentic Chinese desserts on the menu that I was excited to try, but when I asked I was told that they didn't have dessert at this location. There were tons of things I saw on the menu that I want to go back and try including the dim sum, so I will be back.
(4)
Distinguished T.
If you like spicy Sichuan cuisine, this is the place to go. I have traveled to China and this food is as good as any I have tried there. I am not Asian, so I am probably not the best judge of authentic Chinese food. But I am a fan of this place. This has been my go to Chinese place for about a year now and never disappoints. Please do not order the America Chinese entrees like General Tso's chicken. That is Panda Express food. When you go to an authentic Sichuan restaurant like this place, try the authentic stuff. The scallion pancakes are great as an appetizer. Eat it with the pepper flakes sauce (condiment). I would skip soup as most entrees come in a broth. I always order a fish. Asians love seafood. So there is a high probability that seafood - fish and shrimp especially is fresh, especially on weekends. I feel the Chinese know how to cook eggplant better than any cuisine. My favorite here is the eggplant in garlic sauce.
(5)
Kevin S.
Lao Sze Chuan has a very extensive meal selection, I was surprised to see the selection. I stuck with my favorites; I had house fried rice, General tso chicken, and appetizer sampler. The food was was good and was happy to try this place. There food selection leans more to the spicy side, so if that is what you like, this is the place to go.
(4)
Andrea S.
I recently moved to the area, and have been hoping to find some good restaurants to replace my staple restaurants from back home. This place had delicious authentic food, and I loved it. I tried the Ma Po Tofu- it was the authentic spicy flavor I was hoping for. Ma Po tofu is typically a spicy dish, and if you don't like spicy food, do not get it. The service was also great, they refilled my water glass multiple times and even refilled the rice without me having to call them over. I will definitely be going again or whenever I get a craving for delicious Chinese food.
(5)
John R.
Visiting from out of town, I was looking forward to getting some authentic (as far as I'm concerned) Sichuan food. The appetizers were so-so...I thought the onion cake was a little too greasy, and the dumpling wrapping on the pot stickers was a bit too thick. I'll get over it. The entrees were outstanding -- the spicy hand made lo mein noodles were a big hit at the table. They had my favorite twice cooked pork with leeks and it was just as good as I've had it. Other big hits were the green beans and the crispy shrimp in mayonnaise (i swear it's better than it sounds). The only entree we wouldn't get again was the salt and pepper shrimp which still had the shells and legs on (not really my thing). All in all, I thought it was great, a reasonable price, and our service was perfect.
(4)
Bret S.
We spent approximately $80 on our first delivery order, and NOTHING tasted good. I wouldn't eat here if it was free. I am amazed that anyone gives it a positive review, as I found it simply awful.
(1)
Patty S.
In my many travels of Chicago Chinatown experiences, Lao's has by far one of the best Szechuan authentic menus. I have never ordered from the American menu, so I can't comment on their sweet and sour pork or Mongolian beef. What I can comment on, however, is the deliciousness they put into their dishes. Like when I am at their sister restaurant in Chinatown, I order the mayonnaise shrimp and eggplant with garlic sauce; the flavors explode in your mouth! Their steamed pot-stickers are fantastic. I have also tried the bitter melon dish; this was quite unique, as I have never tasted anything like this. The melon pieces were sliced thin (kind of like French fries) and were soaking in a bitter, yet sweet, sauce. An interesting flavor; although, one time to try them is plenty for me. If you are with a few people or more, be prepared for the food to come out intermittently. They serve the dishes when they are ready (they don't leave them under warming lights to wait for everyone's to be ready at the same time). This gives you a chance to sample and enjoy everyone else's meals. The Downers Grove location is spread out much larger than Chinatown's. But the menu is still the same and no matter which location you choose, the flavors of their authentic dishes will not disappoint you.
(5)
Matt K.
I don't give this out easily, but this is the best place for authentic Sze Chuan dishes in Chicagoland. Sure, a lot of places have them on the menu, but they are never up to par. This is the real deal. And the spice level has not been 'americanized' too much. The house specials chili bean fish and chili boiled beef deserve more than 5 stars. Service is lightning fast. prices unbeatable. One of my favorite lunch places.
(5)
Mahmoud S.
I love almost any type of asian food, but Chinese can be hit and miss. Nearly 90% of the time it's a miss. It's been so bad for me that I've just stayed away from Chinese restaurants all together. But one night we were in Downers Grove and just felt like some rice! Quick google search lead to Lao being the closest and had very good reviews. Going in I was praying that the meat would be real and not that rubbery crap that most Chinese places use. The inside of the restaurant is real nice and we were seated in a both right away. The wait staff is nice, but kind of in a rush so they are just buzzing around all over the place. The menu is huge and seemed to be very authentic, because most of the dishes I had never heard of. Flipping to the back of the menu will find the "Americanized Chinese dishes" if thats what you want. But for us we wanted the real stuff, we went with the Tony's Chicken, Hot Plate Steak, hand made noodles in spicy sauce, and chicken satay for starters. The food came quickly and it was just mouth watering to look at. The first bite of Tony's Chicken I will never forget, it was sweet and spicy and worth going for. The hot plate steak came out on a sizzling plate and was so flavorful and the meat was juicy and delicious. This is the absolute best Chinese restaurant I have ever been to and I suggest you give it a try you will not forget it. I've been there many times now and have yet to be disappointed!
(5)
Michele C.
We stopped at this restaurant only after we found out that the restaurant we really wanted to go to was closed on Mondays. To be fair to the restaurant I would give it more of a 2 1/2 star rating, but since there is not one and I did not think it deserved a three star rating, I left it at 2 stars. The menu is very large and has pictures for some items and then just a listing of the other items with no descriptions. After perusing the entire menu (all of 19+ pages), we decided on two different dishes. I ordered a dish called Special Pork with sizzling rice. I thought, "how could you go wrong with pork and sizzling rice?". This was from the Chinese side and from the picture it looked good. The flavor was not what I expected and to top it off the pork was sliced very thin and had large chunks of fat on it that I had to pick through. The other dish was from the American side of the menu called the Kung Pao special. The flavor of the sauce was tasty with a nice spicy-ness to it. It was a combo of chicken, shrimp and bbq pork. The quality of the meat was mediocre, but the sauce made up for it. I enjoy eating in Chinatown and have gone to the authentic little restaurants and bakeries for dinner. Perhaps I just did not go with the right people who could have told me what to order. Based on the food I ordered I will not be back to try it again, but maybe you'll have better luck in knowing what to order.
(2)
Brian T.
Went there for lunch today with a friend. Very affordable, for about $7 you get an egg roll, soup, and a nice size entree. It is known for its szechuan dishes. I apperantly wanted to try the curry chicken and was not impressed. My friend got the boiled sol szechuan and it was much better. This place is great for the money, but i think i will stay away because in my opinion chinese food is not very healthy.
(3)
Jessica G.
So at Lao Sze Chaun House, on a Saturday at 7, and in Downers Grove, no less, it is likely you will have to wait for a table. It seems like they take reservations so make one and also tell them what you want in advance - when you get there, you can be seated quickly and eat quickly like the two tables next to us. Otherwise, we waited maybe 15 minutes for our table. It's not the cleanest place you'll eat but it's also not filthy - if you're bothered by tables that aren't sparkling, this may not be the place for you. I've only ever seen it in this condition so I accept it and move on. Service was a bit abrupt but that was fine - it was really busy, we got our orders taken, the food came out in a reasonable timeframe and it was correct so I won't worry about whether the server stopped to tell me her life story. The food was pretty darn delicious - we had the ginger spinach, which was quite refreshing, the green beans with black beans (hidden bits of jalapenos in there so beware - they masquerade as green bean chunks), the house fried rice (lots of various meat and seafood items - pretty basic), and then the dry chili shrimp, Tony's chicken and the twice cooked pork with fat, which I guess is important. When they say something is hot and spicy, it is, which I like. Make sure to read the menu and ask questions if you're uncertain so you don't end up blowing out your palate. The chicken and shrimp we had were both excellent, with a nice, crisp coating on each item. The chicken was a little sweet, which was a nice balance to the black pepper coating and the shrimp were just plain old spicy. The pork was eh to me but I don't like fatty stuff. Tasty meal in general, though, and definitely somewhere we'll visit again.
(4)
Jerry Z.
Not only that this is the worst Chinese restaurant I have ever been in, but it is the worst food I have ever had, with dining experience on three continents to back it up! (the worst one before this was a collective farm restaurant by chateau Sychrov in Czech Republic, where they served goose probably cooked with its intestines still in...). And I love good Chinese food, and I love Chinese - I almost married one. I had ordered seafood combination in hot pot, my wife had kung pao chicken. There was some horrendous and indescribable component in my dish: it just shocks your taste buds and makes you forget all good times you have had in the past in Chinese restaurants. If I would be able to describe the taste it would have to be so gross that one should not write or read it anyway. The same thing found its way into my wife's dish as well, but in a lesser degree (she could consume only one bite, then she refused to continue - until then I would not believe that one can screw-up kung pao chicken). My mother-in-law, who could not eat her dish as well and got it replaced with an edible one, believes that the strange taste (and smell) came from duck fat. Well, I have never eaten rotten duck fat, so I cannot confirm her claim. It will take a long time before I will find a courage to go to a Chinese restaurant again. I know, one should not generalize and there are some wonderful Chinese dishes out there - but I am still in a shock. I have shared with you my experience - you are free to make your own...
(1)
Will S.
My family and I came here after a very exhausting day/evening packing up a relatives home getting ready for their move. We were all very hungry, and Lao Sze Chuan was suggested. I must have driven by here thousands of times, but this evening was my first dining experience. There were four of us dining, and we were sat immediately. We were greeted with very friendly service, and I want to mention that all the servers were in the dining room asking customers if they needed anything, how the food was, etc. For some reason none of us had knives in our setups, and when we asked, we were pleasantly presented with knives and extra napkins. I ordered Pot Stickers (my favorite appetizer), and Beef with Pea Pods for my entree'. My beverage was of course hot tea, which was very flavorful with excellent taste. All of us had our appetizers within 4-5 minutes. It seemed like when we were finished with the appetizers, the entrees immediately arrived, and I thoroughly enjoyed everything served. Only downside was that the sesame/ginger Pot Sticker sauce was much too salty, so after one piece, I had them plain, which was satisfactory, but slightly disappointing. I was very impressed with how attentive the servers were, and the tip reflected our satisfaction. I will certainly dine here again, and look forward to the next selection I will choose on their plentiful menu.
(5)
E B.
This used to be one of our favorite restaurants.... but no longer:-( Several months ago a new chef was hired and the food suffered. The hot and sour soup is overwhelmingly spicy and the crab rangoons are almost always understuffed and overcooked. The garlic eggplant is often cold and crunchy in the center and the orange chicken has more spice than actual flavor. Very disappointing.
(2)
liz a.
I just love this place. I discovered it when it was in Westmont, before it moved to its current DG location. THey have definitely improved the ambience even though the TV is still there. Love love the food. My favorites are the Boiled beef, Tony's chicken, Eggplant with ground pork or beef, dry chili chicken, mapo tofu, which they always prepare for us with ground pork as a special request but dont charge us extra for it. I dont bother with appetizers etc, just dive in for the entrees. The lunch specials are very reasonable. We usualy go for Sunday lunch after church and usually we are standing outside saying "Open, open, open". I havent been to the chinatown location yet so I cannot compare the two. But I live in the western burbs and this is just fine for me. This place has spoilt me for all the other local places. Havent been able to find one that comes even close. I have to admit the service can be lacking sometimes but who cares. I come here to eat. Their menu can do with an editor but the pictures are self explanatory often.
(5)
Beth P.
I stopped by for lunch and was pleasantly surprised by the prices. My friends and I had a complete meal for a total of $24.00! This included soup, egg rolls, crab rangoon, and an entree. Everything was cooked fresh and tasted great! I would definitely come back for lunch the next time I'm in town.
(4)
Marcus W.
The food here is incredible, and the lunch specials are inexpensive
(5)
Lindley E.
I was prepared to be disappointed after one of our office lunches was catered by LSC. Some truly superlative restaurants can pull off Americanized Chinese food - Friendship Chinese in Logan Square is a good example of this. LSC occupies the uncomfortable space between Americanized and Plain Not Good. The intentions are good. The menu has many of the dishes for which the Chinatown location is known (eg Hot Pot) and a good selection of ghost-friendly dishes like...Egg Foo Young (the fact that this is on the menu made me cry tears of bitterest lye). Egg Foo Young? Are we living in the 70s? And Subgum? Subgum?! These are on the menu because customers want them. Customers who generally don't know or care what authentic cuisine looks lor tastes ike. I have a few dishes that I order to test out a restaurant's Authenticity Quotient (AQ). One of these is san bei ji - three cup chicken. A good san bei ji is simple - made with a cup of rice wine, a cup of soy, and a cup of sesame oil, with ginger and garlic. It isn't particularly sweet - and is always made with bone-in chicken. LSC's version was made with bone-in chicken, a good start. It was served in a pot over flame, something I've never seen before. Stone crock, clay crock, yes...bubbling pan over sterno, no. From the first bite it tasted unfamiliar - it was extremely sweet and cloying. I know that's what most people expect from their Americanized Chinese restaurant, but those rules shouldn't apply to dishes that most folks wouldn't order because there's no fake general's name in the title. San bei ji's recipe should be served unaltered from the original, just like Mama used to make. Other dishes were disappointing as well. Dan Dan Noodles weren't well-made or interesting - I've had better almost everywhere else. The dry spicy chicken was okay, but lacked heat (versions I've had in Shanghai had a bit more kick). Service was slow. Heat was set on high. And I don't think I need to ever go back.
(2)
phillip k.
This is one terrific restaurant. I recommend the Tony's chicken..and also the crispy shrimp in mayo sauce.....also the chengdu dumplings. The staff is friendly and attentive.
(4)
Cathaleya C.
My husband and I come here often because they offer some of the best spicy Chinese food ever. We always get Tony's Chili Chicken, Broiled Beef and Pork Intestine with Pork Blood.
(5)
Irina H.
I can't say this place is over-Americanized (as some other reviewers did), because most of the people dining here were Chinese and clearly enjoying themselves; I'm sure they ordered from the Chinese side of the menu. However, I didn't care for my food; the duck was salty, the drowned shrimp and chicken came in a lemon sauce so thick and lemony it could have been pie filling, and the ma po to fu was served with such a heavy dousing of something (five spice powder?) that I couldn't eat it. The tea was so hot that we couldn't drink it until about halfway through dinner, and then found it flavorless.
(2)
Michelle Marie R.
Great inexpensive and delish lunch specials!
(4)
Krista E.
Over priced and the food was so bad ! The chicken fried rice was fishy tasting the shrimp was mushy by far the worst food ever !
(1)
Jerry M.
The food here is great. Best Chinese restaurant around. Dinner prices have gone up quite a bit in the past few years, so it's not a bargain anymore. Lunch is still a steal.
(5)
John A.
2 years ago I would have said 2 or 3 stars, but Lao Sze Chuan has really hit it's stride lately. It always has been the best Chinese option in the area, but that wasn't saying much - there is so much bad Chinese food in DG/Westmont. Lately though everything has been consistently great. When you ask for extra-spicy it's freakin extra spicy. On occasion we'll dine in...it's nothing fancy, but the service is pretty good...the waitress we had on our last visit was particular fond of our 4-yr old and gave him an extra almond cookie - nice touch. Speaking of kids...the place is kid friendly enough with plenty of no-spice dishes like cashew beef, etc. Anyway...the place is now heads and shoulders above the rest and the only Chinese restaurant we frequent: take-out, delivery or dine-in. I have noticed the prices have crept up a bit, but for the quality of food its worth the small premium.
(4)
Michele O.
This place used to be much better than it is now. It's a little pricier than some other restaurants in the area so we hadn't ordered from here in a while. But then the place we had been frequenting, Lucky Star in Woodridge, went downhill in the service area so we switched back to Lao Sze Chuan. I got the Lemon Chicken, which was so dry and overcooked I couldn't even bite into it. It was like shoe leather. My husband had the House Lo Mein and there was hardly any meat in it. Obviously not a great meal, but we thought maybe the kitchen was just having an off night, so the next time we wanted Chinese we ordered here again. Lemon Chicken was still a non-starter, very dry with a really thick batter coating - almost more batter than chicken. I don't remember what my husband had the second time but he didn't like it either. we're not super picky people but this was just awful. I'm disappointed their quality has dropped so much . It used to be a nice place to eat, and right around the corner from home.
(2)
Mike H.
Went here again this past week...different dish, same awesomeness in a bowl...great food, great value....might go there today and get a third new dish. First time there had beef flank trimming soup, this last time the Boiled Beef soup...outta the park home run good!
(5)
Erik H.
The food was more authentic than I am accustomed to, and was very tasty. Prices were affordable and portions were large. The ambience - nothing special, but I was there for the food. I have had the Mapo Doufu and a lamb dish, both of which were good, as were the egg rolls and crab rangoon.
(4)
Frank C.
Best Chinese in the area. The hostess is amazing.
(4)
Char Y.
We came for the hot pot. It was cheap and plentiful, not bad for hot pot.
(3)
Julian M.
I had a good experience here. I asked for a really spicy hotpot and the server made a suggestion as I don't speak Mandarin and therefore couldn't pronounce the name of the dish :) It was bone-in chicken pieces in a cauldron of bubbling lava (insert Homer Simpson's drooling sound here).
(3)
S S.
Crab Rangoon is still awesome but we ordered sesame chicken and Gen Tsos chicken and got 2 plates of the same thing with broccoli on the side and no other vegetables. Guess their version of Tsos is just sesame chicken without the sesame seeds...
(3)
Brian F.
If you know how to navigate the menu all of the favorites from the Westmont location are still to be found. Personally I think that this is a great place to grab an inexpensive lunch. Prices at lunch range from $5-7 and include soup, rice and an eggroll. Order of the first page of the menu at lunch if you're looking for the more authentic dishes
(5)
na z.
It's not really authentic tasting chinese food. Everything was overly oily and americanized. I like the chinatown location much better.
(2)
Spencer H.
This restaurant is awesome. The owner of this restaurant used to have another restaurant located in Palatine, IL. After it closed down I was hoping I would find another one of his restaurants & a few years ago I finally did. This restaurant has stayed consistently good. This restaurant is excellent especially for lunch because they have very good prices & lunch specials. The menu here could be compared to a large novel. They have so many different entrees & appetizers & they are all very authentic. The dining room is nice & the seats are comfortable. When I came here for lunch I ordered the Mongolian beef. The Mongolian Beef lunch special came with white rice & an egg drop or hot & sour soup & an egg roll. I got the hot & sour soup & it was very good. The Mongolian beef was very delicious. The sauce was excellent & it was cooked just right. The restaurant was clean & the servers were friendly. The service was also fast & they had the appetizers & entrees at the table in just the right amount of time. Overall my experiences here have been very good. The service is friendly & quick & the restaurant is clean. The food is absolutely delicious. I would definitely come here again if I was in the area & in the mood for some good Chinese food.
(4)
Tony J.
The service was very good. And the food was not bad. But two things spoiled the meal. As we started eating, a large group of Chinese high school students from zhejiang came in. They were very loud and inconsiderate of the other customers. I understand that it's not the restaurant's fault, but nonetheless it became very difficult to carry on a conversation. The second was that although the foo had pretty good flavor and was appropriately spiced, I just felt that every dish was under seasoned and bland. If you like it that way, you might enjoy this more than I did. But I think with a little bit more salt, this place would be very good, also they have low prices because it's in the middle of nowhere: Downers Grove.
(3)
Michael G.
I am surprised that it took me so long to find this authentic Chinese restaurant on Ogden (since I have lived in the area my whole life) but I am glad I know about it now! This restaurant probably has some of the most authentic Chinese Food you'll find in the Chicago Southwest Suburbs! They have so many options on their menu (which is good, but also part of the reason I didn't give them 5 stars). Doesn't matter if its from their lunch menu or dinner menu, the portions they serve are more than enough to satisfy your cravings. Lets just say, you know its a good place when you see people of that same culture eating there daily. Definitely recommend and good luck deciding what you want :P
(4)
Tracey M.
My husband and I came in and felt VERY uncomfortable and unwelcome. We left!!! Looking for a good Chinese Food restaurant in the Lombard area ... and this was NOT it. The guy literally acted like he didn't want to seat us - didn't even want us there. We both felt it so strongly that we got up and left. Nobody even asked why ... Do NOT Spend money where not wanted - absolutely not!!!! Terrible ...
(1)
Alison G.
Back to one star rating based on the take-out order we had tonight. Its just shredded pork noodle soup, tofu sheet with veggies. Both has got no flavor. The lady who took the order (over the phone) sounded so rush, the lady who gave us the bag of food was also not polite. They have always ALWAYS been very busy both lunch hours and dinner hours. I'm not expecting to be treated like I was a queen, but I want some kind of smile, or a thankyou or whatever nice, don't think I'm being greedy I always leave tips on takeout! Anyway, i heard their stores in Chicago were closed down (by FBI). I did not verify on this, and not sure the details either. If this was one of their chains they really have to improve their food and service quality!!
(1)
Sunny D.
Heavenly Chinese food. Extremely authentic and has awesome spicy dishes. For those of you who aren't that extravagant they still have the Americanized chinese dishes as well like orange chicken, kung pao dishes, fried rice etc. I love not needing to go to china town when this place is in the suburbs. It is pretty dang expensive but you get what you pay for. Recommend: Chefs special dry chili chicken, szechuan string beans, mongolian beef/mongolian three ingredients, Salt and pepper calamari/shrimp/scallop, Tonys chicken, egg rolls
(5)
John G.
oh boy....had the teriyaki chicken and chicken skewers. Teriyaki chicken had me wishing I had gotten it from the food court in the mall. Very soggy and bland sigh. Skewers were ok but for that price I did not feel satisfied at all with this place. The search for good chinese delivery in illinois continues...
(2)
Kristen L.
Love this place, awesome! Delicious Kung pap chicken and Mongolian beef. We always order plenty of egg rolls.
(4)
Danny L.
Other Yelpers are correct that this place has gone downhill. I've been a customer for years and used to eat there as much as 4 times a week. I'd even have them cater my office luncheons. Now some of their dishes aren't even edible. I had to throw out most of my order today, which finally prompted me to write this review. Their formerly good food used to compensate for the subpar customer service, but no more.
(1)
Elle N.
If you're looking for an upscale restaurant with very attentive service, wait-staff that lingers and chats, and "pretty" dishes, this isn't going to be the place for you.The waitstaff is pleasant and helpful if you have a question, but otherwise are largely hands off. However, if you're looking for fast service, wait-staff that do pay attention to your tables (even if they don't hover - you're never lacking water, for example), and authentic food, consider checking out Lao Sze Chuan. A note: depending on your tolerance for spice, be aware of the menu's indication of hotter dishes. If you ask they can make something milder (and it still tastes spectacular). I've been here several times and I enjoy it, but then - as a restaurant goer, I tend to be happiest when I'm at a place that lets me sit down, order, gets my food to me promptly, and has minimal interaction otherwise. For the amount of food you get (easily enough for one meal and then taking the other half home for another), the price is incredibly reasonable. A friend and I had two entrees and an appetizer and our bill came in at just under $23.
(4)
Dan B.
Many times I've passed by Lao Sze Chuan House when driving down Ogden Avenue. The first thing that came through my mind is the name, it sounds to me like it's supposed to be pronounced Lousy Chuan House. Well, that just never sounded appealing. But one day when in the area I consulted my yelp app for nearby restaurants and saw that this place had fairly positive reviews and I figured it would be worth a try. After being seated I looked over the menu and settled on two of my traditional choices at Chinese restaurants, crab rangoon as the appetizer and general tso's chicken as the entree. Shortly after ordering the crab rangoon, some sauce to dip it in and some water was brought out to me. The crab rangoon had a nice crispy outside with a lot of cream cheese on the inside. There was a fair amount of meat mixed in with the cream cheese but not as much as some places, the combination of the crab meat and cheese was solid and complimented each other fairly well. I decided to try dipping it into a hot mustard sauce, the combination of the sauce and the rangoons worked well and I was soon done with the appetizer. Then my General Tso's chicken was brought out with white rice. I have a somewhat unusual system of dipping the chicken in the rice ball so that I get a little bit of rice with every bite of chicken. The chicken wasn't too spicy and the sauce was nice. There were a few rough pieces of chicken mixed in that were a tad tougher than I would have preferred but texture aside I was happy with the chicken. Overall I found the environment in Lao Sze Chuan House to be pleasant, service to be friendly and the food quality to be good. I was pleased that the food wasn't as "Lao Sze" as I feared it might be. The person serving me did have a slight issue with understanding English but with a little extra effort and talking slowly this was easily overcome as there wasn't enough of a language barrier to prevent successful ordering. I'd visit again if I were in the mood for Chinese food and in the area and will give it a solid four stars and a recommendation if you happen to be nearby.
(4)
Victoria J.
I feel sort of bad even writing this review since I've loved this place since moving back to DG almost 5 years ago. I've never actually eaten in the restaurant, only delivery, so I can't comment on decor or table service. That being said, we always order the same things: fried dumpling, crab Rangoon, egg rolls, gen Tso's chicken and Szechwan shrimp with a side of crispy pan fried noodles. We ordered tonite. Timing was dead on, food was SADLY lacking. No chili oil for the dumplings, all the fried items tasted dry and as if they were fried in old oil. Not enough sauce on the already dry GT chicken, and the worst part...what is up with the veg? It used to be full of awesome mushrooms, water chestnuts, broccoli. All fresh and crunchy...I think we got 1 of each and they taste old. Wish this review could've been a revised one because I really used to live this place but for $55, I could've gotten twice the food from ZJ china down the street and sadly, the same quality. Not bagging on ZJ. They're fine, for "cheap and cheerful Chinese delivery", but if you're expecting fresh, delicious Chinese, it looks like Lao Sze Schuan is headed downhill. Super disappointing. Oh, and no fortune cookies.
(1)
Michelle H.
Most of my Chinese restaurant experiences are quick takeout or delivery related. Rarely do I have a sit-down, eat-in meal, nor do I gravitate away from my normal choices of Americanized versions of sweet and sour chicken and fried rice. The menu here enticed me to branch out a bit. Now, I cannot attest to authenticity, but the eight-page menu was filled with mostly dishes not available at the local corner carryout joint. After much deliberations, I chose a breaded chicken dish with chili peppers. Served with white rice, it was truly the best Chinese restaurant meal I have ever had the pleasure of eating. Although no sauce was present, the mix of cooking oil and moisture from the cooked peppers blended perfectly with the fluffy white rice The breading on the chicken was light, and not at all greasy. An amazing dish with a heavy amount of heat packed in. (Read: not at all for the faint of heart.) The portion was huge, and reheated well for lunch the next day. We came during a hot spell in the summer, and unfortunately, their air conditioning was broken. Even with the fans and the doors choked open, the heat was quite oppressive. The service was attentive, our waiter spot on with beverage and water refills (not sure it this is the norm, but only cans of soda were sold; no fountain soda.) I'm definitely thinking of planning a family meal here soon; the dining room is filled with large tables with centrally placed lazy Susans, perfect for sharing a large meal!
(4)
M G.
Authentic food here! We love the spicy cabbage, egg rolls, steamed dumplings, scallion pancakes, 3 chili chicken, dan noodles, mushu pork, garlic spinach, everything we have tried is great. Not much help in explaining items to help in determining choices from the wait staff, but that's ok. Regarding the service the first few times we stopped here I would say the service was thumbs down almost rude, however on our recent visits service has improved greatly and the hostess recognizes us and is very friendly. We drive over 30 minutes for this place, so glad we don't have to go to Chinatown for authentic well prepared food. Lunch specials are large portions and great prices too.
(4)
Amstaff Y.
This is real Chinese Szechuan food. If you are looking for boring bland whitey Chinese go somewhere else. Owned by legendary chef Tony Hu, this place is the real deal. Great service and amazing consistent food every time. Chinatown in the burbs.
(5)
Boon K.
This rating is for their lunch/ delivery service. I don't live too far from this place and I thought I really wanted to try their lunch special. The menu is huge but I always test out the fried rice first. The delivery service is super fast. I order 2 fried rice lunch special and potstickers and seriously it came within 20 mins, piping hot. I was so amazed. I wasn't super crazy with the fried potstickers, it was very doughy for me also like Shao bao. The shrimp fried rice came with a meaty egg roll which was pretty good, I like that it was not mild not salty and not greasy. I was really happy as I had shrimp fried for 3 meals because the portion was so huge.
(4)
Grant P.
I didn't enjoy eating at Lao Sze Chuan. But I can't blame anyone for that except myself. Y'know how when you have a favorite dish and you order it at another restaurant from the one you normally have it at, and it's different? Well, that's the mistake I made here last night. You may not like something as much, but that's only because it's different, not necessarily wrong or bad. I truly didn't care for my Singapore rice noodles. The place I usually get them from dissolves the curry powder more, whereas here the powder kind of stuck to the noodles and was omnipresent. Again, maybe not wrong, just different. The restaurant was decorated quite nicely, with bamboo sculptures on the wall, nice dark wood tables with an elegant glass lazy susan in the middle. Service was very friendly, and efficient. Our group's dishes all came out very quickly, and the server didn't balk at our separate checks request at all. And our water glasses and tea pot remained filled throughout the night. I also didn't care for the scallion pancakes I had. You couldn't taste the scallion, so it was like eating plain fried dough. Their duck sauce/sweet & sour sauce that sits out on the table is wonderful with a fresh orange flavor. The final item I tried, the crispy duck, was quite nice, with crisp skin, plenty of meat, and a delicious hoisin sauce. Overall, despite the fact that I didn't enjoy my food, I'm still giving five stars because of service, looks, and quality of food. Everyone else in my group seemed very pleased with their meal. If I had to deduct a star, which I won't, it would be for the temperature. It was chilly, and the folks coming out before us even commented that we'd have to keep our coats on to eat in there. I can't really blame them, tho. This winter, with it's sub-zero temperatures; furnaces have to work really hard to keep up. And maybe their insulation isn't that great. I dunno. But it's really pretty insignificant overall. Try them. But if you haven't been there before, try a new dish (they have crazy authentic Chinese dishes that feature intestines!) Don't go there expecting things to be exactly like your favorite takeout place. They won't be. But that's okay.
(5)
Pete B.
This is one of my go to lunch places, but I'm pretty sure I got food poisoning yesterday from the dry chilli chicken. As my food poisoning gets worse, I decided to lower it to 1 star. Had to take a sick day, and I feel miserable.. and the dry chili chicken was the only thing I ate that day.
(1)
Brenda P.
My sister and I had lunch on Friday and I have to say that this is the best Chinese restaurant in the suburbs and even Chinatown. We had the beef with broccoli and shrimp with lobster sauce . Not only was the food great; they didnt skimp on the ingredients. The best we have ever had!!!! We will definitely be back even though we live one hour away. Service was great and the place is very nice and clean
(5)
Qirong L.
Worst service ever had in my entire life, period. Wish I can give a negative star here! We were basically called liars and yelled at by the woman who claimed to be the manager, when we raised the fact that the clam dish had over 70% of clams are empty SHELLS! They should go back to school to take business 101 to probably learn what does the word 'customer' mean!
(1)
Jessica D.
Ordered the lemon chicken lunch special for pickup using the GrubHub app. Food was piping hot and delish: good breading on the chicken, light and lemony sauce, three pieces of pineapple in the sauce, huge fluffy hot rice. One thing, though, the chicken was a little dry for my taste, chewy like jerky. Could have been a little fresher. When I went to pick up my food the place was packed, and there was just one parking spot left (lucky me!). The front desk attendant is super efficient and fast. Thank you!
(3)
Stills J.
The spicy fish filet is the best and the lunch special definitely a good deal. But the staff need some work.
(4)
David D.
My family and I used to enjoy eating here, even if the service was (and continues to be) indifferent. But unfortunately the quality of the food has declined in recent months, with the beef, chicken, and green beans tasting greasy and stale. I hope that the restaurant is simply undergoing a rough patch.
(2)
Neal C.
Love the food here, you can go traditional Chinese or American chinese, your choice! The menu is beyond extensive so prepare to explore. Everything is fresh and tasty for sure and the wait staff is attentive to your needs. When I'm in the area and need some good Chinese this is where to go.
(4)
Prashant C.
If you go to a restaurant thrice in three days ...everyday during lunch then you must be liking that place.. and with great tasting food and great value found at this place , that's what I did.. Had fried chicken with Chilli , Hunan and Ko Chicken until now and all three were great.. I was looking for a chinese food place which I can include in the list of my favorites and this one definitely suits the list... As of now I have found the service good enough.. as one reviewer said it was very Chinese and little bit rushed , I concur and don't mind as long as I get what i want fast and it tastes great ! Will visit again!
(4)
Shima C.
Yes I am part Chinese so I believe I have some credibility when critiquing Chinese cuisine. This place has one of the best if not the best Chinese food in Chicago including the gazillion restaurants in Chinatown. Only area of improvement is service. It's not outrageous but it's very "Chinese" if you know what I mean.
(4)
Mary Pam P.
Pleasant enough and attentive service although we were brought more dishes than we ordered. In general the restaurant looked a bit dirty. Glass table top/ lazy Susan had a greasy film. Food was hit or miss. Hot and sour soup was very good but other dishes somewhat greasy although flavor good. Portions were generous and the prices reasonable.
(3)
Ben B.
Update - They appear to have taken everything good about their food and gone the cheap route. The General Tso chicken used to be my FAVORITE, I preferred it here over anywhere else. Now, I'm not even sure it was chicken, it was certainly sub par cuts and fatty / tendon ridden chicken. The dish used to come with crisp, fresh broccoli, but now large slices of onion. To boot, the fried rice was greasy and tasteless. what happened? This was a diamond in the rough? Now its just plain rough.
(2)
Dave S.
I have to agree with the general attitude of most of the people that has reviewed this place. The food is outstanding and a VERY good value. We ordered an array of appetizers for our group of 8 and they were all good but the scallion pancakes were the cream of the crop - EASILY. How could something so simple taste so good??? We each ordered something different. So we ended up passing 8 different dishes. There was nothing that I did not like However my favorite was... Well I am not choosing because I will be here all day trying to decide. I highly doubt there would be anything on the menu that I would not like.
(4)
martini g.
Another restaurant gone down hill.....The last time I came here, the hostess was on the phone and literally WAVED me to a table to seat myself w/o ever getting off the phone. The food is still the bomb but the prices on certain things are ridiculous. I no longer go to this restaurant.
(2)
Debbie M.
Just moved from the city and asked for suggestions on great chinese take out. Got many recommendations on this place. Sorry but the food is horrible. Nothing they say is spicy is actually spicy- everything just tastes oily. Kung Pao chicken and Hunan chicken were disgusting as was the mushy and tasteless egg rolls and pork fried rice. Totally don't recommend if you know what real chinese food should taste like!
(1)
Mindy C.
First time here and it looks real nice inside. The food is amazing, very authentic Chinese food which I can't live without. Wish visit again sometime in the future. :)
(4)
Peepyo P.
By far the worst service I have ever had at a restaurant. They could careless how long you have been waiting. I ordered my food at 530 they told me it would be ready in one hour. At first I thought that is a long time but ok I'll get there a little early just in case it's ready. I didn't get my food till 830 and the manager could care less all they said was it's not ready. Well thank you I realize it's not ready cause I don't have any food but can you tell me when it will be ready? Aww it's not ready yet. They could careless about my money cause they asked me multiple times if I wanted to just cancel my order rather than wait for it. By far the worst service I have received at any restaurant. I will never go back.
(1)
Christina S.
I've been to Lao Sze Chuan in Chinatown many times and it's a fav of mine, so I had high hopes for this location in DG, and I'm happy to report I was not disappointed. Service was super friendly and fast (and waited patiently for "the undecided", i.e., my husband), and everything we ordered, some staple favs, and some new favs, were out of this world. And for the amount of food we ordered, coupled with the quality, not a bad value. I'm anxious to try out the combo lunch options sometime, too, to save some more pretty pennies. We ordered the chengdu dumplings (delicious but I will go back to the regular plump pork dumplings cuz I prefer more filling), the don don noodle bowl (OUTSTANDING, and $5??, Cheap and enough for two, maybe more, even though it's on the dim sum page), my "go-to-can't-live-without-it-and-will-kick-2-Âpuppies-to-get-to-it" dish of dry chile chicken (ya, it's a phrase, ha, btw, not for the meek), and the Chef's special pork with sizzling rice which was very flavorful (beware of the unknown mushroom in this dish those of you who have texture issues as its a lil extra chewy, but easily avoided). So fun to order a bunch of items, share and then have leftovers to enjoy the next day. :) We walked in on a Sunday night at around 7:30/8 and there was plenty of available seating. My only regret is I forgot to ask for my spicy cabbage cuz I was having a Lao Sze Chuan food orgasm.
(5)
Cj S.
Really good place for lunch. Food is great and for a reasonable price you get tea, soup, egg roll and an entree. Really good.
(4)
Chrissy W.
Holy crap. Err... I probably shouldn't use the word crap in the review for the best Chinese food I've ever had. We live a couple of blocks away from this gem...OH MAN! Before we officially moved into our new place, we ordered Chinese, brought it to our apartment, and had a romantic Chinese picnic on the floor with a bottle of wine to celebrate our first official home together. /end schmoopy The potstickers melt in your mouth. The egg foo young is delicious. The fried rice is amazing. The crab rangoon is full of creamy cheesy crabby deliciousness. Whatever it is that the BF orders with beef and vegetables (it switches all the time but always beef and veggies) is always good. The shrimp with lobster sauce. The scallion pancakes. The list goes on and on. They make their own sweet and sour sauce and it is phenomenal. I crave it. I don't even care what I'm dipping in it...it's that good. I'm pleased to say that I will always order from this place. There's no need to venture outside my comfort zone in DG, because WOW. (OK, if the opportunity arises, I'll try to try other places. But I bet they won't be as good!) The service is excellent. The woman at the counter is always very sweet. She makes sure to give me extra hot mustard and chop sticks. Yelpers - when you're craving a good Chinese dinner...RUN, don't walk, to this place.
(5)
Angela G.
I've eaten here multiple times as we live nearby. Every time the chicken is like cardboard, and is soaked in a syrupy sauce. Not very appetizing. Ive ordered crab rangoon and egg rolls, both were far from satisfying and had the taste of old oil from the frying pan. Not exactly the taste I want overpowering my palate! I love Chinese food and am sad this place doesn't do it for me...but it's just not good.
(1)
Puja R.
I have been to this restaurant twice. The first time was great and I didn't write a review. However, my most recent experience left much to be desired in terms of service and I felt that I needed to post a review. The food here is delicious...we ordered the spring rolls, ginger spinach, ma po tofu, pan fried noodles, and string beans. The ma po tofu was seasoned just right and was probably the best that we've ever had. You could tell that a lot of care was taken into the food preparation. I would give the food 4 stars. As for the service, I was thoroughly disappointed. We made reservations because it was my mom's 60th birthday and we thought that it might be busy. I had brought in a cake for my mom's birthday and had asked them to bring it out for dessert. We were seated promptly when we arrived and ordered our food without a problem. I know that some restaurants give you complimentary appetizers, so I wasn't alarmed when a waiter came by and brought 2 orders of the scallion pancakes. The waiter didn't say anything when he dropped them off, so we started eating them. Suddenly he came back and said that it was a mistake and took both plates without further explanation. We shrugged it off and ate waited for our meal. After dinner I had to get up and find the waiter because we hadn't seen him since our food had been served. I found him and asked if he could bring out the cake. He presented the cake still wrapped in the box and inside the Bed Bath & Beyond bag I brought it in! He also brought us styrofoam plates and plastic forks instead of the restaurant plates and cutlery. I was a bit disappointed since this was supposed to be a surprise for my mom. 2 stars for service. We finally got the bill and saw that they had charged us for 1 of the scallion appetizers. I promptly got up and talked to the manager because I didn't think it was fair to charge us for the restaurant's mistake. Yes, we did start eating it, but it was taken away before we even finished 1 plate. Yet they still wanted to charge us for an appetizer we didn't order. We argued for 3 minutes and the manager conceded and took the appetizer off of the bill. I normally don't take the time to write a review of this length, but I was really disappointed in the service at Lao Sze Chuan. They managed to turn a special birthday event into a comedy of errors and wanted to charge us for a mistake that they had made. Most restaurants would apologize for bringing the wrong dish and either leave it at the table or take it away...but they wouldn't charge you for it. Needless to say, I don't think we'll be going back anytime soon. If we do, it'll be for takeout.
(3)
Jack R.
On the outside looks a little run-down, but much more nice inside the establishment. For an appetizer i had pot stickers. They were homemade, and filling. The downside is they're on the doughy side, but worth the purchase. I recommend the pan friend pot stickers opposed to steamed. For dinner I got Tony's special chicken (sweet and sour). If you're a fan of spicy get Tony's special chicken. It's fried, comes with steamed rice and only $9.95 and was very filling. The service is mediocre, but the food is worth it. One of the better Chinese places in dupage county. Also cookies are provided at the end (as expected).
(4)
Valerie W.
My girl Chrissy W loves Lao Sze Chuan, and it's near her house. So, when she invited me over for lunch and raved about the food, I placed an order for pick-up via grubhub. The food was hot, ready, and waiting for me when I arrived to pick up my order. The entire restaurant smelled amazing, I couldn't wait to dive into my chicken moo shu and scallion pancakes. Holy cow! Everything was awesome! The scallion pancakes were crispy and chewy, and the moo shu was probably some of the best I've had. The portions were HUGE! I had enough for at least three meals. I will certainly be back to Lao Sze Chuan. The Moo Shu was chock full of veggies - a good option for a healthier lunch (than sweet and sour chicken or pizza anyway...)
(5)
Jorge Z.
A very nice restaurant. I especially like their Sui Zhu Rou Pian. It's spicy and authentic. It's also affordable. One thing I don't like is the fact that the restaurant seems very unprofessional, but overall is clean, and a great dining experience. Definitely recommend, especially to large groups.
(4)
Kate K.
Such excellent food and very good service. Food comes out quickly and the servers are friendly and helpful.
(5)
Kurt W.
Good food, and many things on the menu you don't see in the suburbs. Gets real busy, and judging that the staff seems to know a lot of the patrons, obviously there are lot a regulars. They have some larger tables setup for Dim Sum, so a large group would be suitable there too.
(4)
Jie S.
Demanded by my 7 year old who had to have their Scallion pancakes. It was very busy Sat. night. We had to wait for about 20 minutes to get to our seats. So I would avoid Sat. night if all possible next time since the waiting area was not big enough for 15 people standing. I tried non-spicy DanDan noodle this time and my son loved it. My husband's favorite dry chilli chicken dish was pretty good and apparently cooked in the hurry so some of chicken cubes stuck together. Scallion pancakes came out slightly under-cooked. Overall it was a nice dinner.
(3)
Shannon S.
I really wish this place was as good as its counterpart in Chicago. However, it is a pretty far cry from it. I'm not going to go into a lot of comparison detail. The menu is the same but the quality just doesn't match. That said, this is a decent suburban Chinese food option for the area. Some things I've had were spot on while others were a touch on the bland and greasy side. Will I come back again? Most likely. Will I shed a tear while I'm there for the lost potential? Definitely.
(3)
Jason S.
Simply put, outstanding Chinese food. Hands down best in Chicago area. For some reason the restaurant in Downers Grove tastes better than the one in Chinatown though?
(5)
Santosh B.
Fantastic restaurant. Ate chef's special "dry chilly chicken" and they don't kid around here when they say it is "spicy." Blew all my whistles but was totally worth the sweating. We also had hot and sour soup and other dishes that were wonderful but the chef's special was the best.
(5)
Scott M.
What the hell is the matter with me? I've driven past this place for years, never stopping in. I like hot food in General and "Szechuan" (or what passes for Szechuan) specifically, so why have I driven past a joint that had "SZE CHUAN" writ large outside. I read the stuff about Tony Hu, and still 45 mph vrrrrrroom down Ogden. Countless times across the street at Omega eating eggs and sausage, but a peek inside the place that I read about? Nah.. Why? 'Cos I'm a moron, that's why. Wife had a business appointment the other day , wot left me alone for dinner, and cruising down Ogden. I started to pense on my options, with an eye for possible Indian, but a mental canvas about what places were further on down the road, made me remember LSC. So I finally went in, the decor was muted, but had that peculiar unkempt, slightly seedy atmosphere the best Chinese joints have. Also that strange scent of: slightly sweet, slightly garlic and slightly sour-I-don't-really-want-to-know-what-it-is. The menu was large, and slightly intimidating, but a bunch of pictures gave some relief. I saw the symbol for "hot", and paid attention. I Pointed to a chicken dish for appetizer and a shrimp dish for entree, both sporting the little "chili pepper" icon. I called the waitress back after I ordered, and the manager, busboy and waitress came quickly. I asked that my dishes be prepared "Chinese hot", with no consideration for American taste. (and yes restaurants DO modify heat and seasoning for Occidental tastes). There was a small bit of confusion, then the Lady Manager grokked what I was asking, peeled off a bit of Chinese to the waitress, and said "Chinese Style, right?" in pretty good English. The Tea they plonked down on the table was very good, and I did not order a soft drink, as is my usual M.O.. The Chicken appetizer came, and it looked fab. Small shreds of chicken, other shreds of I-don't know-what, all in a bright red thin oil. I had to ax for chopsticks, got 'em, and dug right in. Dear Sweet Bleeding Geebus, it was a flavor explosion. Garlic, a little sweet, umami and glorious heat-just a little more than enough. A great mouth feel. Now I'm in two heads. Savoring maybe the best Chinese food I've had in, oh, EVER, while kicking myself in the virtual ass for not coming here before. I polished off the appetizer, happily. The Shrimps came, "Salt and Pepper" style, no shell, redolent of Ginger and Garlic, buried under a mountain of long red peppers, and coated with an evil-red mix of spices, herbs and more peppers. The proffered a bowl of fresh white Rice, and I ate the shrimps Chinese-Style, putting the Rice first, with the shrimps as treats along the way. They were divine, with mad flavor and HOT! It was so good, I got obsessive about the flavorings on the plate, nipping up the garlic slices, ginger slices, scallions and clumps of spices/peppers with my flying chopsticks. I briefly considered getting another order, even, they were THAT good. I counted 51 long peppers on my plate. Serious heat, Yo. I amazed myself I did not order a soft drink, relying on Tea and Ice Water for "Wash". HIGHLY out of habit for moi. They dropped a fortune cookie and an Almond cookie with the check. the fracking Almond cookie was better than I've had in years. Garden-variety Almond cookies leave a greasy patina on the palette, but not these. OK, it was. Not. Cheap. But it was certainly worth it. Now here's the point on the pencil. On the way out to the Whale, I noticed I was...buzzed a little. Like I had taken a tiny toke of mellow weed, but without the psychedelic element. VERY relaxed, very happy, but alert. I didn't have any booze with my meal. I had read Szechuan Peppers were an intoxicant, and I think my dishes were loaded with them. This was a fine fine fine feed! Now, how the hell am I going to go down Ogden avenue WITHOUT stopping at Lao Sze Chuan?
(5)
David K.
Five minutes away from Good Samaritan Hospital after visiting with my sick mother. I'm not from the area and found this restaurant mentioned many times on the internet. Our table of three really enjoyed our dinner. Delicious and great value.
(4)
Rossel E.
Not your westernized chinese takeouts. Been here several times already and the best dish I tried so far is the Dry Chili Chicken and the sole fish fillet. I remember my chinese room mates prepare these dishes when I was in CT. Food is good but ambience and service not so much.
(3)
Enkhnasan B.
Great portions and reasonable prices, i tried the beef lo mein and also the combo fried rice both were pretty good. Service was awesome better then i expected. Friday lunch rush was pretty hectic but we got what we wanted and left the tables for others to enjoy.
(4)
Khan Z.
If you like spicy food, please do not try Tiao Shui Tu, Ba Wang Yu and Wu Geng Chang Wang. They taste not like Sze Chuan food.
(2)
Dr. Z.
A Saturday night, the place was empty when we walked in, jammed an hour later as we exited. Parking lot was overflowing and people were "creatively" parked. We ordered an appetizer of Chicken on skewers and it was not dried out like most are, it had a bit of moist chicken flavor. Maybe I have had some awful versions before, but this was just fine. We also shared a bowl of hot and sour which was pretty much so the average. So far, so good. I asked for hot mustard that I saw on other tables. That didn't happen. We just wanted tea, so that appeared, and was then followed by three different staffers asking us if we wanted to order from the bar. We were never offered a refill on the tea during the entire meal- no one asked, no one acted on the fact that the lid was now hinged-backward. The Fried Pork dish (spicy) arrived with two bowls of white rice. The rice was cool, the Pork was maybe 90°. We waited for the other entree. The waitress stayed on the other side of the dining area and cast us occasional glances. She knew. At minute #6, I called her over and asked her to check on the Chicken. At 7 minutes in, she set entree #2 on the table, said nothing, and walked away. The Lemon Chicken consisted of nice pieces of moist chicken, lightly coated. And it was quite cold. Apparently you might deduce that it was a lost child, as it had decidedly assumed room temperature. There was no delay in prep, it just got lost. The Fried Pork and vegetables (now icy ciold) - it was spicy fun, but after the second bite, I realized that the predominant ingredient was salt. A whole lot of salt, and overpowering load of salt. In short, dismal service with not a lot of customers there yet - no crowd present to distract the ample waitstaff. No perception of customer service orientation as they chose not to recognize the obvious service issues and made no attempt to correct or adjust. This was our first trip in, and will be the last. If we find shortcomings in restaurant service and product, we generally don't ask for corrections. We watch and wait. You could tell very quickly that this was going downhill in a hurry, so for us- it's more fun just to see how bad it can get. Lao Sze Chuan did not disappoint in this regard. Train wreck.
(1)
Hsia F.
My coworkers and I order from them A.L.O.T. Since the lunch is so inexpensive and the service is so quick. I remember the first time we ordered from them they were there so quick that we were scared they made it in the car on the way over. Great food....convenient location with ample parking.....however please note that if you don't have patience don't place the call for delivery. It took me three times to finally admit I just can't get that lady to understand what I am saying and vice-versa....but thats my only gripe
(4)
Julie S.
The egg rolls were large and great and the Singapore rice noodles were delicious. The broth for the wonton soup was very watery and the hot and sour soup was super duper hot
(4)
Steve W.
Hands down best in w. Burbs. Service is awesome. Portions are huge...hot and fresh.
(5)
Roger D.
this place is excellent, I have been here a few times for dinner but atleast 10 times for lunch now I have had over a dozen different items from the menu and have NEVER been disappointed. if you can u must dine in and sit at the big round family style tables they may sit total strangers at your table with your permission and its great you meat new people and always great conversation and if you are really out going like me we all shared our food . I recommend the mayo shrimp or the Szechuan beef event the duck excellent or any of the hot pot dishes. eggrolls and crab Rangoon are great.
(5)
Maggie G.
My husband and I love Chinese food so we decided to try this place we unfortunately we will not go back. The food is very expensive compared to other great hinese food restaurants. I do like spicy food a lot but at Lao Sze Chuan House spicy has a new meaning, I could barely eat it - way too hot. The staff is very nice and the place is clean but thats about it. If I pay $29 for 2 chinese dinners, I expect something special.
(1)
Jennifer Z.
From the famous restaurant chain by Tony Hu: tonygourmetgroup.com comes Lao Sze Chuan in Downers Grove. The original concept for the store actually started in Chinatown with the original Lao Sze Chuan ( yelp.com/biz/lao-sze-chu… ). The food there is consistently much better but also much farther. This branch gets points for being SO close and convenient. Love the manager and staff as well. Over the years, they've come to know me and my family on a first name basis and we're always treated wonderfully when we come! Favorite include Lamb with Cumin Powder, Sole Fish Fillet in Chili Bean Sauce with Tofu, and Twice Cooked Pork. Recommendation to try something spicy on the menu as that's what Sze Chuan cuisine is know for. If you're really in the mood for something authentic- it's worth the drive to Chinatown to see what the original restaurant is all about!
(3)
Kedar D.
I regularly go to the delectable Lao Sze Chuan outpost in Milford, Connecticut, based near where I go to grad school. Imagine my surprise, then, when I found another Lao Sze Chuan, with the same owner, based just a short drive from my parents' house! As such, I came with high hopes. Ultimately, while this restaurant does offer some tasty vegan dishes, it doesn't quite reach the transcendence of its Connecticut branch, nor does it match the quality and variety of a nearby Szechuan restaurant, Mapo in Naperville. I got the "spicy bamboo shoots" ($6) and "vegetarian chicken shanghai style" ($6) as appetizers. The bamboo shoots, while looking nearly identical to the same dish served in Connecticut, didn't taste quite as good. Whereas in Connecticut you get a light, tingly feeling on your tongue from the Szechuan peppercorns, here in Illinois you get a more basic, generic red chili flavor. The vegetarian chicken is, in fact, tofu skins wrapped around black mushrooms. This dish tasted fine but, again, the equivalent dish in Connecticut (tofu crepe with black mushrooms) comes prepared in a more sophisticated manner (layered and stacked) with bamboo shoots and higher quality mushrooms. For main courses I got a "bean curd home style" ($9) and a "potherb with spicy szechuan style" ($10). The bean curd was an oily mess of sauteed tofu blocks, some water chestnuts, carrots and peapods. It tasted all right, but not great. This seemed more like generic Chinese take-out which is not what I expected from such a critically-acclaimed place, and from their special menu. The potherb basically consisted of diced mustard greens sauteed in a light sauce and had absolutely no spice to it whatsoever, despite the "spicy" label. I think they accidentally left out the chili. Lastly, the restaurant doesn't offer brown rice, which broke my heart. I hate white rice. While Lao Sze Chuan provides some decent food, it doesn't match up to its Connecticut branch. Given that most of you can't go to Connecticut on short notice, I would suggest going to Mapo in Naperville instead, which offers a similar menu, but has better quality preparations and a slightly cozier interior atmosphere as well.
(3)
Jon G.
I have lived 2 miles away from this place for 20 years and have never tried it. I recently did. I had the Mongolian Beef. It tasted ok. The portions were right for the price. But what the H?! It had carrots, and mushrooms, and corn! I know places like to put their own twist on thing. But Mongolian Beef should have BEEF AND ONIONS AND THOSE BIRD'S NEST NOODLES AND THAT IS IT! I was happy with the taste and the egg rolls I ordered, so I will be back to try other items.
(3)
Jennifer M.
We were brought here by a friend who is a regular customer. I see why. Authentic, yummy Szechuan food with very nice service. Nice decor. Elegant yet rustic and low-key decor. Good atmosphere. They have non-spicy items for those who can't stomach any spicy, and they can also tone done the red pepper for those who can't stand too much. The beef and lamb are very tender. Shrimp and veggies are very fresh. Szechuan cold noodles have a wonderful smooth and cool texture. Can't go wrong with the food from here. Give it a try!!! Don't order the Americanized food though... A group of Caucasians who sat next to us ordered beef broccoli, chicken broccoli, and mongolian beef. Really? REALLY???? In such a delicious szechuan place that has a HUGE fancy menu of authentic foods WITH PICTURES (so there's no excuse that you don't know what your ordering).
(4)
Sherill M.
Update: After I went there I was sick the whole night!! There was a hair in my food ew! Ordered the mayonaise shrimp, it was supposed to be like the honey walnut shrimp, but it wasn't sweet and there were no walnuts. There was a hair in my food! It gets busy and the staff gets really nasty. There was a hair in my food! The kitchen was dirty and food was sitting around all over the place. Did I mention there was a hair in my food?
(1)
tom s.
This restaurant's mapo tofu is actually good...the downtown location has started to take shortcuts and their mapo tofu is no longer what it used to be.. I no longer see the black bean paste in the down town location or hte onions. I have since started ONLY frequenting the downers grove location!
(5)
Andrew M.
Outstanding authentic chinese food in the 'burbs. I am thrilled that you can get a great taste of chinatown without heading into the city. So thankful for having a place like that that takes their food seriously. The western subburbs are littered with places that do not.
(4)
Teri C.
Did carryout. The fried rice was bland, the egg rolls were thrown out and the rest of the meal was just ok. Will not be going back.
(2)
Kelley K.
I want to start by saying, I have been coming here for years. They made it impossible for me not to comment tonight. I waited an hour over my designated pick-up time for my food. PLEASE tell me if you're kitchen is backed up, so I can pick it up when it's actually ready. Simple order- hot and sour soup, spring rolls, Kung Pao chicken. Worst food ever tonight. Soup was like broth - no hot, no sour - inedible! Spring rolls cold. Kung Pao chicken cold. Made a big deal about telling me they messed up my order and gave me an extra FREE meal. I don't know what it was, but I think it may have been someone's leftovers that they "forgot" at their table. The ONE thing that made the wait seem worth it - knowing that it was going to be fresh, hot food - so wrong. Do yourself a favor - skip this place. Oh, one more kicker. I asked if she gave me fortune cookies. Of course, was the reply. The fact that they are quite often "forgotten" if you don't ask says a lot about this place. NO FORTUNE COOKIES. Enough said.
(1)
Ruth F.
I came here for lunch hoping for vegetarian chicken and perhaps bean curd skin. Vegetarian choices on the lunch menu are pretty skimpy, but they let me order off the dinner menu. The vegetarian chicken was delicious though the texture is more reminiscent of chewy cabbage than chicken. I got the spicy tofu, which I think is perhaps smoked. They aren't kidding. The Szechuan green beans are made with ground shrimp usually, so they made me a portion specially without it. Very good if a bit salty. I also got a vegetarian egg roll, which was good if basic. Lots of interesting choices; will have to try the bitter melon and come back for the bean curd skin. I'm looking forward to adventuring, knowing that if there's something nonvegetarian in the food, the staff will tell me. The staff were very helpful and friendly (disclaimer, I brought my own chopsticks and used the four words of Chinese I can still remember). I was there at 2pm well after the lunch rush and the place was pretty quiet.
(4)
Kenny G.
This place is like a sit down Panda Express. Great place to go if you are looking for decent Chinese food for a good price during lunch. Personally, I'm a fan of their lunch specials which come with an entree, rice, soup, and an egg roll/spring roll. They also have some traditional Chinese cold dishes that I'm a fan of as well, especially the Never Forget Chicken and the Sliced Beef and Maw Szechuan Style. Both of these dishes are on the spicy side so definitely get them if you're into that kind of thing...
(4)
Dan K.
This place is pretty quick and cheap and fast for lunch. There is a special which comes with some soup and an eggroll/crab rangoon/etc along with the entree. I had the cashew chicken which was tasty. It has a lot of space for big groups. The chili chicken comes with A LOT of chili peppers, it's almost like chili peppers with a side of chicken. But it's still good. The service is good too. Honestly I was expecting it to take a while, but we got our food fast. They tend to bring plates out as they're ready, which I prefer. Nothing worse than waiting cause one person ordered some slow cook item. Ok, maybe there are worse things. But not when you're hungry and trying to get back for a 1pm.
(4)
Christopher K.
Still working my way down Ogden, I stopped in for dinner. My A/C is broken (this is important later) so I did not feel like cooking in my kitchen. It wasn't busy for a weeknight dinner, and I had skipped lunch. I started with an order of pan-fried pot stickers, which was a highlight because they turned out just the way I like them (slightly crispy on the edges). The egg drop soup was bland, even for a bland soup. I ordered a safe entree for a first visit, Schezwan chicken, it was spicy, (as was much of the menu) which was to my taste. Overall it was a decent food experience, the menu is very large so there is a lot to explore in the future. The service experience was a bit weird. As I mentioned, the A/C was out so no carryout, I was dining solo. Service was prompt to the point of making me feel hurried. I was just starting the appetizers when the entree came out, and plates were being cleared from my table as quickly as possible. The place was only half full, so that might just be how they operate, but I didn't feel like I could take my time and enjoy the meal at my own pace. $19 for dinner for one.
(3)
C T.
Lao Sze Chuan is one of my favorite Chinese restaurants in west suburb. Because it is Lao Sze Chuan style Chinese food, it is spicy and that is all about Sze Chuan style. The first half of the menu is more authentic Sze Chuan style Chinese food and the latter half of the menu is an American-style Chinese menu. I highly recommend to try the "Chinese" menu.
(5)
Neal G.
Stopped by for lunch and it was somewhat busy. For some reason I was seated and then moved which was vaguely annoying. Food itself is decent. Egg drop soup was average though, I've had better, but definitely had worse. Egg roll was decent. For my main dish I had szechaun beef, it was fairly tasty but definitely lunch portion sized. No leftovers today. Overall good, if not great.
(3)
Brian E.
Pretty much the only decent Chinese food in downers grove. The outside view of the building from Ogden Ave kind of makes it look like a greasy dive, but the inside is pretty warm and inviting, if dated. Sit down service is pretty quick. Their lunchtime special is a pretty good deal at a fair price. I tend to enjoy their food more as a dine-in customer than I do when we take-out. They have killer almond cookies too...try them!
(4)
M F.
In words of my picky 9yo, it isn't "good", but it's "awesome". Out of town visitors, so was glad of Yelp to direct.
(5)
Mike P.
Just had take out from them and I'm fully surprised! The Hunan chicken actually was spicy even though I forgot to ask for extra spicy. Chicken fried rice was also really good too! I'm stuff....
(5)
Sang L.
I don't know where Chef Tony was or how he taught his little minions of chefs at this place, but the food at this Chinese Diner in was BLAHHHHH! Nothing I ordered tasted good (fried rice, chow fun noodle, chili chicken), salt and pepper needed to be added to make the food come alive. Thank goodness because it wasn't that expensive. I went here after all the hype on MSN.COM claiming Chef Tony to be one of the best Chinese Chef in America...so why not eh? Sadly, Yelp users are right with all the low reviews. I say skip this place and head over to Panda Express for better quality food and service.
(2)
Kara Z.
I went to this restaurant at my sister's insistence. She had recently come home from a vacation in China and found this restaurant on Yelp and wanted to give it a try because she thought it sounded like it had authentic Chinese food. She was pleased- she got her spicy food and I tried some of her dumplings which I thought were very good, but pretty spicy (good for her, not so great for me). I ordered an egg roll and really didn't like it. I'm sure other people love them but the flavor was just not for me- I didn't even finish it which is pretty rare for me. I did love the chicken fried rice I ordered and would rate it as one of the best chicken fried rice in the suburbs! The service was great- our server had the best smile I've seen in a long time. The other reviews are really accurate. The food did come out at different times as it was ready. Also, there were people who were Asian eating here which I would think speaks well of this restaurant.
(4)
Jacqueline S.
This place is best for large groups during lunch so you can have multiple dishes. I love the boiled fish in Szechuan sauce, dry chicken chili, spicy lamb dish, and the green vegetable dishes. My boyfriend and many people I go with love the Sesame chicken or Orange chicken if you don't want it a little spicy.
(5)
Jay N.
Went here for a friend's birthday. Parking lot is adequate and access is ok from Ogden since there is a middle lane. Place looks a little dated from the outside but the inside is clean and menus are leather bound with pictures and descriptions. The larger group tables have Lazy Susans so it's easy to share dishes. They used to be known for their hot pots but they have a lot more options now. They are one of the rare places that serves Szechuan dim sum. The Chengdu dumplings were a good start for us. I personally don't like that much rice noodles but it definitely soaked up a lot of the sauce. The boiled beef is like a hot pot dish and is a great main dish. The hot dry chili chicken is spicy but I could see other tables around us order it as well. The seafood dumplings with ginger sauce was pretty mild. We were looking for 1 more dish and our server was able to help us out by recommending the clams with black bean sauce. The clam taste really came through the sauce and was a nice complement to our spicier dishes. Water, tea, and rice were re-filled regularly. We brought our cake to celebrate and there was no add-on charge plus they provided a cutting knife and plates. They also gave a package of almond cookies to the birthday boy. The prices are fair but worth it when going out for a group and when you have different dishes to try.
(4)
Nolan F.
Really leaning towards a 2 star rating... I came here with a co-worker for lunch. She is pushing for a 2 star review. I am giving this place 3 stars because they provided me a regular cookie and a fortune cookie. That is two cookies for an extra star. I had the General's chicken, and my co-worker had another dish (unknown). In both cases the food was abnormally salty. Off-puttingly, distractingly salty. And I generally like salty things. I did feel I got a lot of food for my dollar, but I would have rather had less but better food. Quality over quantity. Having tried this, and if given the choice, I rather would go to Panda Express.
(3)
Tony P.
I love the food, I love the serving size (reasonable, not pig-out), I love the extras that come with the lunch, and I love the price. I haven't had Chinese this good in many years. I had Mongolian Beef and the meat and veggies were perfect, and the sauce was to die for. I'm going back witrh my wife!
(5)
John S.
While I rated the city location with a full 5 stars I wish i could say the same thing about this location. My biggest complaint here is they don't have the same menu as the city location and thus don't have my favorite dish. The food here is still very good and they at least have the spicy cabbage but I wish they would add the double fried Chile pork with cilantro (503 on the city menu). The staff here is very nice however and the food is always freshly prepared... THe chefs spicy Chicken is very good here also. Maybe I'm being a bit rough on them for not having my favorite dish though....
Sorry, Store hours have not been updated. If you are the owner of this restaurants. Please update the store hours.
Specialities
Takes Reservations : Yes Delivery : Yes Take-out : Yes Accepts Credit Cards : Yes Good For : Lunch, Dinner Parking : Private Lot Bike Parking : Yes Wheelchair Accessible : Yes Good for Kids : Yes Good for Groups : Yes Attire : Casual Ambience : Casual Noise Level : Average Alcohol : Beer & Wine Only Outdoor Seating : No Wi-Fi : No Has TV : No Waiter Service : Yes Caters : No
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.
ALice M.
Read the reviews - decided to try it. Not worth the price. I had several dishes our total bill was 92.00 dollars. My order was a carry out - to make matters worse we picked the order up and when we got home they messed up. They had forgot to give us my husbands dish. Had to go back and get the missing dish. The food was nothing special and the vegetable did not have the freshness. The Golden Wok in La Grange serves a better chinese dishes. Thats my opinion - I do not recommend this restaurant.
(1)Mark C.
I think that reviewer Michael W. lost all credibility by stating PF Changs is better than this place.....seriously? Dude has dead tastebuds. Lao Sze Chuan is one of the best Chinese places in the suburbs, hands down. Food is outstanding, unbelievable menu, potsticker meat is fabulous, etc, etc, etc.
(5)Theresa C.
This is one of my favorite Chinese restaurants in the 'burbs. The food here is always fresh and delicious. My family has even abandoned our old standby Chinese restaurant to eat here now. While the food is very good, it cannot compete with the one in Chicago's Chinatown. I'm a little disappointed that the menu is different. You can clearly see that it caters to a more American crowd than it's Chicago counterpart. Regardless, the food here is excellent. I'm slowly making it my mission to try a different dish every time I visit. So far, I have not been disappointed. My one complaint is the fact that sometimes they run out of spicy cabbage. I absolutely love it and could eat a bucket full of the stuff. It saddens me when it is not available.
(4)Rita D.
Great deal for lunch. Food is great
(5)Neil D.
Must say, I was thoroughly disappointed with my experience, especially after reading all of the positive feedback here on Yelp. Got the Hot and Sour soup for appetizer, it was OK. nothing to write home about. I do prefer my soups to be a bit thicker and this was more on the watery side. Flavor was okay though. For dinner, we informed our waiter (who was very nice and personable) that we LOVE spicy food. So he gave us a number of options, and it being our first time, we took him up on his recommendations. The Chinese Broccoli came first, and this was probably the best part of dinner (besides the rice). It was not spicy, but the flavor was very nice. Next came the Dry Chili Shrimp. It was okay. Shrimp was NOT fresh, which made the dish lose points almost immediately. The shrimp was lighly battered, fried, and tossed with garlic and chili peppers. Again, not super spicy, but looking at the amount of chilis on the plate, one would have assumed otherwise. Next, totallly based on recommendations in a number of reviews, along with me being a sucker for spicy, I tried the Bild Beef in spicy sichuan sauce. I feel like a broken record here, but once again, NOT SPICY!! This was becoming a pattern. The beef was extremely tough, but the overall flavor of the bok choy and green onions along with the broth was very tasty. But I think I would not order this again, that is if I ever go back. And finally we got what our waiter called "one of our most popular dishes." The Chinese-style Kung Pao chicken. Where to start with where this one went wrong. He said he would make it spicy and it was actually sweet! Also, i assumed that the dish would be made with white chicken, but instead we found a big plate of tough, dark meat. The sauce (other than it being sweet) was okay. Not great, but definitely not the worst I have ever had. I do not think I will be revisiting this establishment again. It held so much promise, especially since we saw other Chinese people in the restaurant (usually a very good sign at any ethnic place). I would have given them 1.5 stars if I could, as the service was excellent. The staff is very attentive, nice and polite. The hunt for GREAT suburban Chinese food continues.
(1)Deepika B.
The Taste of Chicago that I attended led me to this place as I had tried their Dry Chilli Chicken here. This dish was to die for. It was awesome and the most excellent chinese appetizer I had ever had before. In fact, it was so wonderful that we had it twice and their fried rice had run out of stock. Since then I had been waiting to try them out. We decided going against the Chinatown branch and went to the Downers Grove instead. Not a great choice I guess. I had the wonton soup which was hot and good. The next was their most famous dish ' Dry chilli chicken' that I was dying to have. It was good but was nowhere close to the one that I had at the Taste of Chicago. I was a bit disappointed. Next was the salt n pepper calamari that was well made and tasted wonderful. The egg fried rice tasted great. Service was good and quick. Would have given a 5 rating if the chilli chicken had the same wonderful taste as before. The next time I visit this place, it would be their Chinatown branch.
(4)J J.
The food is great here every time I've come and so is the customer service. However, the last time I went, our portions were significantly smaller than usual. I'm not sure if they were trying to save money or it was just an off night....I even asked an employee there, but she said there was no difference, but that they had a new chef. So, that would certainly make a difference. I don't know what's going on here, but I don't think the lady was telling me the truth. The price was the same as always, but the portion was much smaller than I've ever had before. I might give them one more try, if I'm in the area...but, I won't go out of my way, like I used to, to eat here. I wish the lady I spoke to, would've just said, "We have a new chef," or anything else, instead of trying to pull the wool over my eyes, by telling me the portion is the same, when it definitely was not. I would know, considering I've been eating there for years. Don't know if I'll be back on account of the dishonesty and the significant change in portion size.
(3)Will C.
THE BEST SPICY ASIAN FOOD YOU WILL EVER EAT IN YOUR LIFE. Here's a list of what I get every time I go...been coming to this place for over 10 years and loving it every time. Remember......you come to Chinatown for food, not service, so stop griping! lol...and FOOD is greater than service. Their spicy cabbage is yummy~! Dry Chili Chicken (A Chef favorite) Dry Chili Prawns or Dry Chili Shrimp (if you dont like the shell) Salt & Pepper Scallop Dry Chili Pork (i call this dry chili bacon as that is what it looks like) Broiled Beef or Pork is Spicy Szechuan Sauce (Also, anythign with black bean sauce is always delicious!) If you don''t like this place, there is something wrong with you as all who come here would agree.....you won't be disappointed. **Note: If you are one of those people who go to Chinese restaurants to order the "American Chinese" dishes like kung pao chicken, sweet & sour pork, egg foo young, fried rice, etc....don't bother eating here or ordering those" You must order form the "Real Chinese Menu"....if you don't you will probably gripe about the price, and no one likes whiners lol =) **Update: You don't go to a Chinese restaurant, especially in Chinatown, for the service...ONLY the food lol.
(5)Michael W.
I don't know about the downtown Chicago Lao Sze Chuan restaurant, but the one in Downers Grove, IL, is TERRIBLE! I went there last night with my wife for dinner and had a bad experience. The hot/sour soup was lousy, the pot sticker meat was awful, and my entree, Kung Pao Delight, was mediocre and undercooked. To top things off, the waiter took our hot mustard and sweet/sour sauces and gave them to the table next to us without even asking if we were finished with them. What a hole! Avoid at all cost! Never again! If you want the best Chinese/Szechuan in the Chicago area, go to "The Pineyard" in Evanston. Also, any PF Chang's in the area is much better than this joint.
(1)Eric S.
Wow... Tony Chu would be highly disappointed if he knew how bad this food is. Ribs that taste like they've been reheated at least three times and COLD dumplings. #SadDay. LSC in Chinatown in my favorite Chicago restaurant too
(1)Heather S.
Best Chinese Food in the city! The wait can be long, but it's well worth it. Cold pork appetizer is the best and works as a meal. Delish!
(5)Danny Y.
Even though this place is just around the corner, I've actually been avoiding this restaurant because I'm not crazy about spicy food. Decided to finally take the chance tonight and give it a shot, and to my surprise there was plenty of non-spicy menu items. We opted for the following: braised string beans - 4/5 crunch, tasty salt and pepper pork - 4.5/5 yum, with just a hint of spicy dan dan noodles - 3/5 too salty, but noodles were fairly decent black sesame dessert - 3/5 tastes like it's supposed to All in all, we're SUPER glad to have found a closer (and superior) chinese alternative to Joy Yee's in Naperville. The lifeless vibe of the restaurant could use a little help, but otherwise this is an excellent chinese restaurant!
(4)Christina K.
Contrary to the gross exterior, it's very swanky inside, but I always order takeout/delivery. Their broccoli chicken is standard, but they get a few other things messed up. Their orange chicken is like General Tso with a dash of orange. It confuses the tongue. In my experience, they don't give fortune cookies unless you ask for them, and two dinners gets one carton of rice. People are dry, but have ok customer service.
(3)Corin W.
Fiery! Fiery! Fiery! If you want Sze Chuan: this is it. THEE place. There are three dishes we go for all the time. Boiled Beef. Boiled Pork. Or special Dover spicy fish. FLAMING AS HALSTED ON HALLOWEEN EVE! (The special fish is my favorite, by the way) If you cannot handle the spice do NOT attempt to eat any of these. I once had the chili chicken. Nothing but perfectly tender chicken and chilies. That's it. About forty or so chilies. Wow was it good. There are a couple of standards I like here too. I love fried wontons and they do excellent ones: crispy with a slightly tender center. The egg rolls are good. The soup is great. Wonton and hot and sour. Prices have gone up substantially over the last couple of years but they still have lunch specials during the week. There's one in China Town square too: right on the western end. I've never noticed a variance in quality. Either way it's been superb.
(5)Latonya D.
Delivery via Grub Hub since it's New Year's Day. This SUCKED! Food was average, barely warm. Dumb delivery guy forgets the soda, when I call- he says: I don't understand call manager! I call the " Manager" and when I threatened w/ a bad review- she sends him back- WELL THE JOKES ON ME- get ready folks- $1.75 for 1 can of warm coke. Never again...sigh.
(1)Stephanie B.
Meh, It's generic Chinese food. I got beef lo mien and egg drop soup during the lunch specials and it was kind of bland. I got a horrible migraine right after eating probably due to MSG so I definitely will not be going back here. At least it was really cheap so I didn't feel too guilty and the servers were very nice so I'll give them that.
(2)Jenni E.
Yum! I have passed this place 100 times and never would have thought to try it because of how it looks on the outside. When someone clued me in to the fact that they have super authentic Chinese food, and I read some Yelp reviews I had to try it. We ordered a few things so we could try a variety: won ton soup, eggrolls, homemade spicy sour noodles, crispy duck and a chef special - stir fry beef with cilantro. The service wasn't the best, but I didn't really care - the food was great and if I asked for something, I got it. They did give you a pot of hot tea, which i thoroughly enjoyed. Now for the food - I am an eggroll snob and I usually judge a Chinese restaurant by their eggrolls. These ones weren't great and I wouldn't order them again. But the noodles more than made up for the mediocre eggrolls. They were perfect in every way and I could eat pounds of those noodles and die happy. The soup, which was my husband's favorite was okay to me, but I am not a huge soup person. The duck was great and so was the beef with cilantro but the beef was super spicy. I love spicy food, so when I saw the chili indicator on the menu, I wasn't worried. But this was mouth-on-fire spicy, and I wished that my waiter would have told me that so I could have asked them to put less hot red chilies in it. My only other gripe was that they had a few authentic Chinese desserts on the menu that I was excited to try, but when I asked I was told that they didn't have dessert at this location. There were tons of things I saw on the menu that I want to go back and try including the dim sum, so I will be back.
(4)Distinguished T.
If you like spicy Sichuan cuisine, this is the place to go. I have traveled to China and this food is as good as any I have tried there. I am not Asian, so I am probably not the best judge of authentic Chinese food. But I am a fan of this place. This has been my go to Chinese place for about a year now and never disappoints. Please do not order the America Chinese entrees like General Tso's chicken. That is Panda Express food. When you go to an authentic Sichuan restaurant like this place, try the authentic stuff. The scallion pancakes are great as an appetizer. Eat it with the pepper flakes sauce (condiment). I would skip soup as most entrees come in a broth. I always order a fish. Asians love seafood. So there is a high probability that seafood - fish and shrimp especially is fresh, especially on weekends. I feel the Chinese know how to cook eggplant better than any cuisine. My favorite here is the eggplant in garlic sauce.
(5)Kevin S.
Lao Sze Chuan has a very extensive meal selection, I was surprised to see the selection. I stuck with my favorites; I had house fried rice, General tso chicken, and appetizer sampler. The food was was good and was happy to try this place. There food selection leans more to the spicy side, so if that is what you like, this is the place to go.
(4)Andrea S.
I recently moved to the area, and have been hoping to find some good restaurants to replace my staple restaurants from back home. This place had delicious authentic food, and I loved it. I tried the Ma Po Tofu- it was the authentic spicy flavor I was hoping for. Ma Po tofu is typically a spicy dish, and if you don't like spicy food, do not get it. The service was also great, they refilled my water glass multiple times and even refilled the rice without me having to call them over. I will definitely be going again or whenever I get a craving for delicious Chinese food.
(5)John R.
Visiting from out of town, I was looking forward to getting some authentic (as far as I'm concerned) Sichuan food. The appetizers were so-so...I thought the onion cake was a little too greasy, and the dumpling wrapping on the pot stickers was a bit too thick. I'll get over it. The entrees were outstanding -- the spicy hand made lo mein noodles were a big hit at the table. They had my favorite twice cooked pork with leeks and it was just as good as I've had it. Other big hits were the green beans and the crispy shrimp in mayonnaise (i swear it's better than it sounds). The only entree we wouldn't get again was the salt and pepper shrimp which still had the shells and legs on (not really my thing). All in all, I thought it was great, a reasonable price, and our service was perfect.
(4)Bret S.
We spent approximately $80 on our first delivery order, and NOTHING tasted good. I wouldn't eat here if it was free. I am amazed that anyone gives it a positive review, as I found it simply awful.
(1)Patty S.
In my many travels of Chicago Chinatown experiences, Lao's has by far one of the best Szechuan authentic menus. I have never ordered from the American menu, so I can't comment on their sweet and sour pork or Mongolian beef. What I can comment on, however, is the deliciousness they put into their dishes. Like when I am at their sister restaurant in Chinatown, I order the mayonnaise shrimp and eggplant with garlic sauce; the flavors explode in your mouth! Their steamed pot-stickers are fantastic. I have also tried the bitter melon dish; this was quite unique, as I have never tasted anything like this. The melon pieces were sliced thin (kind of like French fries) and were soaking in a bitter, yet sweet, sauce. An interesting flavor; although, one time to try them is plenty for me. If you are with a few people or more, be prepared for the food to come out intermittently. They serve the dishes when they are ready (they don't leave them under warming lights to wait for everyone's to be ready at the same time). This gives you a chance to sample and enjoy everyone else's meals. The Downers Grove location is spread out much larger than Chinatown's. But the menu is still the same and no matter which location you choose, the flavors of their authentic dishes will not disappoint you.
(5)Matt K.
I don't give this out easily, but this is the best place for authentic Sze Chuan dishes in Chicagoland. Sure, a lot of places have them on the menu, but they are never up to par. This is the real deal. And the spice level has not been 'americanized' too much. The house specials chili bean fish and chili boiled beef deserve more than 5 stars. Service is lightning fast. prices unbeatable. One of my favorite lunch places.
(5)Mahmoud S.
I love almost any type of asian food, but Chinese can be hit and miss. Nearly 90% of the time it's a miss. It's been so bad for me that I've just stayed away from Chinese restaurants all together. But one night we were in Downers Grove and just felt like some rice! Quick google search lead to Lao being the closest and had very good reviews. Going in I was praying that the meat would be real and not that rubbery crap that most Chinese places use. The inside of the restaurant is real nice and we were seated in a both right away. The wait staff is nice, but kind of in a rush so they are just buzzing around all over the place. The menu is huge and seemed to be very authentic, because most of the dishes I had never heard of. Flipping to the back of the menu will find the "Americanized Chinese dishes" if thats what you want. But for us we wanted the real stuff, we went with the Tony's Chicken, Hot Plate Steak, hand made noodles in spicy sauce, and chicken satay for starters. The food came quickly and it was just mouth watering to look at. The first bite of Tony's Chicken I will never forget, it was sweet and spicy and worth going for. The hot plate steak came out on a sizzling plate and was so flavorful and the meat was juicy and delicious. This is the absolute best Chinese restaurant I have ever been to and I suggest you give it a try you will not forget it. I've been there many times now and have yet to be disappointed!
(5)Michele C.
We stopped at this restaurant only after we found out that the restaurant we really wanted to go to was closed on Mondays. To be fair to the restaurant I would give it more of a 2 1/2 star rating, but since there is not one and I did not think it deserved a three star rating, I left it at 2 stars. The menu is very large and has pictures for some items and then just a listing of the other items with no descriptions. After perusing the entire menu (all of 19+ pages), we decided on two different dishes. I ordered a dish called Special Pork with sizzling rice. I thought, "how could you go wrong with pork and sizzling rice?". This was from the Chinese side and from the picture it looked good. The flavor was not what I expected and to top it off the pork was sliced very thin and had large chunks of fat on it that I had to pick through. The other dish was from the American side of the menu called the Kung Pao special. The flavor of the sauce was tasty with a nice spicy-ness to it. It was a combo of chicken, shrimp and bbq pork. The quality of the meat was mediocre, but the sauce made up for it. I enjoy eating in Chinatown and have gone to the authentic little restaurants and bakeries for dinner. Perhaps I just did not go with the right people who could have told me what to order. Based on the food I ordered I will not be back to try it again, but maybe you'll have better luck in knowing what to order.
(2)Brian T.
Went there for lunch today with a friend. Very affordable, for about $7 you get an egg roll, soup, and a nice size entree. It is known for its szechuan dishes. I apperantly wanted to try the curry chicken and was not impressed. My friend got the boiled sol szechuan and it was much better. This place is great for the money, but i think i will stay away because in my opinion chinese food is not very healthy.
(3)Jessica G.
So at Lao Sze Chaun House, on a Saturday at 7, and in Downers Grove, no less, it is likely you will have to wait for a table. It seems like they take reservations so make one and also tell them what you want in advance - when you get there, you can be seated quickly and eat quickly like the two tables next to us. Otherwise, we waited maybe 15 minutes for our table. It's not the cleanest place you'll eat but it's also not filthy - if you're bothered by tables that aren't sparkling, this may not be the place for you. I've only ever seen it in this condition so I accept it and move on. Service was a bit abrupt but that was fine - it was really busy, we got our orders taken, the food came out in a reasonable timeframe and it was correct so I won't worry about whether the server stopped to tell me her life story. The food was pretty darn delicious - we had the ginger spinach, which was quite refreshing, the green beans with black beans (hidden bits of jalapenos in there so beware - they masquerade as green bean chunks), the house fried rice (lots of various meat and seafood items - pretty basic), and then the dry chili shrimp, Tony's chicken and the twice cooked pork with fat, which I guess is important. When they say something is hot and spicy, it is, which I like. Make sure to read the menu and ask questions if you're uncertain so you don't end up blowing out your palate. The chicken and shrimp we had were both excellent, with a nice, crisp coating on each item. The chicken was a little sweet, which was a nice balance to the black pepper coating and the shrimp were just plain old spicy. The pork was eh to me but I don't like fatty stuff. Tasty meal in general, though, and definitely somewhere we'll visit again.
(4)Jerry Z.
Not only that this is the worst Chinese restaurant I have ever been in, but it is the worst food I have ever had, with dining experience on three continents to back it up! (the worst one before this was a collective farm restaurant by chateau Sychrov in Czech Republic, where they served goose probably cooked with its intestines still in...). And I love good Chinese food, and I love Chinese - I almost married one. I had ordered seafood combination in hot pot, my wife had kung pao chicken. There was some horrendous and indescribable component in my dish: it just shocks your taste buds and makes you forget all good times you have had in the past in Chinese restaurants. If I would be able to describe the taste it would have to be so gross that one should not write or read it anyway. The same thing found its way into my wife's dish as well, but in a lesser degree (she could consume only one bite, then she refused to continue - until then I would not believe that one can screw-up kung pao chicken). My mother-in-law, who could not eat her dish as well and got it replaced with an edible one, believes that the strange taste (and smell) came from duck fat. Well, I have never eaten rotten duck fat, so I cannot confirm her claim. It will take a long time before I will find a courage to go to a Chinese restaurant again. I know, one should not generalize and there are some wonderful Chinese dishes out there - but I am still in a shock. I have shared with you my experience - you are free to make your own...
(1)Will S.
My family and I came here after a very exhausting day/evening packing up a relatives home getting ready for their move. We were all very hungry, and Lao Sze Chuan was suggested. I must have driven by here thousands of times, but this evening was my first dining experience. There were four of us dining, and we were sat immediately. We were greeted with very friendly service, and I want to mention that all the servers were in the dining room asking customers if they needed anything, how the food was, etc. For some reason none of us had knives in our setups, and when we asked, we were pleasantly presented with knives and extra napkins. I ordered Pot Stickers (my favorite appetizer), and Beef with Pea Pods for my entree'. My beverage was of course hot tea, which was very flavorful with excellent taste. All of us had our appetizers within 4-5 minutes. It seemed like when we were finished with the appetizers, the entrees immediately arrived, and I thoroughly enjoyed everything served. Only downside was that the sesame/ginger Pot Sticker sauce was much too salty, so after one piece, I had them plain, which was satisfactory, but slightly disappointing. I was very impressed with how attentive the servers were, and the tip reflected our satisfaction. I will certainly dine here again, and look forward to the next selection I will choose on their plentiful menu.
(5)E B.
This used to be one of our favorite restaurants.... but no longer:-( Several months ago a new chef was hired and the food suffered. The hot and sour soup is overwhelmingly spicy and the crab rangoons are almost always understuffed and overcooked. The garlic eggplant is often cold and crunchy in the center and the orange chicken has more spice than actual flavor. Very disappointing.
(2)liz a.
I just love this place. I discovered it when it was in Westmont, before it moved to its current DG location. THey have definitely improved the ambience even though the TV is still there. Love love the food. My favorites are the Boiled beef, Tony's chicken, Eggplant with ground pork or beef, dry chili chicken, mapo tofu, which they always prepare for us with ground pork as a special request but dont charge us extra for it. I dont bother with appetizers etc, just dive in for the entrees. The lunch specials are very reasonable. We usualy go for Sunday lunch after church and usually we are standing outside saying "Open, open, open". I havent been to the chinatown location yet so I cannot compare the two. But I live in the western burbs and this is just fine for me. This place has spoilt me for all the other local places. Havent been able to find one that comes even close. I have to admit the service can be lacking sometimes but who cares. I come here to eat. Their menu can do with an editor but the pictures are self explanatory often.
(5)Beth P.
I stopped by for lunch and was pleasantly surprised by the prices. My friends and I had a complete meal for a total of $24.00! This included soup, egg rolls, crab rangoon, and an entree. Everything was cooked fresh and tasted great! I would definitely come back for lunch the next time I'm in town.
(4)Marcus W.
The food here is incredible, and the lunch specials are inexpensive
(5)Lindley E.
I was prepared to be disappointed after one of our office lunches was catered by LSC. Some truly superlative restaurants can pull off Americanized Chinese food - Friendship Chinese in Logan Square is a good example of this. LSC occupies the uncomfortable space between Americanized and Plain Not Good. The intentions are good. The menu has many of the dishes for which the Chinatown location is known (eg Hot Pot) and a good selection of ghost-friendly dishes like...Egg Foo Young (the fact that this is on the menu made me cry tears of bitterest lye). Egg Foo Young? Are we living in the 70s? And Subgum? Subgum?! These are on the menu because customers want them. Customers who generally don't know or care what authentic cuisine looks lor tastes ike. I have a few dishes that I order to test out a restaurant's Authenticity Quotient (AQ). One of these is san bei ji - three cup chicken. A good san bei ji is simple - made with a cup of rice wine, a cup of soy, and a cup of sesame oil, with ginger and garlic. It isn't particularly sweet - and is always made with bone-in chicken. LSC's version was made with bone-in chicken, a good start. It was served in a pot over flame, something I've never seen before. Stone crock, clay crock, yes...bubbling pan over sterno, no. From the first bite it tasted unfamiliar - it was extremely sweet and cloying. I know that's what most people expect from their Americanized Chinese restaurant, but those rules shouldn't apply to dishes that most folks wouldn't order because there's no fake general's name in the title. San bei ji's recipe should be served unaltered from the original, just like Mama used to make. Other dishes were disappointing as well. Dan Dan Noodles weren't well-made or interesting - I've had better almost everywhere else. The dry spicy chicken was okay, but lacked heat (versions I've had in Shanghai had a bit more kick). Service was slow. Heat was set on high. And I don't think I need to ever go back.
(2)phillip k.
This is one terrific restaurant. I recommend the Tony's chicken..and also the crispy shrimp in mayo sauce.....also the chengdu dumplings. The staff is friendly and attentive.
(4)Cathaleya C.
My husband and I come here often because they offer some of the best spicy Chinese food ever. We always get Tony's Chili Chicken, Broiled Beef and Pork Intestine with Pork Blood.
(5)Irina H.
I can't say this place is over-Americanized (as some other reviewers did), because most of the people dining here were Chinese and clearly enjoying themselves; I'm sure they ordered from the Chinese side of the menu. However, I didn't care for my food; the duck was salty, the drowned shrimp and chicken came in a lemon sauce so thick and lemony it could have been pie filling, and the ma po to fu was served with such a heavy dousing of something (five spice powder?) that I couldn't eat it. The tea was so hot that we couldn't drink it until about halfway through dinner, and then found it flavorless.
(2)Michelle Marie R.
Great inexpensive and delish lunch specials!
(4)Krista E.
Over priced and the food was so bad ! The chicken fried rice was fishy tasting the shrimp was mushy by far the worst food ever !
(1)Jerry M.
The food here is great. Best Chinese restaurant around. Dinner prices have gone up quite a bit in the past few years, so it's not a bargain anymore. Lunch is still a steal.
(5)John A.
2 years ago I would have said 2 or 3 stars, but Lao Sze Chuan has really hit it's stride lately. It always has been the best Chinese option in the area, but that wasn't saying much - there is so much bad Chinese food in DG/Westmont. Lately though everything has been consistently great. When you ask for extra-spicy it's freakin extra spicy. On occasion we'll dine in...it's nothing fancy, but the service is pretty good...the waitress we had on our last visit was particular fond of our 4-yr old and gave him an extra almond cookie - nice touch. Speaking of kids...the place is kid friendly enough with plenty of no-spice dishes like cashew beef, etc. Anyway...the place is now heads and shoulders above the rest and the only Chinese restaurant we frequent: take-out, delivery or dine-in. I have noticed the prices have crept up a bit, but for the quality of food its worth the small premium.
(4)Michele O.
This place used to be much better than it is now. It's a little pricier than some other restaurants in the area so we hadn't ordered from here in a while. But then the place we had been frequenting, Lucky Star in Woodridge, went downhill in the service area so we switched back to Lao Sze Chuan. I got the Lemon Chicken, which was so dry and overcooked I couldn't even bite into it. It was like shoe leather. My husband had the House Lo Mein and there was hardly any meat in it. Obviously not a great meal, but we thought maybe the kitchen was just having an off night, so the next time we wanted Chinese we ordered here again. Lemon Chicken was still a non-starter, very dry with a really thick batter coating - almost more batter than chicken. I don't remember what my husband had the second time but he didn't like it either. we're not super picky people but this was just awful. I'm disappointed their quality has dropped so much . It used to be a nice place to eat, and right around the corner from home.
(2)Mike H.
Went here again this past week...different dish, same awesomeness in a bowl...great food, great value....might go there today and get a third new dish. First time there had beef flank trimming soup, this last time the Boiled Beef soup...outta the park home run good!
(5)Erik H.
The food was more authentic than I am accustomed to, and was very tasty. Prices were affordable and portions were large. The ambience - nothing special, but I was there for the food. I have had the Mapo Doufu and a lamb dish, both of which were good, as were the egg rolls and crab rangoon.
(4)Frank C.
Best Chinese in the area. The hostess is amazing.
(4)Char Y.
We came for the hot pot. It was cheap and plentiful, not bad for hot pot.
(3)Julian M.
I had a good experience here. I asked for a really spicy hotpot and the server made a suggestion as I don't speak Mandarin and therefore couldn't pronounce the name of the dish :) It was bone-in chicken pieces in a cauldron of bubbling lava (insert Homer Simpson's drooling sound here).
(3)S S.
Crab Rangoon is still awesome but we ordered sesame chicken and Gen Tsos chicken and got 2 plates of the same thing with broccoli on the side and no other vegetables. Guess their version of Tsos is just sesame chicken without the sesame seeds...
(3)Brian F.
If you know how to navigate the menu all of the favorites from the Westmont location are still to be found. Personally I think that this is a great place to grab an inexpensive lunch. Prices at lunch range from $5-7 and include soup, rice and an eggroll. Order of the first page of the menu at lunch if you're looking for the more authentic dishes
(5)na z.
It's not really authentic tasting chinese food. Everything was overly oily and americanized. I like the chinatown location much better.
(2)Spencer H.
This restaurant is awesome. The owner of this restaurant used to have another restaurant located in Palatine, IL. After it closed down I was hoping I would find another one of his restaurants & a few years ago I finally did. This restaurant has stayed consistently good. This restaurant is excellent especially for lunch because they have very good prices & lunch specials. The menu here could be compared to a large novel. They have so many different entrees & appetizers & they are all very authentic. The dining room is nice & the seats are comfortable. When I came here for lunch I ordered the Mongolian beef. The Mongolian Beef lunch special came with white rice & an egg drop or hot & sour soup & an egg roll. I got the hot & sour soup & it was very good. The Mongolian beef was very delicious. The sauce was excellent & it was cooked just right. The restaurant was clean & the servers were friendly. The service was also fast & they had the appetizers & entrees at the table in just the right amount of time. Overall my experiences here have been very good. The service is friendly & quick & the restaurant is clean. The food is absolutely delicious. I would definitely come here again if I was in the area & in the mood for some good Chinese food.
(4)Tony J.
The service was very good. And the food was not bad. But two things spoiled the meal. As we started eating, a large group of Chinese high school students from zhejiang came in. They were very loud and inconsiderate of the other customers. I understand that it's not the restaurant's fault, but nonetheless it became very difficult to carry on a conversation. The second was that although the foo had pretty good flavor and was appropriately spiced, I just felt that every dish was under seasoned and bland. If you like it that way, you might enjoy this more than I did. But I think with a little bit more salt, this place would be very good, also they have low prices because it's in the middle of nowhere: Downers Grove.
(3)Michael G.
I am surprised that it took me so long to find this authentic Chinese restaurant on Ogden (since I have lived in the area my whole life) but I am glad I know about it now! This restaurant probably has some of the most authentic Chinese Food you'll find in the Chicago Southwest Suburbs! They have so many options on their menu (which is good, but also part of the reason I didn't give them 5 stars). Doesn't matter if its from their lunch menu or dinner menu, the portions they serve are more than enough to satisfy your cravings. Lets just say, you know its a good place when you see people of that same culture eating there daily. Definitely recommend and good luck deciding what you want :P
(4)Tracey M.
My husband and I came in and felt VERY uncomfortable and unwelcome. We left!!! Looking for a good Chinese Food restaurant in the Lombard area ... and this was NOT it. The guy literally acted like he didn't want to seat us - didn't even want us there. We both felt it so strongly that we got up and left. Nobody even asked why ... Do NOT Spend money where not wanted - absolutely not!!!! Terrible ...
(1)Alison G.
Back to one star rating based on the take-out order we had tonight. Its just shredded pork noodle soup, tofu sheet with veggies. Both has got no flavor. The lady who took the order (over the phone) sounded so rush, the lady who gave us the bag of food was also not polite. They have always ALWAYS been very busy both lunch hours and dinner hours. I'm not expecting to be treated like I was a queen, but I want some kind of smile, or a thankyou or whatever nice, don't think I'm being greedy I always leave tips on takeout! Anyway, i heard their stores in Chicago were closed down (by FBI). I did not verify on this, and not sure the details either. If this was one of their chains they really have to improve their food and service quality!!
(1)Sunny D.
Heavenly Chinese food. Extremely authentic and has awesome spicy dishes. For those of you who aren't that extravagant they still have the Americanized chinese dishes as well like orange chicken, kung pao dishes, fried rice etc. I love not needing to go to china town when this place is in the suburbs. It is pretty dang expensive but you get what you pay for. Recommend: Chefs special dry chili chicken, szechuan string beans, mongolian beef/mongolian three ingredients, Salt and pepper calamari/shrimp/scallop, Tonys chicken, egg rolls
(5)John G.
oh boy....had the teriyaki chicken and chicken skewers. Teriyaki chicken had me wishing I had gotten it from the food court in the mall. Very soggy and bland sigh. Skewers were ok but for that price I did not feel satisfied at all with this place. The search for good chinese delivery in illinois continues...
(2)Kristen L.
Love this place, awesome! Delicious Kung pap chicken and Mongolian beef. We always order plenty of egg rolls.
(4)Danny L.
Other Yelpers are correct that this place has gone downhill. I've been a customer for years and used to eat there as much as 4 times a week. I'd even have them cater my office luncheons. Now some of their dishes aren't even edible. I had to throw out most of my order today, which finally prompted me to write this review. Their formerly good food used to compensate for the subpar customer service, but no more.
(1)Elle N.
If you're looking for an upscale restaurant with very attentive service, wait-staff that lingers and chats, and "pretty" dishes, this isn't going to be the place for you.The waitstaff is pleasant and helpful if you have a question, but otherwise are largely hands off. However, if you're looking for fast service, wait-staff that do pay attention to your tables (even if they don't hover - you're never lacking water, for example), and authentic food, consider checking out Lao Sze Chuan. A note: depending on your tolerance for spice, be aware of the menu's indication of hotter dishes. If you ask they can make something milder (and it still tastes spectacular). I've been here several times and I enjoy it, but then - as a restaurant goer, I tend to be happiest when I'm at a place that lets me sit down, order, gets my food to me promptly, and has minimal interaction otherwise. For the amount of food you get (easily enough for one meal and then taking the other half home for another), the price is incredibly reasonable. A friend and I had two entrees and an appetizer and our bill came in at just under $23.
(4)Dan B.
Many times I've passed by Lao Sze Chuan House when driving down Ogden Avenue. The first thing that came through my mind is the name, it sounds to me like it's supposed to be pronounced Lousy Chuan House. Well, that just never sounded appealing. But one day when in the area I consulted my yelp app for nearby restaurants and saw that this place had fairly positive reviews and I figured it would be worth a try. After being seated I looked over the menu and settled on two of my traditional choices at Chinese restaurants, crab rangoon as the appetizer and general tso's chicken as the entree. Shortly after ordering the crab rangoon, some sauce to dip it in and some water was brought out to me. The crab rangoon had a nice crispy outside with a lot of cream cheese on the inside. There was a fair amount of meat mixed in with the cream cheese but not as much as some places, the combination of the crab meat and cheese was solid and complimented each other fairly well. I decided to try dipping it into a hot mustard sauce, the combination of the sauce and the rangoons worked well and I was soon done with the appetizer. Then my General Tso's chicken was brought out with white rice. I have a somewhat unusual system of dipping the chicken in the rice ball so that I get a little bit of rice with every bite of chicken. The chicken wasn't too spicy and the sauce was nice. There were a few rough pieces of chicken mixed in that were a tad tougher than I would have preferred but texture aside I was happy with the chicken. Overall I found the environment in Lao Sze Chuan House to be pleasant, service to be friendly and the food quality to be good. I was pleased that the food wasn't as "Lao Sze" as I feared it might be. The person serving me did have a slight issue with understanding English but with a little extra effort and talking slowly this was easily overcome as there wasn't enough of a language barrier to prevent successful ordering. I'd visit again if I were in the mood for Chinese food and in the area and will give it a solid four stars and a recommendation if you happen to be nearby.
(4)Victoria J.
I feel sort of bad even writing this review since I've loved this place since moving back to DG almost 5 years ago. I've never actually eaten in the restaurant, only delivery, so I can't comment on decor or table service. That being said, we always order the same things: fried dumpling, crab Rangoon, egg rolls, gen Tso's chicken and Szechwan shrimp with a side of crispy pan fried noodles. We ordered tonite. Timing was dead on, food was SADLY lacking. No chili oil for the dumplings, all the fried items tasted dry and as if they were fried in old oil. Not enough sauce on the already dry GT chicken, and the worst part...what is up with the veg? It used to be full of awesome mushrooms, water chestnuts, broccoli. All fresh and crunchy...I think we got 1 of each and they taste old. Wish this review could've been a revised one because I really used to live this place but for $55, I could've gotten twice the food from ZJ china down the street and sadly, the same quality. Not bagging on ZJ. They're fine, for "cheap and cheerful Chinese delivery", but if you're expecting fresh, delicious Chinese, it looks like Lao Sze Schuan is headed downhill. Super disappointing. Oh, and no fortune cookies.
(1)Michelle H.
Most of my Chinese restaurant experiences are quick takeout or delivery related. Rarely do I have a sit-down, eat-in meal, nor do I gravitate away from my normal choices of Americanized versions of sweet and sour chicken and fried rice. The menu here enticed me to branch out a bit. Now, I cannot attest to authenticity, but the eight-page menu was filled with mostly dishes not available at the local corner carryout joint. After much deliberations, I chose a breaded chicken dish with chili peppers. Served with white rice, it was truly the best Chinese restaurant meal I have ever had the pleasure of eating. Although no sauce was present, the mix of cooking oil and moisture from the cooked peppers blended perfectly with the fluffy white rice The breading on the chicken was light, and not at all greasy. An amazing dish with a heavy amount of heat packed in. (Read: not at all for the faint of heart.) The portion was huge, and reheated well for lunch the next day. We came during a hot spell in the summer, and unfortunately, their air conditioning was broken. Even with the fans and the doors choked open, the heat was quite oppressive. The service was attentive, our waiter spot on with beverage and water refills (not sure it this is the norm, but only cans of soda were sold; no fountain soda.) I'm definitely thinking of planning a family meal here soon; the dining room is filled with large tables with centrally placed lazy Susans, perfect for sharing a large meal!
(4)M G.
Authentic food here! We love the spicy cabbage, egg rolls, steamed dumplings, scallion pancakes, 3 chili chicken, dan noodles, mushu pork, garlic spinach, everything we have tried is great. Not much help in explaining items to help in determining choices from the wait staff, but that's ok. Regarding the service the first few times we stopped here I would say the service was thumbs down almost rude, however on our recent visits service has improved greatly and the hostess recognizes us and is very friendly. We drive over 30 minutes for this place, so glad we don't have to go to Chinatown for authentic well prepared food. Lunch specials are large portions and great prices too.
(4)Amstaff Y.
This is real Chinese Szechuan food. If you are looking for boring bland whitey Chinese go somewhere else. Owned by legendary chef Tony Hu, this place is the real deal. Great service and amazing consistent food every time. Chinatown in the burbs.
(5)Boon K.
This rating is for their lunch/ delivery service. I don't live too far from this place and I thought I really wanted to try their lunch special. The menu is huge but I always test out the fried rice first. The delivery service is super fast. I order 2 fried rice lunch special and potstickers and seriously it came within 20 mins, piping hot. I was so amazed. I wasn't super crazy with the fried potstickers, it was very doughy for me also like Shao bao. The shrimp fried rice came with a meaty egg roll which was pretty good, I like that it was not mild not salty and not greasy. I was really happy as I had shrimp fried for 3 meals because the portion was so huge.
(4)Grant P.
I didn't enjoy eating at Lao Sze Chuan. But I can't blame anyone for that except myself. Y'know how when you have a favorite dish and you order it at another restaurant from the one you normally have it at, and it's different? Well, that's the mistake I made here last night. You may not like something as much, but that's only because it's different, not necessarily wrong or bad. I truly didn't care for my Singapore rice noodles. The place I usually get them from dissolves the curry powder more, whereas here the powder kind of stuck to the noodles and was omnipresent. Again, maybe not wrong, just different. The restaurant was decorated quite nicely, with bamboo sculptures on the wall, nice dark wood tables with an elegant glass lazy susan in the middle. Service was very friendly, and efficient. Our group's dishes all came out very quickly, and the server didn't balk at our separate checks request at all. And our water glasses and tea pot remained filled throughout the night. I also didn't care for the scallion pancakes I had. You couldn't taste the scallion, so it was like eating plain fried dough. Their duck sauce/sweet & sour sauce that sits out on the table is wonderful with a fresh orange flavor. The final item I tried, the crispy duck, was quite nice, with crisp skin, plenty of meat, and a delicious hoisin sauce. Overall, despite the fact that I didn't enjoy my food, I'm still giving five stars because of service, looks, and quality of food. Everyone else in my group seemed very pleased with their meal. If I had to deduct a star, which I won't, it would be for the temperature. It was chilly, and the folks coming out before us even commented that we'd have to keep our coats on to eat in there. I can't really blame them, tho. This winter, with it's sub-zero temperatures; furnaces have to work really hard to keep up. And maybe their insulation isn't that great. I dunno. But it's really pretty insignificant overall. Try them. But if you haven't been there before, try a new dish (they have crazy authentic Chinese dishes that feature intestines!) Don't go there expecting things to be exactly like your favorite takeout place. They won't be. But that's okay.
(5)Pete B.
This is one of my go to lunch places, but I'm pretty sure I got food poisoning yesterday from the dry chilli chicken. As my food poisoning gets worse, I decided to lower it to 1 star. Had to take a sick day, and I feel miserable.. and the dry chili chicken was the only thing I ate that day.
(1)Brenda P.
My sister and I had lunch on Friday and I have to say that this is the best Chinese restaurant in the suburbs and even Chinatown. We had the beef with broccoli and shrimp with lobster sauce . Not only was the food great; they didnt skimp on the ingredients. The best we have ever had!!!! We will definitely be back even though we live one hour away. Service was great and the place is very nice and clean
(5)Qirong L.
Worst service ever had in my entire life, period. Wish I can give a negative star here! We were basically called liars and yelled at by the woman who claimed to be the manager, when we raised the fact that the clam dish had over 70% of clams are empty SHELLS! They should go back to school to take business 101 to probably learn what does the word 'customer' mean!
(1)Jessica D.
Ordered the lemon chicken lunch special for pickup using the GrubHub app. Food was piping hot and delish: good breading on the chicken, light and lemony sauce, three pieces of pineapple in the sauce, huge fluffy hot rice. One thing, though, the chicken was a little dry for my taste, chewy like jerky. Could have been a little fresher. When I went to pick up my food the place was packed, and there was just one parking spot left (lucky me!). The front desk attendant is super efficient and fast. Thank you!
(3)Stills J.
The spicy fish filet is the best and the lunch special definitely a good deal. But the staff need some work.
(4)David D.
My family and I used to enjoy eating here, even if the service was (and continues to be) indifferent. But unfortunately the quality of the food has declined in recent months, with the beef, chicken, and green beans tasting greasy and stale. I hope that the restaurant is simply undergoing a rough patch.
(2)Neal C.
Love the food here, you can go traditional Chinese or American chinese, your choice! The menu is beyond extensive so prepare to explore. Everything is fresh and tasty for sure and the wait staff is attentive to your needs. When I'm in the area and need some good Chinese this is where to go.
(4)Prashant C.
If you go to a restaurant thrice in three days ...everyday during lunch then you must be liking that place.. and with great tasting food and great value found at this place , that's what I did.. Had fried chicken with Chilli , Hunan and Ko Chicken until now and all three were great.. I was looking for a chinese food place which I can include in the list of my favorites and this one definitely suits the list... As of now I have found the service good enough.. as one reviewer said it was very Chinese and little bit rushed , I concur and don't mind as long as I get what i want fast and it tastes great ! Will visit again!
(4)Shima C.
Yes I am part Chinese so I believe I have some credibility when critiquing Chinese cuisine. This place has one of the best if not the best Chinese food in Chicago including the gazillion restaurants in Chinatown. Only area of improvement is service. It's not outrageous but it's very "Chinese" if you know what I mean.
(4)Mary Pam P.
Pleasant enough and attentive service although we were brought more dishes than we ordered. In general the restaurant looked a bit dirty. Glass table top/ lazy Susan had a greasy film. Food was hit or miss. Hot and sour soup was very good but other dishes somewhat greasy although flavor good. Portions were generous and the prices reasonable.
(3)Ben B.
Update - They appear to have taken everything good about their food and gone the cheap route. The General Tso chicken used to be my FAVORITE, I preferred it here over anywhere else. Now, I'm not even sure it was chicken, it was certainly sub par cuts and fatty / tendon ridden chicken. The dish used to come with crisp, fresh broccoli, but now large slices of onion. To boot, the fried rice was greasy and tasteless. what happened? This was a diamond in the rough? Now its just plain rough.
(2)Dave S.
I have to agree with the general attitude of most of the people that has reviewed this place. The food is outstanding and a VERY good value. We ordered an array of appetizers for our group of 8 and they were all good but the scallion pancakes were the cream of the crop - EASILY. How could something so simple taste so good??? We each ordered something different. So we ended up passing 8 different dishes. There was nothing that I did not like However my favorite was... Well I am not choosing because I will be here all day trying to decide. I highly doubt there would be anything on the menu that I would not like.
(4)martini g.
Another restaurant gone down hill.....The last time I came here, the hostess was on the phone and literally WAVED me to a table to seat myself w/o ever getting off the phone. The food is still the bomb but the prices on certain things are ridiculous. I no longer go to this restaurant.
(2)Debbie M.
Just moved from the city and asked for suggestions on great chinese take out. Got many recommendations on this place. Sorry but the food is horrible. Nothing they say is spicy is actually spicy- everything just tastes oily. Kung Pao chicken and Hunan chicken were disgusting as was the mushy and tasteless egg rolls and pork fried rice. Totally don't recommend if you know what real chinese food should taste like!
(1)Mindy C.
First time here and it looks real nice inside. The food is amazing, very authentic Chinese food which I can't live without. Wish visit again sometime in the future. :)
(4)Peepyo P.
By far the worst service I have ever had at a restaurant. They could careless how long you have been waiting. I ordered my food at 530 they told me it would be ready in one hour. At first I thought that is a long time but ok I'll get there a little early just in case it's ready. I didn't get my food till 830 and the manager could care less all they said was it's not ready. Well thank you I realize it's not ready cause I don't have any food but can you tell me when it will be ready? Aww it's not ready yet. They could careless about my money cause they asked me multiple times if I wanted to just cancel my order rather than wait for it. By far the worst service I have received at any restaurant. I will never go back.
(1)Christina S.
I've been to Lao Sze Chuan in Chinatown many times and it's a fav of mine, so I had high hopes for this location in DG, and I'm happy to report I was not disappointed. Service was super friendly and fast (and waited patiently for "the undecided", i.e., my husband), and everything we ordered, some staple favs, and some new favs, were out of this world. And for the amount of food we ordered, coupled with the quality, not a bad value. I'm anxious to try out the combo lunch options sometime, too, to save some more pretty pennies. We ordered the chengdu dumplings (delicious but I will go back to the regular plump pork dumplings cuz I prefer more filling), the don don noodle bowl (OUTSTANDING, and $5??, Cheap and enough for two, maybe more, even though it's on the dim sum page), my "go-to-can't-live-without-it-and-will-kick-2-Âpuppies-to-get-to-it" dish of dry chile chicken (ya, it's a phrase, ha, btw, not for the meek), and the Chef's special pork with sizzling rice which was very flavorful (beware of the unknown mushroom in this dish those of you who have texture issues as its a lil extra chewy, but easily avoided). So fun to order a bunch of items, share and then have leftovers to enjoy the next day. :) We walked in on a Sunday night at around 7:30/8 and there was plenty of available seating. My only regret is I forgot to ask for my spicy cabbage cuz I was having a Lao Sze Chuan food orgasm.
(5)Cj S.
Really good place for lunch. Food is great and for a reasonable price you get tea, soup, egg roll and an entree. Really good.
(4)Chrissy W.
Holy crap. Err... I probably shouldn't use the word crap in the review for the best Chinese food I've ever had. We live a couple of blocks away from this gem...OH MAN! Before we officially moved into our new place, we ordered Chinese, brought it to our apartment, and had a romantic Chinese picnic on the floor with a bottle of wine to celebrate our first official home together. /end schmoopy The potstickers melt in your mouth. The egg foo young is delicious. The fried rice is amazing. The crab rangoon is full of creamy cheesy crabby deliciousness. Whatever it is that the BF orders with beef and vegetables (it switches all the time but always beef and veggies) is always good. The shrimp with lobster sauce. The scallion pancakes. The list goes on and on. They make their own sweet and sour sauce and it is phenomenal. I crave it. I don't even care what I'm dipping in it...it's that good. I'm pleased to say that I will always order from this place. There's no need to venture outside my comfort zone in DG, because WOW. (OK, if the opportunity arises, I'll try to try other places. But I bet they won't be as good!) The service is excellent. The woman at the counter is always very sweet. She makes sure to give me extra hot mustard and chop sticks. Yelpers - when you're craving a good Chinese dinner...RUN, don't walk, to this place.
(5)Angela G.
I've eaten here multiple times as we live nearby. Every time the chicken is like cardboard, and is soaked in a syrupy sauce. Not very appetizing. Ive ordered crab rangoon and egg rolls, both were far from satisfying and had the taste of old oil from the frying pan. Not exactly the taste I want overpowering my palate! I love Chinese food and am sad this place doesn't do it for me...but it's just not good.
(1)Puja R.
I have been to this restaurant twice. The first time was great and I didn't write a review. However, my most recent experience left much to be desired in terms of service and I felt that I needed to post a review. The food here is delicious...we ordered the spring rolls, ginger spinach, ma po tofu, pan fried noodles, and string beans. The ma po tofu was seasoned just right and was probably the best that we've ever had. You could tell that a lot of care was taken into the food preparation. I would give the food 4 stars. As for the service, I was thoroughly disappointed. We made reservations because it was my mom's 60th birthday and we thought that it might be busy. I had brought in a cake for my mom's birthday and had asked them to bring it out for dessert. We were seated promptly when we arrived and ordered our food without a problem. I know that some restaurants give you complimentary appetizers, so I wasn't alarmed when a waiter came by and brought 2 orders of the scallion pancakes. The waiter didn't say anything when he dropped them off, so we started eating them. Suddenly he came back and said that it was a mistake and took both plates without further explanation. We shrugged it off and ate waited for our meal. After dinner I had to get up and find the waiter because we hadn't seen him since our food had been served. I found him and asked if he could bring out the cake. He presented the cake still wrapped in the box and inside the Bed Bath & Beyond bag I brought it in! He also brought us styrofoam plates and plastic forks instead of the restaurant plates and cutlery. I was a bit disappointed since this was supposed to be a surprise for my mom. 2 stars for service. We finally got the bill and saw that they had charged us for 1 of the scallion appetizers. I promptly got up and talked to the manager because I didn't think it was fair to charge us for the restaurant's mistake. Yes, we did start eating it, but it was taken away before we even finished 1 plate. Yet they still wanted to charge us for an appetizer we didn't order. We argued for 3 minutes and the manager conceded and took the appetizer off of the bill. I normally don't take the time to write a review of this length, but I was really disappointed in the service at Lao Sze Chuan. They managed to turn a special birthday event into a comedy of errors and wanted to charge us for a mistake that they had made. Most restaurants would apologize for bringing the wrong dish and either leave it at the table or take it away...but they wouldn't charge you for it. Needless to say, I don't think we'll be going back anytime soon. If we do, it'll be for takeout.
(3)Jack R.
On the outside looks a little run-down, but much more nice inside the establishment. For an appetizer i had pot stickers. They were homemade, and filling. The downside is they're on the doughy side, but worth the purchase. I recommend the pan friend pot stickers opposed to steamed. For dinner I got Tony's special chicken (sweet and sour). If you're a fan of spicy get Tony's special chicken. It's fried, comes with steamed rice and only $9.95 and was very filling. The service is mediocre, but the food is worth it. One of the better Chinese places in dupage county. Also cookies are provided at the end (as expected).
(4)Valerie W.
My girl Chrissy W loves Lao Sze Chuan, and it's near her house. So, when she invited me over for lunch and raved about the food, I placed an order for pick-up via grubhub. The food was hot, ready, and waiting for me when I arrived to pick up my order. The entire restaurant smelled amazing, I couldn't wait to dive into my chicken moo shu and scallion pancakes. Holy cow! Everything was awesome! The scallion pancakes were crispy and chewy, and the moo shu was probably some of the best I've had. The portions were HUGE! I had enough for at least three meals. I will certainly be back to Lao Sze Chuan. The Moo Shu was chock full of veggies - a good option for a healthier lunch (than sweet and sour chicken or pizza anyway...)
(5)Jorge Z.
A very nice restaurant. I especially like their Sui Zhu Rou Pian. It's spicy and authentic. It's also affordable. One thing I don't like is the fact that the restaurant seems very unprofessional, but overall is clean, and a great dining experience. Definitely recommend, especially to large groups.
(4)Kate K.
Such excellent food and very good service. Food comes out quickly and the servers are friendly and helpful.
(5)Kurt W.
Good food, and many things on the menu you don't see in the suburbs. Gets real busy, and judging that the staff seems to know a lot of the patrons, obviously there are lot a regulars. They have some larger tables setup for Dim Sum, so a large group would be suitable there too.
(4)Jie S.
Demanded by my 7 year old who had to have their Scallion pancakes. It was very busy Sat. night. We had to wait for about 20 minutes to get to our seats. So I would avoid Sat. night if all possible next time since the waiting area was not big enough for 15 people standing. I tried non-spicy DanDan noodle this time and my son loved it. My husband's favorite dry chilli chicken dish was pretty good and apparently cooked in the hurry so some of chicken cubes stuck together. Scallion pancakes came out slightly under-cooked. Overall it was a nice dinner.
(3)Shannon S.
I really wish this place was as good as its counterpart in Chicago. However, it is a pretty far cry from it. I'm not going to go into a lot of comparison detail. The menu is the same but the quality just doesn't match. That said, this is a decent suburban Chinese food option for the area. Some things I've had were spot on while others were a touch on the bland and greasy side. Will I come back again? Most likely. Will I shed a tear while I'm there for the lost potential? Definitely.
(3)Jason S.
Simply put, outstanding Chinese food. Hands down best in Chicago area. For some reason the restaurant in Downers Grove tastes better than the one in Chinatown though?
(5)Santosh B.
Fantastic restaurant. Ate chef's special "dry chilly chicken" and they don't kid around here when they say it is "spicy." Blew all my whistles but was totally worth the sweating. We also had hot and sour soup and other dishes that were wonderful but the chef's special was the best.
(5)Scott M.
What the hell is the matter with me? I've driven past this place for years, never stopping in. I like hot food in General and "Szechuan" (or what passes for Szechuan) specifically, so why have I driven past a joint that had "SZE CHUAN" writ large outside. I read the stuff about Tony Hu, and still 45 mph vrrrrrroom down Ogden. Countless times across the street at Omega eating eggs and sausage, but a peek inside the place that I read about? Nah.. Why? 'Cos I'm a moron, that's why. Wife had a business appointment the other day , wot left me alone for dinner, and cruising down Ogden. I started to pense on my options, with an eye for possible Indian, but a mental canvas about what places were further on down the road, made me remember LSC. So I finally went in, the decor was muted, but had that peculiar unkempt, slightly seedy atmosphere the best Chinese joints have. Also that strange scent of: slightly sweet, slightly garlic and slightly sour-I-don't-really-want-to-know-what-it-is. The menu was large, and slightly intimidating, but a bunch of pictures gave some relief. I saw the symbol for "hot", and paid attention. I Pointed to a chicken dish for appetizer and a shrimp dish for entree, both sporting the little "chili pepper" icon. I called the waitress back after I ordered, and the manager, busboy and waitress came quickly. I asked that my dishes be prepared "Chinese hot", with no consideration for American taste. (and yes restaurants DO modify heat and seasoning for Occidental tastes). There was a small bit of confusion, then the Lady Manager grokked what I was asking, peeled off a bit of Chinese to the waitress, and said "Chinese Style, right?" in pretty good English. The Tea they plonked down on the table was very good, and I did not order a soft drink, as is my usual M.O.. The Chicken appetizer came, and it looked fab. Small shreds of chicken, other shreds of I-don't know-what, all in a bright red thin oil. I had to ax for chopsticks, got 'em, and dug right in. Dear Sweet Bleeding Geebus, it was a flavor explosion. Garlic, a little sweet, umami and glorious heat-just a little more than enough. A great mouth feel. Now I'm in two heads. Savoring maybe the best Chinese food I've had in, oh, EVER, while kicking myself in the virtual ass for not coming here before. I polished off the appetizer, happily. The Shrimps came, "Salt and Pepper" style, no shell, redolent of Ginger and Garlic, buried under a mountain of long red peppers, and coated with an evil-red mix of spices, herbs and more peppers. The proffered a bowl of fresh white Rice, and I ate the shrimps Chinese-Style, putting the Rice first, with the shrimps as treats along the way. They were divine, with mad flavor and HOT! It was so good, I got obsessive about the flavorings on the plate, nipping up the garlic slices, ginger slices, scallions and clumps of spices/peppers with my flying chopsticks. I briefly considered getting another order, even, they were THAT good. I counted 51 long peppers on my plate. Serious heat, Yo. I amazed myself I did not order a soft drink, relying on Tea and Ice Water for "Wash". HIGHLY out of habit for moi. They dropped a fortune cookie and an Almond cookie with the check. the fracking Almond cookie was better than I've had in years. Garden-variety Almond cookies leave a greasy patina on the palette, but not these. OK, it was. Not. Cheap. But it was certainly worth it. Now here's the point on the pencil. On the way out to the Whale, I noticed I was...buzzed a little. Like I had taken a tiny toke of mellow weed, but without the psychedelic element. VERY relaxed, very happy, but alert. I didn't have any booze with my meal. I had read Szechuan Peppers were an intoxicant, and I think my dishes were loaded with them. This was a fine fine fine feed! Now, how the hell am I going to go down Ogden avenue WITHOUT stopping at Lao Sze Chuan?
(5)David K.
Five minutes away from Good Samaritan Hospital after visiting with my sick mother. I'm not from the area and found this restaurant mentioned many times on the internet. Our table of three really enjoyed our dinner. Delicious and great value.
(4)Rossel E.
Not your westernized chinese takeouts. Been here several times already and the best dish I tried so far is the Dry Chili Chicken and the sole fish fillet. I remember my chinese room mates prepare these dishes when I was in CT. Food is good but ambience and service not so much.
(3)Enkhnasan B.
Great portions and reasonable prices, i tried the beef lo mein and also the combo fried rice both were pretty good. Service was awesome better then i expected. Friday lunch rush was pretty hectic but we got what we wanted and left the tables for others to enjoy.
(4)Khan Z.
If you like spicy food, please do not try Tiao Shui Tu, Ba Wang Yu and Wu Geng Chang Wang. They taste not like Sze Chuan food.
(2)Dr. Z.
A Saturday night, the place was empty when we walked in, jammed an hour later as we exited. Parking lot was overflowing and people were "creatively" parked. We ordered an appetizer of Chicken on skewers and it was not dried out like most are, it had a bit of moist chicken flavor. Maybe I have had some awful versions before, but this was just fine. We also shared a bowl of hot and sour which was pretty much so the average. So far, so good. I asked for hot mustard that I saw on other tables. That didn't happen. We just wanted tea, so that appeared, and was then followed by three different staffers asking us if we wanted to order from the bar. We were never offered a refill on the tea during the entire meal- no one asked, no one acted on the fact that the lid was now hinged-backward. The Fried Pork dish (spicy) arrived with two bowls of white rice. The rice was cool, the Pork was maybe 90°. We waited for the other entree. The waitress stayed on the other side of the dining area and cast us occasional glances. She knew. At minute #6, I called her over and asked her to check on the Chicken. At 7 minutes in, she set entree #2 on the table, said nothing, and walked away. The Lemon Chicken consisted of nice pieces of moist chicken, lightly coated. And it was quite cold. Apparently you might deduce that it was a lost child, as it had decidedly assumed room temperature. There was no delay in prep, it just got lost. The Fried Pork and vegetables (now icy ciold) - it was spicy fun, but after the second bite, I realized that the predominant ingredient was salt. A whole lot of salt, and overpowering load of salt. In short, dismal service with not a lot of customers there yet - no crowd present to distract the ample waitstaff. No perception of customer service orientation as they chose not to recognize the obvious service issues and made no attempt to correct or adjust. This was our first trip in, and will be the last. If we find shortcomings in restaurant service and product, we generally don't ask for corrections. We watch and wait. You could tell very quickly that this was going downhill in a hurry, so for us- it's more fun just to see how bad it can get. Lao Sze Chuan did not disappoint in this regard. Train wreck.
(1)Hsia F.
My coworkers and I order from them A.L.O.T. Since the lunch is so inexpensive and the service is so quick. I remember the first time we ordered from them they were there so quick that we were scared they made it in the car on the way over. Great food....convenient location with ample parking.....however please note that if you don't have patience don't place the call for delivery. It took me three times to finally admit I just can't get that lady to understand what I am saying and vice-versa....but thats my only gripe
(4)Julie S.
The egg rolls were large and great and the Singapore rice noodles were delicious. The broth for the wonton soup was very watery and the hot and sour soup was super duper hot
(4)Steve W.
Hands down best in w. Burbs. Service is awesome. Portions are huge...hot and fresh.
(5)Roger D.
this place is excellent, I have been here a few times for dinner but atleast 10 times for lunch now I have had over a dozen different items from the menu and have NEVER been disappointed. if you can u must dine in and sit at the big round family style tables they may sit total strangers at your table with your permission and its great you meat new people and always great conversation and if you are really out going like me we all shared our food . I recommend the mayo shrimp or the Szechuan beef event the duck excellent or any of the hot pot dishes. eggrolls and crab Rangoon are great.
(5)Maggie G.
My husband and I love Chinese food so we decided to try this place we unfortunately we will not go back. The food is very expensive compared to other great hinese food restaurants. I do like spicy food a lot but at Lao Sze Chuan House spicy has a new meaning, I could barely eat it - way too hot. The staff is very nice and the place is clean but thats about it. If I pay $29 for 2 chinese dinners, I expect something special.
(1)Jennifer Z.
From the famous restaurant chain by Tony Hu: tonygourmetgroup.com comes Lao Sze Chuan in Downers Grove. The original concept for the store actually started in Chinatown with the original Lao Sze Chuan ( yelp.com/biz/lao-sze-chu… ). The food there is consistently much better but also much farther. This branch gets points for being SO close and convenient. Love the manager and staff as well. Over the years, they've come to know me and my family on a first name basis and we're always treated wonderfully when we come! Favorite include Lamb with Cumin Powder, Sole Fish Fillet in Chili Bean Sauce with Tofu, and Twice Cooked Pork. Recommendation to try something spicy on the menu as that's what Sze Chuan cuisine is know for. If you're really in the mood for something authentic- it's worth the drive to Chinatown to see what the original restaurant is all about!
(3)Kedar D.
I regularly go to the delectable Lao Sze Chuan outpost in Milford, Connecticut, based near where I go to grad school. Imagine my surprise, then, when I found another Lao Sze Chuan, with the same owner, based just a short drive from my parents' house! As such, I came with high hopes. Ultimately, while this restaurant does offer some tasty vegan dishes, it doesn't quite reach the transcendence of its Connecticut branch, nor does it match the quality and variety of a nearby Szechuan restaurant, Mapo in Naperville. I got the "spicy bamboo shoots" ($6) and "vegetarian chicken shanghai style" ($6) as appetizers. The bamboo shoots, while looking nearly identical to the same dish served in Connecticut, didn't taste quite as good. Whereas in Connecticut you get a light, tingly feeling on your tongue from the Szechuan peppercorns, here in Illinois you get a more basic, generic red chili flavor. The vegetarian chicken is, in fact, tofu skins wrapped around black mushrooms. This dish tasted fine but, again, the equivalent dish in Connecticut (tofu crepe with black mushrooms) comes prepared in a more sophisticated manner (layered and stacked) with bamboo shoots and higher quality mushrooms. For main courses I got a "bean curd home style" ($9) and a "potherb with spicy szechuan style" ($10). The bean curd was an oily mess of sauteed tofu blocks, some water chestnuts, carrots and peapods. It tasted all right, but not great. This seemed more like generic Chinese take-out which is not what I expected from such a critically-acclaimed place, and from their special menu. The potherb basically consisted of diced mustard greens sauteed in a light sauce and had absolutely no spice to it whatsoever, despite the "spicy" label. I think they accidentally left out the chili. Lastly, the restaurant doesn't offer brown rice, which broke my heart. I hate white rice. While Lao Sze Chuan provides some decent food, it doesn't match up to its Connecticut branch. Given that most of you can't go to Connecticut on short notice, I would suggest going to Mapo in Naperville instead, which offers a similar menu, but has better quality preparations and a slightly cozier interior atmosphere as well.
(3)Jon G.
I have lived 2 miles away from this place for 20 years and have never tried it. I recently did. I had the Mongolian Beef. It tasted ok. The portions were right for the price. But what the H?! It had carrots, and mushrooms, and corn! I know places like to put their own twist on thing. But Mongolian Beef should have BEEF AND ONIONS AND THOSE BIRD'S NEST NOODLES AND THAT IS IT! I was happy with the taste and the egg rolls I ordered, so I will be back to try other items.
(3)Jennifer M.
We were brought here by a friend who is a regular customer. I see why. Authentic, yummy Szechuan food with very nice service. Nice decor. Elegant yet rustic and low-key decor. Good atmosphere. They have non-spicy items for those who can't stomach any spicy, and they can also tone done the red pepper for those who can't stand too much. The beef and lamb are very tender. Shrimp and veggies are very fresh. Szechuan cold noodles have a wonderful smooth and cool texture. Can't go wrong with the food from here. Give it a try!!! Don't order the Americanized food though... A group of Caucasians who sat next to us ordered beef broccoli, chicken broccoli, and mongolian beef. Really? REALLY???? In such a delicious szechuan place that has a HUGE fancy menu of authentic foods WITH PICTURES (so there's no excuse that you don't know what your ordering).
(4)Sherill M.
Update: After I went there I was sick the whole night!! There was a hair in my food ew! Ordered the mayonaise shrimp, it was supposed to be like the honey walnut shrimp, but it wasn't sweet and there were no walnuts. There was a hair in my food! It gets busy and the staff gets really nasty. There was a hair in my food! The kitchen was dirty and food was sitting around all over the place. Did I mention there was a hair in my food?
(1)tom s.
This restaurant's mapo tofu is actually good...the downtown location has started to take shortcuts and their mapo tofu is no longer what it used to be.. I no longer see the black bean paste in the down town location or hte onions. I have since started ONLY frequenting the downers grove location!
(5)Andrew M.
Outstanding authentic chinese food in the 'burbs. I am thrilled that you can get a great taste of chinatown without heading into the city. So thankful for having a place like that that takes their food seriously. The western subburbs are littered with places that do not.
(4)Teri C.
Did carryout. The fried rice was bland, the egg rolls were thrown out and the rest of the meal was just ok. Will not be going back.
(2)Kelley K.
I want to start by saying, I have been coming here for years. They made it impossible for me not to comment tonight. I waited an hour over my designated pick-up time for my food. PLEASE tell me if you're kitchen is backed up, so I can pick it up when it's actually ready. Simple order- hot and sour soup, spring rolls, Kung Pao chicken. Worst food ever tonight. Soup was like broth - no hot, no sour - inedible! Spring rolls cold. Kung Pao chicken cold. Made a big deal about telling me they messed up my order and gave me an extra FREE meal. I don't know what it was, but I think it may have been someone's leftovers that they "forgot" at their table. The ONE thing that made the wait seem worth it - knowing that it was going to be fresh, hot food - so wrong. Do yourself a favor - skip this place. Oh, one more kicker. I asked if she gave me fortune cookies. Of course, was the reply. The fact that they are quite often "forgotten" if you don't ask says a lot about this place. NO FORTUNE COOKIES. Enough said.
(1)Ruth F.
I came here for lunch hoping for vegetarian chicken and perhaps bean curd skin. Vegetarian choices on the lunch menu are pretty skimpy, but they let me order off the dinner menu. The vegetarian chicken was delicious though the texture is more reminiscent of chewy cabbage than chicken. I got the spicy tofu, which I think is perhaps smoked. They aren't kidding. The Szechuan green beans are made with ground shrimp usually, so they made me a portion specially without it. Very good if a bit salty. I also got a vegetarian egg roll, which was good if basic. Lots of interesting choices; will have to try the bitter melon and come back for the bean curd skin. I'm looking forward to adventuring, knowing that if there's something nonvegetarian in the food, the staff will tell me. The staff were very helpful and friendly (disclaimer, I brought my own chopsticks and used the four words of Chinese I can still remember). I was there at 2pm well after the lunch rush and the place was pretty quiet.
(4)Kenny G.
This place is like a sit down Panda Express. Great place to go if you are looking for decent Chinese food for a good price during lunch. Personally, I'm a fan of their lunch specials which come with an entree, rice, soup, and an egg roll/spring roll. They also have some traditional Chinese cold dishes that I'm a fan of as well, especially the Never Forget Chicken and the Sliced Beef and Maw Szechuan Style. Both of these dishes are on the spicy side so definitely get them if you're into that kind of thing...
(4)Dan K.
This place is pretty quick and cheap and fast for lunch. There is a special which comes with some soup and an eggroll/crab rangoon/etc along with the entree. I had the cashew chicken which was tasty. It has a lot of space for big groups. The chili chicken comes with A LOT of chili peppers, it's almost like chili peppers with a side of chicken. But it's still good. The service is good too. Honestly I was expecting it to take a while, but we got our food fast. They tend to bring plates out as they're ready, which I prefer. Nothing worse than waiting cause one person ordered some slow cook item. Ok, maybe there are worse things. But not when you're hungry and trying to get back for a 1pm.
(4)Christopher K.
Still working my way down Ogden, I stopped in for dinner. My A/C is broken (this is important later) so I did not feel like cooking in my kitchen. It wasn't busy for a weeknight dinner, and I had skipped lunch. I started with an order of pan-fried pot stickers, which was a highlight because they turned out just the way I like them (slightly crispy on the edges). The egg drop soup was bland, even for a bland soup. I ordered a safe entree for a first visit, Schezwan chicken, it was spicy, (as was much of the menu) which was to my taste. Overall it was a decent food experience, the menu is very large so there is a lot to explore in the future. The service experience was a bit weird. As I mentioned, the A/C was out so no carryout, I was dining solo. Service was prompt to the point of making me feel hurried. I was just starting the appetizers when the entree came out, and plates were being cleared from my table as quickly as possible. The place was only half full, so that might just be how they operate, but I didn't feel like I could take my time and enjoy the meal at my own pace. $19 for dinner for one.
(3)C T.
Lao Sze Chuan is one of my favorite Chinese restaurants in west suburb. Because it is Lao Sze Chuan style Chinese food, it is spicy and that is all about Sze Chuan style. The first half of the menu is more authentic Sze Chuan style Chinese food and the latter half of the menu is an American-style Chinese menu. I highly recommend to try the "Chinese" menu.
(5)Neal G.
Stopped by for lunch and it was somewhat busy. For some reason I was seated and then moved which was vaguely annoying. Food itself is decent. Egg drop soup was average though, I've had better, but definitely had worse. Egg roll was decent. For my main dish I had szechaun beef, it was fairly tasty but definitely lunch portion sized. No leftovers today. Overall good, if not great.
(3)Brian E.
Pretty much the only decent Chinese food in downers grove. The outside view of the building from Ogden Ave kind of makes it look like a greasy dive, but the inside is pretty warm and inviting, if dated. Sit down service is pretty quick. Their lunchtime special is a pretty good deal at a fair price. I tend to enjoy their food more as a dine-in customer than I do when we take-out. They have killer almond cookies too...try them!
(4)M F.
In words of my picky 9yo, it isn't "good", but it's "awesome". Out of town visitors, so was glad of Yelp to direct.
(5)Mike P.
Just had take out from them and I'm fully surprised! The Hunan chicken actually was spicy even though I forgot to ask for extra spicy. Chicken fried rice was also really good too! I'm stuff....
(5)Sang L.
I don't know where Chef Tony was or how he taught his little minions of chefs at this place, but the food at this Chinese Diner in was BLAHHHHH! Nothing I ordered tasted good (fried rice, chow fun noodle, chili chicken), salt and pepper needed to be added to make the food come alive. Thank goodness because it wasn't that expensive. I went here after all the hype on MSN.COM claiming Chef Tony to be one of the best Chinese Chef in America...so why not eh? Sadly, Yelp users are right with all the low reviews. I say skip this place and head over to Panda Express for better quality food and service.
(2)Kara Z.
I went to this restaurant at my sister's insistence. She had recently come home from a vacation in China and found this restaurant on Yelp and wanted to give it a try because she thought it sounded like it had authentic Chinese food. She was pleased- she got her spicy food and I tried some of her dumplings which I thought were very good, but pretty spicy (good for her, not so great for me). I ordered an egg roll and really didn't like it. I'm sure other people love them but the flavor was just not for me- I didn't even finish it which is pretty rare for me. I did love the chicken fried rice I ordered and would rate it as one of the best chicken fried rice in the suburbs! The service was great- our server had the best smile I've seen in a long time. The other reviews are really accurate. The food did come out at different times as it was ready. Also, there were people who were Asian eating here which I would think speaks well of this restaurant.
(4)Jacqueline S.
This place is best for large groups during lunch so you can have multiple dishes. I love the boiled fish in Szechuan sauce, dry chicken chili, spicy lamb dish, and the green vegetable dishes. My boyfriend and many people I go with love the Sesame chicken or Orange chicken if you don't want it a little spicy.
(5)Jay N.
Went here for a friend's birthday. Parking lot is adequate and access is ok from Ogden since there is a middle lane. Place looks a little dated from the outside but the inside is clean and menus are leather bound with pictures and descriptions. The larger group tables have Lazy Susans so it's easy to share dishes. They used to be known for their hot pots but they have a lot more options now. They are one of the rare places that serves Szechuan dim sum. The Chengdu dumplings were a good start for us. I personally don't like that much rice noodles but it definitely soaked up a lot of the sauce. The boiled beef is like a hot pot dish and is a great main dish. The hot dry chili chicken is spicy but I could see other tables around us order it as well. The seafood dumplings with ginger sauce was pretty mild. We were looking for 1 more dish and our server was able to help us out by recommending the clams with black bean sauce. The clam taste really came through the sauce and was a nice complement to our spicier dishes. Water, tea, and rice were re-filled regularly. We brought our cake to celebrate and there was no add-on charge plus they provided a cutting knife and plates. They also gave a package of almond cookies to the birthday boy. The prices are fair but worth it when going out for a group and when you have different dishes to try.
(4)Nolan F.
Really leaning towards a 2 star rating... I came here with a co-worker for lunch. She is pushing for a 2 star review. I am giving this place 3 stars because they provided me a regular cookie and a fortune cookie. That is two cookies for an extra star. I had the General's chicken, and my co-worker had another dish (unknown). In both cases the food was abnormally salty. Off-puttingly, distractingly salty. And I generally like salty things. I did feel I got a lot of food for my dollar, but I would have rather had less but better food. Quality over quantity. Having tried this, and if given the choice, I rather would go to Panda Express.
(3)Tony P.
I love the food, I love the serving size (reasonable, not pig-out), I love the extras that come with the lunch, and I love the price. I haven't had Chinese this good in many years. I had Mongolian Beef and the meat and veggies were perfect, and the sauce was to die for. I'm going back witrh my wife!
(5)John S.
While I rated the city location with a full 5 stars I wish i could say the same thing about this location. My biggest complaint here is they don't have the same menu as the city location and thus don't have my favorite dish. The food here is still very good and they at least have the spicy cabbage but I wish they would add the double fried Chile pork with cilantro (503 on the city menu). The staff here is very nice however and the food is always freshly prepared... THe chefs spicy Chicken is very good here also. Maybe I'm being a bit rough on them for not having my favorite dish though....
(3)