Old Thousand — Restaurant in Austin

TLDR: food is an A++ & service is an A++

Between the service & the food, idk what to start off with. The incredible food is what got me hooked in the first place. Whether you have dietary restrictions or not, there are several options on the menu for everybody. Genuinely! I have a gluten allergy & dairy intolerance so this is one of the first places I was recommended to visit around 5 years ago. I should’ve written a review sooner. I’ve ordered the same entree & more every time. I order the Mala Mala Chicken & sometimes my friends will order other things on the menu & we’ll have a little buffet amongst ourselves & everything really is so great tasting. Never once had a bad bite from this restaurant. But when I order only for myself, I can’t ever bring myself to switch up on the Mala Mala no matter how bad I want to; it’s a true #1. I work at a hotel downtown so I order my food to-go or for delivery very frequently & also always refer the hotel guests here as it’s soo good. The food kept me coming religiously, but the staff is what prompted me to finally write this review. It’s been a long few weeks, so getting off early on a weekday in March one time for the one time I decided to order my food to-go like normal but would go inside for a drink to treat myself while I waited since I got off early unexpectedly. I knew Old Thousand & was good vibes as I used to live up in North Austin & frequented that location before moving more south a few years ago. Shoutout to whomever has control of the aux. I planned on having one drink, but had two instead as the two bartenders Ani & Leon were the kindest & coolest people.

This was described as a “must visit” by our waitress at the Downright. The only regret I had is that we didn’t go immediately. We made an open table type reservation and showed up early. The place was packed but we didn’t wait long. The atmosphere was relaxed but dressy. When you think Chinese restaurant and you are from NJ, you have a different expectation. I would describe the atmosphere here as hip in a way that seems like the owners kids took over the restaurant and changed it in small ways to make it better. Loud hip hop, little old school Chinese highlights(red paper lanterns,etc) to honor the past but the but cool flowered wall papered walls, lots of visual interest, the ultra simple menu and the relaxed dress in the staff make for a great place to have a drink and eat. The food: Easily the best meal of the week and it was competing with the best barbecue experience I’ve ever had. They had a pork bun special! I’ve had a lot of pork buns (and sometimes they are hard to find) and their take on providing the buns in a traditional bamboo Zheng Long (steamer) and having it be a “build your own” experience was a nice touch. We started with the Buddha’s delight (glass noodles) and it was a flavorful, stick to your ribs type dish that was recommended by the waiter. Really good and something everyone should try. For entrees, the first we ordered was the General Tso’s chicken. If you are expecting an overly sweet, mound of chicken pieces stuck together in an orange candy sauce then you need to leave the north east and head to this restaurant. It was sweet but tangy, darker than the General Tso’s I am used to and easily the best I’ve had. We ate slow to make it last. 2nd Entree was the Honey Pecan Shrimp. I’d like to tell you about this one first hand but my General Tso’s was so good, I didn’t want mix flavors. According to my wife it was excellent: different and delicious. She ate it all. The dishwasher was probably happy with us. We didn’t have dessert because we were stuffed and need to walk it off. If you visit Austin, don’t miss this meal. I don’t have a ton of favorite meals but this one is in my list. I will visit here every...

I used to order Old Thousand on a weekly basis back in 2019/2020, as I lived nearby off 11th, and my go-to’s were the Mala Fried Chicken and Xiao Mian Noodles. Given the pandemic and a few life changes, I hadn’t ordered in over a year and excitedly decided to this evening. I’m sad to say that I am highly disappointed in the alterations made to these two items in particular, and because of them, more than likely won’t be ordering or recommending OT again. First, the Mala Fried Chicken. It held its original crispness and flavor, but had WAY too high a Szechuan salt content. This spice was either not used or lightly used previously, as I’d not had the mouth tingles eating it ever before. It was to the point where I needed to take breaks in order to enjoy the dish, which, in ways, defeats the purpose of eating virtually anything. Plus? OT apparently stopped serving white rice with the Mala Fried Chicken quite a long time ago. For a $13 dish, a side of rice is practically a given but it seems they made it a ‘small plate’ and use that to justify the change. As an old lover of the entree though, it was disappointing to see. Next, the Xiao Mian noodles. These used to be an excellent addition to the Mala Fried Chicken, but have lost their sauciness due to a change in noodle and flavoring. Again, Szechuan salt overtakes the dish and the new noodles are much thinner/more dense to their predecessor. This results in a drier, less satisfactory experience to the saucy udon-y option which is a major downfall. Overall, it really just feels as though the food at Old Thousand has gone down in quality and up in Szechuan salt, masking the slights in quality with mouth-numbing spice. I regret spending $40+ on two items I could barely eat and do not...