Lao Sze Chuan — Restaurant in Niles Township

This restaurant is the only Chinese restaurant I recommend in the Skokie area, but changes in the past year have me worried about their future.

Lao Sze Chuan has always been known for some of the best authentic Sichuan cuisine in the Chicagoland area--in fact, their chef has won a few awards for the fare. The true marker of any good ethnic restaurant is in its patrons: show up at Lao Sze Chuan and take a look around, and the majority of patrons are Chinese, enjoying good REAL Chinese food. Yes, they've got the American favorites too (General Tso's chicken and other American creations), but their strength is in great Sichuan cuisine, hand pulled noodles, and great traditional seafood dishes.

Lately though, their attempts to cater to a wider audience have fallen flat. There was sushi available for a time, which is now gone. I've seen a few menu changes. The authentic food they excel at hasn't moved, but a few other Thai and Japanese dishes have fallen onto and off the menu.

At the end of the day, they are still my go-to restaurant for friends and family out of town who want a great meal. I was just there this Saturday and the food was delicious, the server excellent, and they were very polite even though we stayed to sit and chat probably longer than they would have liked (sorry guys, I don't see my aunt and uncle very often!). But I hope the menu changes over the last year stay in the past. There are hundreds of Chinese restaurants in the Chicagoland area who serve a variety of "Asian" cuisine--but very few up north with an affinity for the authentic like...

My dad chose this restaurant to celebrate his 94th birthday based on his wonderful experience at the 500 N. Michigan Avenue location. While that was an elegant, beautiful and quiet restaurant, this was like dining in a Greyhound Bus terminal. There were so many loud families - yelling children, crying babies, and NO sound baffling whatsoever. The decor wasn't anything special.

The portions were abundant and we ordered far too much for the six of us. We had multiple servers - one of them was quite friendly, sweet, and helpful. The others just plunked the dishes down anywhere on the table - not for the person who ordered them. The egg rolls were definitely extraordinary and we are very picky when it comes to that! Everything else was kind of meh - good, but nothing to write home about. I liked the complimentary spicy cabbage and my dish, which was lamb with baby ginger. My husband had such a spicy chicken dish that he felt like his teeth were melting and his entire mouth went numb for about 10 minutes!

The smoothies were cloyingly sweet - my brother-in-law couldn't stomach his and my husband barely finished his. The bathroom stall was so tiny my knees hit the closed door and I am only 5 feet. the floor was disgustingly sticky by the sink. All in all, it was a mixed experience ... with so many great Chinese restaurants, we aren't returning to...

My girlfriend and I have been eating here since this location first opened. We fell in love with the Chef's Special Dry Chili Beef and their Shredded Garlic Pork. It's our usually go to items on the menu. However, this experience I had today was one that I can never forget or forgive.

Today, we ordered our usual Dry Chili Beef and Garlic Pork. When they came out, the Chili Beef looked different and off color. I took a bite of it, and it tasted like pork and salty, nothing like we remembered it to be. So I asked the waitress, and she said it was beef however if we would like to order something in replace of it, she would be happy to do so. After looking over the menu, we decided on Mongolian Beef Tenderloin. The Mongolian Beef arrives and I try it, I will kid you not, they literally took the Salty Dry Chili Beef we didn't like, covered it in the Mongolian Beef sauce, and served it to us. I looked through other people's Yelp reviews and pictures, and the beef they used in for the Mongolian Beef were actual tenderloins.

Not wanting to cause a scene, we asked for the check and left. We will never be coming back to this restaurant or recommending it to...