Little Szechuan 川国演义 — Restaurant in San Francisco

I’m going to review the foods I’ve had here so I can’t comment on the negative reviews surrounding (what I find to be) obscure Chinese food.

As a heads up, this is AMERICAN Chinese food. Nothing authentic here. At least based on the quality of the more Americanized dishes that I’ve had: which were delicious!

My wife and I have tried the orange chicken, king pao chicken, Mongolian beef, Mongolian chicken, dumplings, and braised string beans.

DELICIOUS. Here’s why: loads of flavor and spices better than most American Chinese you’d find in the Richmond/Sunset district.

I’m personally a huge Mongolian beef fan, and the way they prepare the spices and cooking is on point! It absolutely melts in your mouth, and having ordered twice two separate occasions (one time drunk another sober) I was impressed that I never once bit into gristle (I find that to be a common issue in most American Chinese cuisine).

Price wise, it’s fair. People will always complain about SF prices, so expect to pay a bit more for the solid quality. Not expensive, not cheap, fair for the city.

I have only ordered takeout, so I can’t comment on the customer service, but the food was ready quick and they provide an insulated bag to keep your food hot.

Wish I took a picture, my goto American Chinese spot...

Wow, okay, Little Szechuan. To-go game supes strong. We were heading for a nearby appointment, and only had 20ish mins to grab a quick bite to-go, so it led us to Little Szechuan. And boy am I glad that it did! It’s been several years, but this used to be one of my nearby, weekly work lunch spot. Mmm mmm, how I’ve missed you.

First of all, major, major props on takeaway packaging. I meannnn the bag alone literally had me saying “oh woww, fanće!” anddd then the waitress chuckled at me and said “thank you”. Anywho, the bag, the boxes, the labels. Top, top notch. Seriously.

Salt and pepper fish & flaming chili oil fish are certainly two of the favs here. And for good reason! If you’re a fried fish lover, the crispness in each bit will have you chowing down the food faster than you expected! And that flaming chili oil. Wow, they were not playing around. If you’re a Sichuan peppercorn lover like me, this fish packs the heat!

I’m so happy and fortunate to be able to support such a wonderful establishment during these difficult times. Will return (hopefully...

Checked out this place when I was in the neighborhood. Every place has a different name for this dish, but I always look for it whenever I'm in a szechuan restaurant. It's basically fried chicken with red szechuan chillies all over. I know it's a signature szechuan dish so I just showed the waiter a picture of it and she said it was J2 on the menu.

I ordered that and my other must-have szechuan dish, Mapo Tofu. To even out the meal, I usually do a pea shoot with garlic or a bok choi with garlic, or basically anything non-spicy for some contrast.

The chicken was perfect. It was exactly what I was looking for and it had the right amount of saltiness and spiciness that it numbs your mouth a little. Very addicting!

If you want to kick it up a notch they have this sauce on each of the tables that's different than what you find at most other Chinese restaurants. It wasn't just some chilies in oil, there was a chunkiness to it. The waiter said it was their homemade recipe.

Anyways, if you're in the neighborhood and looking for something addictively...