Szechwan Restaurant

I’m curious as to how «Richard P.» managed to order from this restaurant up till ⁸⁄₁₃ when the place closed for good on 3÷1÷13. Now, that’s a pretty good trick!

I’m so sad to find out that our favorite restaurant has closed! My husband and I have been regulars for over 5 years. Mark was our waiter and since we always ordered the same dinner special he wouldn’t even take our order-​he would just start bringing our food out the minute we sat down. Sounds crazy but my heart is broken. Szechwan you will be missed, even your mismatch décor and dishes.

Great food. Moo Shu Pork, Green Beans & Tangerine Chicken all good. Staying in Jolly Roger across street. Delivery took less time than placing the order.

Szechwan is the bomb! The cashew chicken here is one of the best things you can get, anywhere, on Earth. Seriously, it’s that good. Also, try the shrimp in garlic sauce and the Kung Pao Beef if you’re feeling manly enough. The prices are excellent, and the location doesn’t necessarily require that you carry a firearm. But then again, I always carry a firearm.
I’ve been eating 3 times a week lunch at Szechwan Restaurant for about six or seven years. It’s my favorite place, the food never disappoints, and it’s only 5 minutes from my work. There are plenty of options in the area, but there only one Szechwan. I’ve eaten everything on the menu, best stuff is:
Soup #5 with any of the following;
Chicken #3, 4, 6, 10
Beef #1 & 8
Shrimp #9 & 10
One an ironic note, I’ve never even eaten in the restaurant. I always call in and pick up. May have to do something about that one day, but why fix it if it ain’t broke?
This place is OK. I’d give it 4 stars most of the time, 5 stars for the walnut shrimp, lol. The prices are pretty decent considering what non-​fast food cost in the area, and the people there are pretty nice. Not at all like the Seinfeld episode «The Chinese Restaurant», but that’s probably stereotypical. Not meant to be, just though it was funny. Anyways, try it out sometime, you may find it to be a reliable inexpensive standby.

Decent prices, subpar food and service. Had the Kung pao chicken and beef and broccoli, both were heavily sauced and salty (even more than most Chinese food.) The wonton soup was good but the egg flower was not, it was like drinking raw eggs.

Sad to say my favorite neighborhood Chinese restaurant is CLOSED! :-(

The Chinese food on the west side of LA sucks. I had high hopes that Szechwan would offer me the quality, affordable, non-​greasy go-​to Chinese food that a bachelor needs to survive. Sadly, it did not give me much to rave about.
I got the kung pao tofu ($ 9) and the «fried tofu with vege» ($ 9) and brown rice ($ 1.50). First the good: the portion sizes are gigantic. You’ll have enough food for probably four or five meals if you’re a single person.
Now the bad: the food isn’t that tasty. The fried tofu with vege was über bland and covered in s sauce that had no flavor. Also, they seem to only use silken tofu at this restaurant which, in case you don’t know, does NOT fry well at all. The end result was big slabs of silken tofu crumbling apart all over the dish.
The kung pao had a slightly tastier sauce but, whereas the last dish was too liquid, this one was too thick. I think they dumped a box full of cornstarch in the dish because it was akin to eating molasses. And, again, they tried to fry the silken tofu with disastrous results.
The only reason this place gets two stars is because the service was really friendly, and the portion sizes are huge. That said, I won’t be back because it’s just not any good.

I am a supportor. This place is underrated. Because they always close the door and never light up their sign. The food selection is much bigger than the Thai place across the street. All Chinese places are depressing anyways, you are here to enjoy the tasty food. I have to say the egg drop soup is the bomb.

My niece and I have been coming to this restaurant for several years, as it is on my way home from work.
It is not a stunning place.
The food isn’t top notch.
Why do I return?
The wallpaper and decorations are kitschy enough to keep me coming back. When I think of classy Chinese, about 30 years ago, this place would be exactly what I pictured. It is run down. Tables are sticky. Booths are sagging and torn. It is kinda dark inside. There is a smell of old cooking oil (but not in a gross way.) It is lived in and I like that.
The servers are accommodating and helpful.
I try something new every visit. This last visit I asked for the BBQ pork egg fu young. I am not entirely sure that the egg fu young patties were made fresh, but the rest of the it was. It was tasty. I asked for the dinner special, which is an extra $ 2.50 with any entrée. it comes with soup, egg roll, a pork spare rib, and a wonton and white rice. I don’t care for spare ribs, so my niece ate it for me. I didn’t mind the egg roll. (I’m super picky about them.) The wonton was fine.
I asked for the hot and sour soup. It was tasty. I liked that it had lots of different textures and flavors, without being too overpowering by any one flavor. i haven’t had a good one in a long time and this one hit the spot.
My niece asked for the appetizer platter. She ate most everything on it. There were fried shrimp, pork spare ribs, egg rolls, wontons and chicken skewers.
It is a comfortable place with some Americanized Chinese food, but prices are still more than reasonable and portions are on the larger side. They do a good takeout business, too.

This is one of those old school Chinese restaurants you don’t see much anymore. I miss places like this. The décor isn’t anything to write home about but the food is solid for the price. I went in for lunch one day and got the Kung Pao chicken lunch special. For $ 6.25 I got a large portion of chicken, steamed rice, a salad and hot & sour soup. The chicken had the right type of spicy sauce, which for some reason is becoming harder to find. When did Kung Pao change? Most places these days don’t know how to prepare it correctly. I always end up with some generic sauce and things like zucchini when I order it at different restaurants. Some places don’t even put peanuts in it anymore. Anyway, this place still does it right.
The rest of the meal was pretty standard. The hot & sour was flavorful and had that thick, cornstarch-​thickened consistency that I like. The salad was pretty basic– iceberg, fried wontons and a rice vinegar dressing, but who’s going for the salad?
Free parking in the lot east of the building.

You get what you pay for! with that being said, where in the Venice area can you get a decent lunch for under $ 10? well here you can! salad, soup and an entrée all for ten bucks or less (depends on what you get, some dishes are pricier but the lunch special is always less than ten bucks) and your entrée comes with white rice and for desert you get your fortune cookie with a hot pot of tea to wash it down.
Yeah maybe a little too of the same flavors just with different meats, but its alright Chinese food in a sit down setting for fast food prices. I’m working my way through the menu but so far I recommend the Kung Pao Shrimp and the sweet and pungent shrimp.
I eat here at least once a week since I work down the street and I enjoy going. My boss can eat here daily if he had the option.
So if you don’t want to pay more than $ 10 and can handle decent Chinese food in a relax setting here is the place.

Took an hour and a half for delivery, really bad customer service on the phone.
After all that, food was really bad, worse than generic Chinese, single flavor slimy and generally unappealing.
I would never return and would recommend you do the same!

We eat here at least once or twice a week, the reviews below are not at all what it seems, I think sticking to the more traditional dishes such as the Sweet and Sour Chicken and Wonton Soup, along with some Garlic Sauteed Spinach, would be a ideal choice for anyone.
Don’t look past this place I think its great and the wonton Soup is perfect because its not overly loaded with items its got the wonton, and the spinach and broth, just perfecto! The Sweet and Sour Chicken the breading and sauce is wonderful because its just the right amount of breading with good portion of chicken along with the Garlic Sauteed Spinach, its not over loaded or oily at all, its perfect.
I think you ought to try it!

The mystery meat in the sizzling pork looked and tasted suspiciously like the mystery meat that was in the beef with broccoli. These disturbing meat analogs are then doused in goopy sauces that are either too sweet or generally flavorless. I believe they need to lay off the cornstarch in their sauces, but hey, I could be wrong.
Owing to the dearth of actual Chinese people in Marina del Rey, and the overwhelming existence of white people in their place, the spiciness of these dishes is at a level that the average elderly grandparent will find inoffensive. That might be good for old Gam Gam’s digestive tract, but it sucks for anyone who likes their Szechuan food to even remotely resemble Szechuan food. I would recommend to anyone eating here that you slam as many Tsingtaos as possible before the food arrives.
And lastly, I know this place is terrible because it has received the seal of approval from my father, who has the discerning palate of a cadaver dog.

Wow. After having so many horrible Chinese experiences on the westside, I was pleasantly surprised. Had the broccoli beef lunch special — not bad! Can’t wait to try the rest of the menu :)
Oh and the lady on the phone who took our order was so nice. Big plus in my book

Great

Where else can you have a huge bowl of Chinese Vegetable Soup for $ 3.95? The waitress ladles it into small bowl for me. The soup stock is like no other in town. It’s for real, not from aseptic boxes, not from powdered, cubed vegetable stock packages. Taste the difference. I take home the leftover soup and it’s just as good or better the next day. No Chin Chin for me.
The Mapo Tofu remains a favorite and the 3 kinds of greens dish packs a powerhouse of vitamins, watch out free radicals!
It’s only the ambience that is lacking. I agree with Joan S. the booths are comfortable. Wish they played Chinese music. Wish I knew Chinese, then I could read the wallpaper. WIsh a lot of things for this restaurant, which hopefully will stay in business through these hard times.

WTF happened to this place?
I used to come here often for take out. My favorite items on the menu were the cashew nut chicken and the wonton soup.
Yesterday, I was feeling under the weather and I thought wonton soup would be really awesome.
I go over there and ordered the wonton soup and the chicken cold noodle in sesame and peanut sauce, just to try something new.
Well, I barely had to wait to get my food and I was headed back home.
I get home, take out the wonton soup and it’s pathetic looking. There are 6 wontons, broth, and a bunch of fresh spinach leaves on top. OK… I could have just made this myself. Back in the day, there was more wontons swimming around in it.
The chicken cold noodle in sesame and peanut sauce was also something I would have made at home. Shredded chicken, noodles, bits up peanuts, with peanut sauce.
Overall, the taste of both of these items were lacking. This place used to serve up some great tasting food. Looks like they don’t anymore.
I’m giving 2 stars for the food and 1 star for the service. They are always really friendly here.

I used to go here very often to take out their lunch specials, yet somehow, I stopped for awhile. Today, I was in the mood for some Chinese food so I ordered the mu shu pork, sweet and pungent chicken, and the walnut shrimp lunch specials to go.
Their lunch specials come with a choice of soup (I always get hot and sour), an egg roll, and white rice. If you eat there, they give you a plain lettuce salad with some sweet and tangy dressing and some crispy noodles on top.
I think their food is good although I tend to stick to the same dishes each time. I think the lunch specials are a good bargain because they are very reasonable and have a good selection of dishes to choose from.
It’s a challenge finding a good Chinese restaurant in the Marina area. I used to like Hop Li out there, but then they closed.

Well, from the previous reviews it appears you will either love this place or hate it.
Last night I loved it.
The entire time I was eating, I was thinking: five stars. With every bite.
I cannot believe how long I’ve lived in the area and never ventured inside this restaurant. There’s a big free parking lot next to the place, so lack of parking is no excuse. We found a spot right away even though the lot was mostly full at prime time Saturday night.
The interior is old-​skool cool & impressively cute.
There are comfy booths & interesting décor, including some nice murals & wall hangings.
According to my companion, this place has been at its current location «forever».
Service was friendly and our food arrived quickly. Good, because we were starved, and had ordered hot Sake to drink on our empty stomachs…
My date had a chicken with almonds dish, which I tasted, and it was delish. We shared an order of sauteed string beans… amazing, so tasty.
I ordered shrimp with mixed veggies.
The mushrooms were tender, shrimp were perfectly cooked, even the broccoli was perfect. And I am picky about broccoli… it better not be undercooked or I am not a happy camper.
There was nothing not to like as far as food, service, prices and ambiance. Portions were very generous… even though we were starved when we arrived, we took home half of my shrimp dinner and part of the chicken dish.
Including the decanter of Sake, the meal cost $ 38 before tip.
I want to go back for more today, and maybe we will.