Szechuan Express

This is my go-​to restaurant in South Oakland. Where else can you get a heaping plate of food and a drink for under eight dollars? Keep in mind that this restaurant has two menus. I recommend the traditional Chinese one. If you’re that guy who order General Tso’s or sesame chicken, then you’re wasting your time here because what you just ordered is not in fact food but filth. Next time order real Chinese food.
The stir fried pork with green pepper is spot on with its authenticity and flavor profile. The average American will need to get a little adventurous in order to truly enjoy this place. Take a look around you, are any of the native Chinese ordering orange chicken? No way. Remember, there are two menus; do yourself a favor and order from the one that the Chinese use.
Also, Jason is really a lifesaver. In case you’re wondering what that means, just know that he’s always got his customers’ backs and never ceases providing excellent food with expedient service.

First few times, it was great. But then… I got orange chicken. I was shocked the orange was bitter and rotten.
My son this week was sickened by the shredded pork. Cheap but not worth the agony he suffered.

Nicest owner and staff in the city. The interior is rough but the food is AWESOME despite being ridiculously cheap and fast.

what’s working for them is that they are super fast (my food came out in 5 min) and you get to choose from a million different options. you will probably find what you want to eat. I also like that photos of their entire menu is taped onto the walls. it’s pretty useful! the photos are actually what the food will look like. I got the spicy peppered chicken for lunch and honestly I don’t think that’s how la zi ji is supposed to be made, but it was only like $ 7 – 8 for a decent portion. won’t complain. (also, one of my favorite Chinese songs was playing in the background, so how could I be mean to this place.)
Taste | 2
Atmosphere | 3
Presentation | 3
Service | 3
OVERALL | 2.5

I love this place. Been going for a while. Used to love the chicken and garlic sauce but they changed it. They overcook the chicken now. Been sampling the authentic Chinese dishes and man, what a nice change. My favorite is the Taiwanese Crispy Fish. Some of the best food I have ever eaten. Ignore and do not try the Beef Ribs and Shrimp dish. Gosh, it was gross beyond words. But I love this place. And if you look around you see the folk from Asia and what better indication is that that you’re getting the good stuff.

The name Szechuan EXPRESS should be a hint to everyone who rips this place apart, that they are a business that focuses on quick service Chinese food. Based on the exterior of the building, you should not have super high expectations. A more «dive» style restaurant, this place is great for cheap Chinese food, conveniently located in a college environment. More authentic than other places, you can’t beat the prices that range from $ 5 and up. They also offer more than 150 menu options.
While they offer General Tso’s chicken, egg rolls, and other Americanized dishes. I haven’t tried them. I know people can be very reluctant to try new dishes but step outside of your comfort zone and for such a cheap price, what do you have to lose? For example, 辣子鸡 (salty pepper chicken), 三杯鸡 (3 cups basil chicken), 小炒肉 /​小炒鸡 (seasoned beef or chicken). These dishes do not come in the styrofoam containers that most dishes will receive. They come in a plastic bowl with a clear top.
If you go at peak hours, it can be very hard to find seating. But take a look around and see that the reason you can’t find a seat is because of all the Chinese people eating there. That should indicate to you that the food is decent, even for them. One of my Chinese friends eats here almost every day. As others have said, look around what they are eating, and if it looks good, just ask what the dish is.
Order in Chinese and you’ll get a small discount.

Kinda put off a little by the snell and its cobstant use of styrofoam and plastic for everything and both dine in and out. And everytime i try something new here instead of the usuals, i immediately realized why i always go for the usual.

Tons of options, not very good food, but cheap. The second star is because they are quick and cheap. Sometimes, that’s what you need.

Great place for college students. Cheap, fast, and decent food. It is definitely for the college students who are trying to escape the dining hall food.
The food is cheap but very greasy and not spectacular. I did enjoy my meal but would advise against the fried rice because it is too greasy. Get steamed if you are in the mood for rice. Also, they charge for fortune cookies which bugged me but the large helpings made up for it.

This place has a lot of options on their menu. The problem is that if you go for the super cliché chicken and rice, or broccoli and chicken, it may not turn out as good as their other menu items. I like to get their Taiwaneese Noodle Soup. The pork is well cooked, and the broth is really tasty, though it can be a little bit on the salty side.
If you come here, be daring and get something that you haven’t tried before. It’s always a nice dinner before an evening class.

Fast service, great price. Don’t order the wonton soup, it has no flavor at all. Cold Sesame noodles are good, very peanuty almost sweet. Tai Chi chicken is delicious. Fried rice leave much to be desired.
Dont seek it out, but good in a pinch.
Im bummed because the wonton soup is really what i wanted and it was the worst of the items i ordered.

The place is small, cramped, dark, and dirty. However, they have cheap food and large portions (enough to last me two to three meals). If you order in Chinese, they give you an extra discount. The food is made really quickly – under five minutes, usually.
The food itself isn’t that great. Everything is either too greasy, drowning in sauce, or both. Also, I wish they’d fill the boxes with less rice and more of the entrée. I’ve had the beef noodle soup, which is flavorful but greasy. Both the beef and broccoli and chicken and eggplant dishes had too much sauce. I rarely go; usually, I bring people here only because they’re curious about the cheap Chinese food.

If I was able to take away the one star that I gave this restaurant, I would. The food was pure trash. I had to pay a $ 12 minimum plus a delivery fee and when the driver arrives, she expected me to leave my warm home and run out to her car in the rain. The whole purpose of delivery is to ‘deliver’ the food to me.
I ordered their General Tso’s chicken but there was a memo that I didn’t get. They decided to substitute my chicken for tofu, which I personally think is the most disgusting thing known to man. It was so bad I threw the shit away and ordered a pizza. Definitely a waste of the 90 long minutes I waited for delivery from a place that’s a mile away.
The best part of my meal was the shrimp rolls. Not that they were exquisite or anything but they were edible and had actual shrimp. The fries were soggy.
If you want Chinese food, stay away from this place. Don’t be lured by their cheap prices. It’s cheap for a reason. You have been warned!

Good food, decent price. Got the chicken lo mein. Wish they cleaned the place a bit more though

Honestly one of my favorite Asian food joints in Oakland. It’s cheap and the portions are huge, so as a college student, it fills all of my expectations. I’ve gotten their veggie egg rolls a few times and wasn’t a huge fan because it was basically filled only with cabbage so I wouldn’t get it again. Their tofu dishes are always great– my favorite is General Tso’s. Last time I went, they gave me the wrong tofu dish, but that was great, so I’m not too upset about it.
They’re fast, cheap, and conveniently located; I’ll definitely go there again.

Terrible. Really, that is the only word you need — don’t bother reading more because «terrible» really sums up the dining experience at Szechuan Express.
We ordered via grubhub’s app. I ordered General Tso Shrimp, shrimp fried rice and a small extra white rice. The app offered a coupon so with 2 sodas I met the minimum to add on a free Young Chow fried rice. Yea! Here comes dinner!
Delivery took a reasonable amount of time. The bag arrived and everything is packaged in Styrofoam. Two things here: 1. Who uses Styrofoam anymore? it is terrible for the environment and 2. Styrofoam makes everything inside soggy. Yuck. And the sodas arrived warm. I guess they thought we’d like them for later or they are just too lazy to make the cokes cold.
At this point I notice that there are not only zero fortune cookies but zero packets of condiments. My kid was super bummed about the no-​cookie bit (me too). Now for the food.
General Tso Shrimp. The shrimp are fried in a heavy batter, like a thick, cheap tempura. Since the batter takes longer to cook it does not take a genius to figure out that the shrimp is so over cooked that if you are lucky it is only just rubbery. Half of them were bone-​dry and hard. Yes, they were that over cooked. I included a photo — the shrimp is a the bottom and is so shriveled that it looks just like the gummy tempura batter. Disgusting. (psst — try this at How Lee — AMAZING)
Shrimp Fried rice. Wow. This was even worse. How they managed to hit both salty and bland is beyond me. The after taste was weird and off. It coated inside your mouth like dirty grease. One bite and the rest in the garbage.
Young Chow Fried Rice. I have had this before from a different place and that place was awesome. This one… and I am not exaggerating… made my daughter cry when I told her that was her dinner. Yes, full tears. I took a closer look and totally got it. I included a photo of it. The pork looks like jerky. I think there was chicken in it, who knows. It looked like vomit. I am not sure I would feed this to a dog it looked so unappetizing. The shrimp looked ok comparatively. No one ate this.
The white rice… yes, the ONE thing EVERY Chinese food place should be able to get right was even dry. Scraped up dry bits from the side and bottom.
It’s been just over an hour — and yeah, I ate some, like an idiot. I was starving. Now I feel sick, that bloaty, nauseous feeling with a slight headache bad food feeling…
Terrible. Just terrible.
edit: 9÷3÷2014 — the business and I had a colorful back and forth about my review over the weekend and the manager indicated that in order to have a satisfying meal that the diner should only eat in or pick up — that the delivery changes the quality of the meal.
While I have my own opinions about this it appears that he likely also complained to Unilocal about my photos (and likely my review) of the meal I was served by his restaurant. these images, most notably, showed a shrimp so completely over cooked that it had shrunk to about ¹⁄₃ of its normal size and was swimming inside of the breading. the other image showed dry, unappetizing fried rice.
What struck me the most about our emails was what I perceived as a complete lack of professionalism and inability to listen to feedback from a customer. Further, if he feels delivery is the issue when why offer it? To be honest, the delivery was the only thing that met expectation — it arrived within 45 minutes. I have ordered take out from a wide variety of places and have had great meals with it taking even longer to get to me.
so, bottom line for me? the kid who is managing this restaurant pretty much reinforced my opinion of his business. there are a LOT of options out there in this category and i will happily spend my money at any of those before I spend another penny with this place.

Literally a shish hole. Yes it’s cheaper than all the other asian food places in Oakland, but what I paid for was barely edible. How about you give me $ 5 and I’ll give you a plate of lard.
Will not come here again! Spend the extra 50 cents and cross the street to Taiwan or Sushi Boat for more decent food.

A restaurant with an identity crisis. On the one hand, the fact that they have around 150 dishes on their menu, mostly around the $ 5 – 7 range, caters clearly to the college students in the area and those seeking fast and cheap Americanized Chinese food. Conversely, if you order the right items, then you can get a pretty good value meal, but don’t expect any high-​quality mainland dishes.
My tip: Look around at what some of the Chinese customers are having, and you’ll probably have better luck with them. Their noodle soups, in particular the beef are usually quite large and very satisfying. On the other hand, I dared to try some of their new, more ethnic, dishes when they expanded their menu a few months ago, such as the Spicy Chicken, but they leave much to be desired.
It is well known that they may offer certain discounts if you order in Chinese, but even if you can’t the food is cheap enough as it is. The eating environment is not very attractive, and it can get crowded and loud while the tables and trays aren’t exactly clean. Mainly an eat and go type of place.

Fast, cheap… for a reason.
All their dishes are swimming in a combination of grease, sauce, salt, oil, and god knows what else. Of course I wasn’t expecting authentic Chinese food, but this wasn’t even good Americanized Chinese food. This was one of the few restaurants that messed up Chinese food. My friend I went here with got sick off the stuff, I wouldn’t recommend trying this place if your stomach can’t handle it.
I got the vegetable delight with garlic sauce and my friend got the shrimp lo mein. The dishes are hard to mess up but somehow this place accomplished it. In my vegetable delight there was way too much cabbage stem and not enough of anything else.
My friend’s noodles were bathed in soy sauce, she tried to sequester it into one pocket but to no avail for it pooled over to the other compartments.
One good thing about this place is that there is a HUGE selection. The walls are covered with their menu so that’s a positive. However, the prices and selection are still not tempting enough to make me go a second time.

The best valued food in the city, probably. For the $ 5 you pay for, you get a crap ton of food. Greasy? Yes? Salty? Yes. Possibly drowned in msg. But damn good for a cheap meal. I probably only finish half of it each time.
Order in Chinese, and pay $ 5 for the meal last time I went.