Good news - the food is good. Bad news - A 15% gratuity was added to our bill without our knowledge or permission and after we had left a cash tip on the table. The automatically added gratuity was not posted anywhere on the menu or near the cash register. We were not a "big" party - only my husband, son, and me. Also the price on the menu is less than what we were actually charged. The chicken and broccoli is listed as $10.99 (the after 3PM, non lunch special price) and we were charged $11.99. Unfortunately we noticed the mistakes after we were home - an hour away. We will not be going back. read more

Never try the hotpot there. Never. Each meat costs you 7 bucks and only offers 7-8 rolls (so $1 per roll). Meat looks like freezing for a century. Very unfresh. Additional advice: dont go there during busy hours (weekend) The owner of the restaurant seems running out of money to hire more waiters (only 4 girls serving 50 people on a Saturday night?) U wait for a century until someone serves you. In a word, terrible customer experience. read more

Szechuan China - Szechuan Near Me - Champaign, Illinois

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I've been to Szechuan China 4 times now, still amazing and easily the best Chinese in Champaign IMO. Unfortunately, most of the people reviewing Chinese places here non-Chinese (like 90% white people). There's a reason that this place's parking lot is often full of cars; several of my international student friends that have eaten here have all said that they love it. Last time I went with some, one of them said about some of the dishes: "It feels like I'm back in China." If you would like some help with what to order, I highly recommend the following: Chongqing fish filet with pickled vegetables Ox tongue and tripe with chili sauce hot and sour shredded potato eggplant with chili sauce seared cow stomach san bei chicken 我有去过巴蜀川菜四次，这家还是很好吃，对我来讲是香槟最好吃的中餐之一。难怪停车场里经常有很多车。好多中国留学生朋友也都说巴蜀的菜很不错，我上次去的时候有一个北京来的朋友说我们点的东西让他感觉还在中国。我觉得这些菜都太好吃： 重庆酸菜鱼片 夫妻肺片 酸辣土豆丝 鱼香茄子 爆炒牛百叶 三杯鸡 read more

I have been reading reviews on yelp for years when I go to restaurants but finally decided to make an account to review the sorry excuse of a restaurant Szechuan China is. First of we'll start with the food because that's why everyone goes to a restaurant for. This will be quick because I only have one word for it. HORRIBLE. Like most of the other reviews here say the food is super salty. To the point where you can't put the food in your mouth. Everything from the spicy beef dish I ordered to the soup my friend got. Seems like salt is all they have in their kitchen. The portions were small compared to other Asian restaurants around town and the prices were too high for what you get. An all around bad experience. The next thing I have a huge problem with is the owner and management. Reference Mei L.'s review for more about this. When someone close to the owners(or possibly the owner himself) post a false review trying to hurt a competing restaurant (Golden Harbor which is awesome!) then posts a review to make their sorry excuse of a restaurant look good that's when we are going to have a problem. Champaign doesn't need someone like that doing business here. Instead of trying to hurt other restaurants why don't you try to fix your own. I'm starting to believe the rumors that the owner of Szechuan China had a hand in running Layalina out, but that's a whole other story. The owner also kept telling other customers about how he renovated the building and made it look nicer and how much money he put in it. Hey guess what? NO ONE CARES! People came here before when it was Minecci's and just recently Layalina and never said anything about the decor. You know why? Because they had good food unlike your restaurant. So instead of telling people how much money you spent on the decorations why don't you spend a little more for a cook who knows how to use something other than salt. Sorry to anyone who thinks this sounds harsh, but I have problems with people who do business like this. read more

Great food. Great ambience. The server we got was hella funny. Huge portions and yummy. Great for groups. Its pricey (though it was a 25% discount for the grand opening so my bill came out to be $30 for 2 coronas and 2 good dishes that was more than enough for my friend and me) and I paid $4 for corona. I give them 4 stars because I went thirsty for like 15 minutes and I couldn't get their attention, I finally asked my friend, a white male, to get their attention. He got it. And though I was paying the bill, they gave him my credit card. Otherwise, barring the gendered dynamics, pretty decent place to go with a group and hang out and eat. I will go back and try another couple of dishes. read more

Been here twice; a week before a belated grand opening, and during the grand opening. Apparently, this restaurant is positioning itself a bit more like a fine dining options than other restaurants in this town. However, the quality of service is not following the price and napkins. They simply won't come to your table. During the grand opening week, we waited for about 50 minutes for them to take order, re-ask the server to bring the drinks we asked for, and finally get the first dish of food. On the other hand, I liked their food. But the thing is, that the virtue I found in their plates, was more about its blandness (in a good way). I was expecting an extreme spiciness from the name 'Szechuan China.' However, I really should say that I liked their spicy fish and tofu dish before I finish. I would visit this restaurant again for that single dish. read more

It's too salty and little bit pricey~But overall good. Chicken cashew is very tender~

Automatic tipping 15% but the waitress didn't even care to stop by after we ordered the food. The owner was indifferent and seemed to be impatient when we questioned about one of the dishes. Overall don't come to this place!!! I really just want to give zero star!! read more

We had heard about this place from others and decided to give it a try. We were hoping for some authentic Szechuan dishes. We ordered the lunch special which featured an entree', a side of rice and a soda or cup of soup and we ordered an appetizer. Wow! Big disappointment on all levels.... Food came out cold and oily. The entrees we ordered were extremely bland. I had beef and stir-fry vegetables. Though I was asked by the waitress if I wanted it spicy or mild (I asked for spicy) it was delivered mild and luke-warm. My companion ordered a spicy potato dish and her's arrived luke-warm, mild and tossed with an overabundance of fresh garlic. The soups we were served, (hot & sour and egg drop) were thick and had a gelatin-like consistency. I'm assuming this may have been too much corn starch or thickener used. They were also luke-warm. Prior to any food service we received a small dish consisting of a hard boiled egg atop a pile of boiled peanuts. The peanuts were soft and somewhat sweet. My companion liked both and finished the small dish. We shared an order of pot stickers. Those arrived with a cold center and very oily. We had to call the hostess came over as no one came back to ask about our meal and we sent the pot stickers back and asked for chili oil for our bland entrees. Was considering coming back and giving this place a second shot but the deal breaker was finding out that debit cards/credit cards are not accepted for purchases under $15. Now before you think i'm some sort of Asian food snob I'm not. I just ask for flavorful, hot food that I can pay for with credit or a debit card if i am short of cash. This place alas is not accommodating in this area. Was only able to give this place one star, sorry... but out of food, service and pricing 1/3 is not enough to get this diner to come back. Ever. read more

Szechuan China - Beef and Vegetables, Egg drop soup, pork potstickers, szechuan potatoes with fried rice & hardboiled egg with soft peanuts - Szechuan Near Me - Champaign, Illinois

Szechuan China easily has the best Chinese food I've eaten in CU, but they're lacking in consistency. 3.5 stars if I could. First, the bad: I've been here five times with friends and each time one of the dishes we order comes out looking like garbage, tasting extremely bland, or both. Once it was the spicy string bean (sijidou), which had no flavor at all. Just today, the "fine shred potato with spicy capsicum" (tudousi) I ordered came out gray. I'm just so confused - how do you stir fry potatoes and make them gray? I've ordered the same exact dish before, and the potatoes were a beautiful shade of gold. All of that said, though, the food here is great when the chefs are on-point. The mapo tofu, ox tongue, eggplant dishes, and twice cooked pork are all authentic and tasty Sichuan staples. It's on par with the stuff I've eaten back in Los Angeles, and approved by my friend from Sichuan. And really, the proof is in this place's popularity with the Chinese crowd. Even on a random Wednesday night, the place is packed with Chinese families waiting to get a taste of Sichuan. P.S. I'm Chinese. This means I get tons of advantages over other reviewers: I don't make the mistake of ordering one dish for myself and not eating family style (i.e. dishes are supposed to balance each other out, not dominate your mouth with one flavor for an hour). I know what I'm getting before it comes to the table, and what it should taste like. I know not to order off the American menu. It's disappointing to see that things like these fuel bad reviews when its a culture clash rather than a food issue. read more

I did takeout. They make a nice minced chicken-corn-egg drop soup that I love ordering when I'm unwell. But I cannot believe that quality control is so shoddy that I found a piece of METAL in my soup. That's just dangerous. I also found a lone sprout but finding metal in your food really takes the cake. read more

Worst restaurant I have ever been in US！I wait 30+ min for a two dishes take out when there are only on table of 2 before me. when I come in to pick up there are big table of people already have their food but the come after me. when I ask why my food not ready they told me because there are other people in the restaurant？！ are you kidding me？only one table of 2 before me that's a 30+ min wait？you should never open a restaurant but join the tortoise running game. even terrible when I make phone order，I ask what shoup do you have and she said name of a soup，and I said what else？she said another？！aren't you able to list all soup at a time？ read more

Never ever eat here. They could not be any less professional and disgusting. I waited an hour for food and the delivery person could not even find my apartment let alone give me directions to find them. EatStreet was not helpful and as someone in the restaurant industry I've never been so angry. If I wanted to leave my apartment for food I would have gone to the restaurant. I will never eat here again or use Eatstreet. read more

I just had a order delivered from this restaurant. While the food was decent I am really surprised with the rude attitude of the delivery guy. First he called me and started blabbering in Chinese, it took him full two minutes to realize that I don't speak Chinese. I mean come on! why on earth you'd just assume that nobody other can Chinese can order Chinese food online! Then he calls me again from downstairs and told me that he is at my gate. I live in an apartment complex that does not have a locked entrance. When I asked him to bring the delivery to my apartment at 3rd floor he hung up on me and came up a couple of minutes later, didn't respond to my 'Hi", almost threw the package at me and left. I am seriously shocked to see such rudeness! I'm not sure how you stay in business with this level of professionalism! Never going to this place ever again or ordering anything online, ever again! read more

I feel very bad writing a negative review about a restaurant that clearly is popular. But I must be honest. A little over a week ago, my wife and I decided to try Szechuan China. When we walked into the place we were encouraged, because we were the only Anglos there. If Asians liked it, it must be good! And for all I know, it is outstanding according to genuine ethnic standards. The hostess was very friendly, as was our waiter, although he did not appear to understand that, when there are a gazillion items on a menu, diners should not be expected to order within three minutes of being seated. When our orders arrived (rather quickly, in fact), both were feasts for the eyes. Everything was great thus far. But that's where the feast ended. My wife ordered a dish that featured mushrooms and tofu. Although beautiful to look at, it was tasteless. We both decided that they must not have added any flavorings to it--it appeared to be just mushrooms and tofu, nothing else (except for, presumably, the cornstarch that created the lovely thickness of the sauce). My entree, a Szechuan dish featuring poached fish in a very hot chili sauce, at first impressed me with its zing. But after a minute or so, I began to taste the salt. Wow! I grew up with traditional Texas cuisine, which means that I was pretty much pickled in sodium chloride by the time I was in my teens--so saltiness is not inimical to my taste buds. But this was beyond the pale. I was still tasting the salt half an hour after I got home, even after rinsing my mouth several times with water. (I should also mention that the dish overflowed with oil.) Because we are impecunious, we never leave food on our plates at a restaurant; we even carry rather substantial containers in our car so that we don't have to ask for unecological Styrofoam containers. Yet this is the first time in our many years of marriage that we have left substantial portions of restaurant dishes on our plates. I was able to eat only about a third of my food before the extreme saltiness forced me to stop eating. My wife ate about a fourth of her entree before its tastelessness led her to stop eating. And we had absolutely no desire to take the leftovers home. I fixed some snacks for us after we got home to satisfy our still-significant hunger. To their credit, the kind folks at the restaurant offered to give us a discount (which we refused). We left a generous tip. We understand it's possible that we happened to order dishes that were anomalously poor. But we figure that, as rarely as we eat out, we dare not risk another fifty bucks by returning to Szechuan China. read more

I went with two of my co workers. I got the generals chicken. It was crispy. Burnt black crispy. My co worker got the hunan beef which was 90% fat and cheap meat. The tea tasted like soap water. They brought the food out one order at time with minutes in between. When we got our check we asked to split it. They responded "no split check" and told us that there was a 20 dollar minimum if you use debit or credit cards. Oh and the lunch didn't come with a egg roll, and no fortune cookies after the meal. Will never return. read more

My partner and I were excited to try this place; we both love Chinese food and spicy dishes and we love supporting local businesses. I ordered from the vegetarian portion of the menu and the dish that came looked interesting but it was about 50% fish. I explained that I don't eat animals at all and since the dish was in the vegetarian section and didn't specifically say it contained animals, I was expecting a vegetarian dish. The waitress asked if I liked vegetables (really) and suggested a tofu and bok choi dish. I was a bit apprehensive because "tofu and bok choi" tends to be incredibly boring, but as the staff recommended it, I thought it must be a good choice. NOPE! The dish was swimming in translucent, viscous, whitish sauce that lacked any flavor besides salt. I ate a few pieces of tofu and they were bland and squishy, the bok choi was limp and similarly flavorless. I didn't bother trying the frozen carrot cubes or peas that were floating in the sea of slime. After a few minutes, the sauce began to congeal. It was, quite frankly, disgusting. A server asked if I liked the dish and, trying to be nice, I told her it was very bland and not to my tastes. She asked if I wanted to take it to go (uh, no) and when I said I did not, she picked it up, made a strange face, sticking out her tongue, and took it away. I don't know if she didn't see that I was looking at her or if she was sympathizing. I'm sad to say, the rice wasn't even good. My partner did like his dish and said the fishy tofu was pretty good but also had a slimy sauce. They charged us for all 3 dishes and a 15% tip on top of it! The tip wasn't indicated anywhere that we could see, so basically it's a rip off. read more

Real authentic spicy Szechuan Chinese cuisine so don't go in there with expectations of watered-down American-Chinese food like the average Joe's General Tso's chicken (although they do serve some American-Chinese cuisine here). Mapo tofu is the bomb - just one spoonful of the soup in your mouth and the next thing you know your tongue goes numb from the spice and you start sweating everywhere. If you love spicy food this is where you go to. The service was a-OK but the manager here is a nice guy. read more

Only flavor of this food was salt. Too expensive, small portions and horrible flavor. Spend your money at Golden Harbor where you get some good food and real value. read more

Tried hot pot there.. it is not so good. Spicy but not tasty... I would never go there again.

I've tried the place three times. Two for takeout around 5-6pm. Each time there's no one at the front of the house. The wait staff just glance at you and do nothing to move the process forward. The portions are a bit too small. I'm going to try them 2-3 more times, but if nothing stands out to me, I will hit up Golden Harbor more. read more

Food arrived ice cold as if just taken out of the fridge. I'd caution against ordering delivery from this establishment.

I want to let everyone in the Champaign Urbana area to know NOT to waste their time and money here. I visited saturday night around 8 with my friend and it was possibly the worst experience I had in a restaurant here in town. We ordered a few dishes to share between us that ranged from seafood to beef and everything was....you guessed it SALTY. I feel like we asked for salt and decided to add beef to the dish. The portions were small and the prices were insane. $40 for something I could get for $20 at any other Asian restaurant in town. Plus the forced tip on top of the bill was a major problem with us. We are not cheap but we don't like having it shoved down our throat. Save your money and go somewhere else! read more

The first time I came to this place was when it first opened, and it was absolutely amazing. I think I have the right to say that since I tried 6 of their dishes! I came here about a month later, and it was so crowded. Everyone was so busy, and all our food were not prepared the same way at all. I was pretty disappointed, but I'm sure this review will help them improve. This restaurant has amazing potential! read more

They served me rotten meat. I repeat they served me rotten meat. I have eaten at this place numerous times and almost always had a pleasant experience. Until this evening. I ordered several dishes to go and opened my food at home. My family was eating just fine until we encountered a rotten chicken wing. This was severely disturbing because any time there is rotten meat served at a restaurant it means there is poor hygiene and poor quality control. If this cardinal restaurant rule is broken it means that their systems are not in order. So, I packed up all of the food from the dinner table and drove back to the restaurant. I politely went inside to inform the owner that I had a problem and that I could not eat the meal and I wanted a full refund. I unpacked the food and showed the offending meat and asked them to smell it. They then proceeded to accuse me of lying and threatened to call the police on me. What? They threatened to call the police on me. I repeat, they threatened to call the police on me. I told them go ahead. Do it. Please. Call the police on me for serving me rotten meat and asking for my money back. After this, they proceeded to yell at me in Chinese and called me names. This is after I had patronized their restaurant numerous times and brought my family to eat there to the tune of several hundred dollars over time. They threatened to call the police and have me locked up because they did not want to refund $36.00. Who does this?!!!! What should have ended as a polite exchange became a tense shouting match with them calling me every bad curse word in Chinese in front of Chinese customers in their restaurant. I did not leave until they finally refunded my money while shouting that I would wait until the police arrived. I will never eat there ever again. I advise anyone one who wants to protect their health, do not order food from these people. Clearly, they cut corners, they are unconscionably rude and dishonorable people. They want to protect their money rather than people's health. They could have easily owned their mistake and honored my request. Refunded my meal and apologized. I probably would have returned. People are allowed to make mistakes. BUT, to threaten me with the arm of the law? No. Never eat there. Eat at your own peril. I repeat, they serve rotten meat and don't apologize for it. read more

As a Chinese, I would say: the dish are not as traditional as original spicy Chinese food. But it's absolutely the best in town for spicy Chinese food. read more

I love getting takeout from this place! Its always on time and the food is great! We usually go for the traditional dishes, instead of the americanized ones and haven't been disappointed so far. The twice cooked pork is amazing! read more

Amazing food. I love eating here. The food tastes authentic. I love the dry braised dishes, so yummy!!!!

We've eaten here twice, and it's our favorite Chinese restaurant here in town, although not the cheapest. The quality of the food is excellent and comparable in quality to some of the restaurants in Chinatown in Chicago where I lived for several years. Most recently we went on a Sunday night and ordered shrimp with vegetables and mapo tofu (see my 2 photos). The mapo was tangy, spicy, garlicky, and delicious. The shrimp with vegetables was in an orange/garlic sauce with some baby bok (yum!) and red bell pepper. The shrimp were huge and memorable and I am definitely ordering the dish again in the future. Tasteful decor and polite staff. The restaurant was full of Asian people at dinner time. At weekday lunch it tends to be a different crowd with people coming in for the lunch specials which are smaller portions and limited in entree choices. read more

Szechuan China - mapo tofu, dinner portion. spicy sauce with very fresh large chunks of tofu. - Szechuan Near Me - Champaign, Illinois

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A Sichuan restaurant opened by some one from Fujian. It's just like a restaurant has a name called Illinois and tell you we have they best Kentucky fried chicken. They biggest problem is dishes are salty and price a too high. It won't be in my list any more. read more

Had the hot pot twice and came here for dinner the food is really good, there is some difficulty with speaking and language but depending who your waitress is the problem may not be there. The food is authentic and tasty. read more

This place was amazing! reminded me of the authentic szechuan that I can get from the chinatown at home. i had been dreaming of that shredded potato dish and never thought i would be able to get it here in champaign. if you are looking for standard chinese american fare, you have to remember that szechuan is a lot more spicy, and i love that about it. when i ordered a tofu dish the server asked if it was ok that it had meat and i said of course. So i think they are starting to learn how to be more vegetarian accessible. they also asked if we had any questions about the menu. where i am from the menus for szechuan won't be that descriptive and will not have pictures, i appreciated that they took the time to explain what their dishes are. I also like how they converted the decor of the place. looking forward to trying more stuff on the menu. i love that they brought some heat to this town. read more

I'm not a foodie nor do I even eat out that much but I love this place. Got lunch a couple weeks ago for my most recent visit. Middle of the day and dead inside. Food was still top notch as was the service, even chatted with (I assume) the owner for a bit. Drank only water. Good food, atmosphere, service and price point for a middle of the day visit. Oh and also the girl with that nasty cough from my last visit was not there - bonus! read more