Really disappointed with this place. I've passed by a number of times and finally decided to stop by after I looked at the menu on the window and everything looked good. When I walked in, the place smelled like vinegar, which is not appetizing at all, then the woman who was working was not welcoming, didn't check on me after my food was served nor made any mention of it I had to wait for her to bring a check or if I pay up front. I ordered kung pao chicken, and I'm used to it being savory and spicy, but this one smelled like vinegar and tasted more sour as opposed to spicy. I definitely won't be back. read more

On 05/29/2026 I finally walked into this restaurant. We placed the order but our food tasted like soap. I tried telling the lady who was not very welcoming and all she could say is ok ok. Even after this lady brought us our food she never returned to see if we needed anything else and her just saying ok ok and didn't even do anything about it, I have decided never to go back to this restaurant. They did not rinse their dishes thoroughly and customer service sucks. read more

Highly recommend the spicy boiled fish and the cumin lamb! The fish was so good, the perfect combination of the numbing spice and flavor, flaky and soft. Cumin lamb was full of spice. If i lived closer id be back all the time! Got it to go and it was on time, quick and easy pickup. Everything tasted authentic! Very generous portion sizes as well read more

The food is verydelicious!!! Love it! I will continue to go to their restaurant for dinner when I have the opportunity in the future. read more

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One of the best Chinese restaurants in Orange County. My wife lived in Shanghai for 15 years, and she always says this place is very authentic to mainland China -- some dishes are even better here. The prices are great, the portions are generous, and everything we've tried has been consistently delicious. We come here at least once a week! read more

Tasty Zone - Garlic 79. Eggplant with Spicy Garlic Sauce / 魚 香 茄 子 - Szechuan Near Me - Santa Ana, California

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Empty midday. The fried chicken with peppers was good. Very spicy. Szechuan noodles were flavorful but didn't love the texture of the noodles. read more

Tasty Zone - Szechuan Near Me - Santa Ana, California

I'm so glad I found this Szechuan style place. The kung pow chicken is delicious and I love all the fresh ginger. The beef fried rice is especially good and love the portion size. Service is quick and easy. I enjoy eating both inside and outside the overall ambience is quick and casual without having to compromise for quality! read more

Tasty Zone - Kung pow 56. Tasty Chicken / 饞嘴 土 雞 - Szechuan Near Me - Santa Ana, California

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Came in later at night ( around 7-8) and so there was no one else in store, but the cashier still let us sit down & order! Therefore, we literally got dishes hot off the press. I was pleasantly surprised by this place, they have a variety of protein available ( from frog to rabbit to iintestines) and the food wasn't too msg heavy. It would be a good place to take someone to explore. The portions were decent and had lots of different kinds of chilis ( is spicy) Braised fish- a nice change to the typical spicy fried one. The braised sauce was slightly sweet. Fish was okay, not the freshest Chili oil wonton- can skip. Does taste homemade in the sense that the skin is very QQ ( softer than all dente chew), but filling size is like wonton soup size & not much chili oil. House rabbit- surprised for the price (expected appetiser) the rabbit had a decent amount of meat vs typically seen and nice flavor Cold noodles- nice texture and flavor. Slight mala, would recommend as it wasn't too tangy or sweet, good balance of flavors and fresh spices Tripe- good portion not typical for Chinese restaraunt, but similar style of stir fry Overall, service was nice and kind of left us to our own but attentive to our needs. Narrow space calls for parties of 3-4, order via qr code pay in person at the register. read more

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No notes. Everything was perfect. Fried chciken, shrimp chow mein, and green onion pancake. Perfect. read more

Tasty Zone - Aftermath of the spicy 29. Deep Fried Chicken with Hot Pepper / 辣 子 鸡 - Szechuan Near Me - Santa Ana, California

The food was hot and it was an authentic menu even though I'm not Chinese. Food was worth it. We had saw this place while getting yogurt and decided to try it. It was good. Would go back. Inside was nice and the service good. read more

I've doordashed from Tasty Zone twice in the past month. Currently on a Szechuan kick and craving those peppers bad. I've ordered their chili oil chicken, mapo tofu, cumin beef, intestines deep fried and stir fried. Everything has been really solid and delicious. Highly recommend and my only wish is if everything was even more spicy/numbing! read more

Tasty Zone - Szechuan Near Me - Santa Ana, California

Spicy Szechwan, those numbing peppers Overall, very addictive Needed lots of water. Seems very authentic. read more

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HOT! HOT! HOT! What a hot little nook by South Coast Plaza. We got takeout. I was huffin and puffin and I can't wait till our next stop here. Everything was so flavorful, so spicy, so HOT! read more

Yes to vegetarian/vegan options! Started with the spicy jelly noodle. Really tasty and definitely spicy! Then the deep fried tofu with spicy sauce. The sauce was delicious and the tofu soaked it up nicely. Not super spicy. Finally the stir fried mixed vegetables. This is definitely the most mild, not spicy at all and maybe even a little on the bland side flavor-wise but still a nice reprieve from the more flavorful dishes. Wish some of the veggies were cut smaller though. read more

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Food is terrible. Super salty and too much MSG. I literally throw up after eating the food. Too much salt and too much MSG. Service is as much terrible as the food. The waitress couldn't even say hi and thank you and being super rude. Worst Restaurant ever. Everyone who go there will regret. read more

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Tasty zone is a yummy spicy Chinese restaurant. Newly renovated dive covid it has a fun vibe. It's not a big restaurant so if you are coming at lunch or dinner hours there may be a wait. There is plenty of parking and well located in the shopping center at the corner. The service is good. Nothing over the top but friendly and efficient. The food is yummy and spicy. It is served hot and fresh. The menu is large with a huge variety to choose from spicy, ma la and not spicy. I recommend getting the yogurt if getting spicy if you are not used to it. read more

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Hidden gem in a costa mesa. Excellent food! Reminds me of home (Singapore) Will definitely return. read more

Tasty Zone - Spicy chicken cube SO GOOD - Szechuan Near Me - Santa Ana, California

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Great spot for Sichuan food! Their flavors are all strong and well priced compared to other places. Highly recommend the toothpick lamb, fried spicy chicken in peppers, and chicken in chilli sauce! read more

Yikes this place has progressively gotten worse over the years. I'm all for supporting small businesses, but they're making it hard for me to want to keep coming back. 1. Service just keeps getting worse. You have to make yourself known like when you walk in be sure to say dine in or carry out, or they'll forget you. Also, we're all just trying to live, I get it. But you can say at least say hi and thank you. Just like I say hi and thank you. A little bit of kindness goes a long way. 2. Know your capacity and time your orders better. Needless to say, you'll be waiting a good bit of time for your food. So get cozy in that chair. 3. Price and food quality / portion. The prices keep going up and the food quality and portion sizes get smaller. If the quality remained fresh, that's no problem. But needless to say, I've had my fair share of stomach pains now more than twice and I'm not looking to make it a third time. At first I thought it was an aversion to spice, but I've eaten these same dishes at other restaurants and haven't had these issues like I do here. Hope they can get themselves back in order, but sadly I won't be returning. Good luck. read more

The food here is REMARKABLE and the service is wonderful. We really enjoyed our experience here. Since then, I've come back a couple times on my own to get take out. Great experience all around. Yum-my! Keep in mind- the food is quite spicy! So if that's an issue for you definitely ask for MILD! read more

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This place was SO good. The food was so rich in flavor, it was extremely reasonably priced for how delicious and large the plates were. The service was 10/10, anything we needed, he was right there to help :) Quiet little spot, have no clue why it isn't more busy. My husband and I agreed that this is the best Chinese food we have had in a while. This is a spicy spot, most of their food is spicy options, but there is always an option to bring it to mild or up to Xxhot We got Kungpau Chicken Spicy Sour Wontons Crispy Garlic Pork Shrimp fried rice I can't to come back and try more things off the menu read more

Tasty Zone - 71. Shrimp Fried Rice - Szechuan Near Me - Santa Ana, California

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I forget what type of noodles this was but the order was huuuuuge! Super tasty! This is def a legit spot to check out. Very authentic and mostly puton hua speakers. read more

Tasty Zone - Szechuan Near Me - Santa Ana, California

A hidden gem with accidental vegan options! We've been coming to Tasty Zone for probably 4 or 5 years and love this place for their no-mod vegan options. Every time we get their spicy eggplant and garlic bok choy - those are our staples. It wouldn't be a tasty zone trip without those two. Then we either get the cold spicy noodle with tofu (spicy), the dry tofu (also spicy), or the mapo tofu (also spicy). We eat family style here and usually have enough leftovers for the next day. I have to give major credit to our server last time who when we said we were vegan went above and beyond to check with the kitchen (even though we've been there a dozen times it never hurts to ask). He asked if we wanted our spicy eggplant prepared in a wok instead of deep frying it because of cross contamination. I have to say, no one ever is that thorough so we really appreciated that the chef had suggested that. Also, he informed us that unfortunately the scallion pancakes are NOT vegan. That was a staple until this trip when we discovered that they do use a little butter. Oops! We had asked before and they said they were. Hence, why it's always to ask again ;) read more

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An authentic and spicy experience. Although this place is tucked away in a corner across the street from South Coast, you would be doing yourself a disservice by not visiting. read more

This spot is great for affordable, spicy Chinese food. I typically get one of their noodles to go and the noodles range from $7.99-$9.99. Considering you can easily get full on this, that's a pretty good price. The soups are especially affordable because they come in a big jar, easily enough for two people. Food can be a little oily, but I'm guessing that's because the food is supposed to be Chengdu style and Chengdu is located in Sichuan, an area known for its spicy and oily foods. I recommend going inside to order to go instead of using the menu taped to the window because they have picture menus inside. read more

Tasty Zone - Dan Dan noodles | IG: @bobabitchess - Szechuan Near Me - Santa Ana, California

Poor service. I'm not sure if the lady in the front was having a bad day, but from the moment I walked in, no acknowledgement, nothing. When I was seated and asked a question about the menu, she was not helpful at all. I'm glad I decided to leave and go elsewhere. I read other reviews and it looks like this is very common of her. Would not go back nor do I recommend. read more

The Chef's Special Lamb on a Stick was absolutely delicious. Could not get enough. Perfect crunchy outside, tender inside. Highly recommend. Also had the cabbage and boiled beef. Service was also high quality. read more

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The spicy deep fried tofu is simply amazing. I ordered mapo tofu, husband and wife (cold marinated beef tripe and tendon) and spicy fried tofu. Didn't find the first two dishes impressive. But love the spicy fried tofu. Saucy spicy but not super hot. I ended up ordering this dish three times during my week-long stay in the area. read more

Authentic Szechuan cuisine. If you love spicy food, definitely give this place a try. The flavor of every dish was outstanding. My favorites were the cumin beef, boiled fish, and the Dan Dan noodles. The service here was good. The waiter was very candid and told us we were ordering too much for 3 people. He was right! LOL we definitely had leftovers. I didn't love that they are using paper plates and cups. I understand that it's probably COVID related, but I prefer to not use one-use plates. I will come back to try the mapo tofu. read more

Tasty Zone - Boiled fish and beef - Szechuan Near Me - Santa Ana, California

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I realize this was a Schezuan restaurant, most items were supposed to be volcano hot but I asked the cashier if I could order mild, she said no problem when I got home, everything was so hot, it literally caused my gum to bleed, I had to dilute w water, it was a disaster and unfair, the kidneys were so so good, I haven't had this since I left NYC. The wonton soup was bland and the wonton skin was very thick, 2 stars. The eggplant was just amazingly delicious, 5 stars! I put up w the heat and managed to eat 1/2. I'll consider giving them 1 more chance and I think the food was good but next time I'll open and taste it if it's hot, I'll return it, I worked in the biggest medical center and many older Asians who ate a lifetime of hot kimchees, hot and fermented food, ended up having severe gastric erosion, ulcers and some would get cancer. I love hot food but in moderation, there were like 40 chopped up habaneros in the food!!! read more

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I came here once every other month and the food is really consistent. Some recommendations is their deep fried spicy chicken, their spicy pigs ear, and spicy house beef. Mapo tofu is good and very authentic, not some water down version. My first time here I did not have high expectations because tasty zone names does not scream authentic schechuan. But was very pleasantly surprised. Am sure their toothpick lamb is great too. The egg noodle has a little chew to its texture which I love. Service was great the cash register/ server was really friendly make good recommendations and attentive despite him serving 4 table by himself. The restaurant has majority Asian Chinese patrons who speak mandarin while order food, with a few tables of Caucasian American so they have a little for everyone. Too bad it stuck in the corner of the shopping center so they suffer from low foot traffics. But I have found this gem and would be great take out. Prices are decent $15-20 per dish and the portion is huge. Do not forget to ask for their chili oil, it's made to order and it's free :) read more

Tasty Zone - Deep fried spicy chicken. Egg noodles, spicy stir beef - Szechuan Near Me - Santa Ana, California

No bother to came to this place I ordered the take out and especially saying I am going back to the office and the girl didn't bother to give me chopsticks and napkins at all What should I use to eat? My mind? Plus I saw tons of "weijing" on it, It was really not healthy at all And they put tons of them in the dish read more

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Pan fried sweet and sour potato: this has a touch of vinegar but not much, it was nice because the other two dishes ordered were heavily fried, so this offset that dry flavor profile. 4/5 Deep fried chicken with hot pepper: I don't know if this was over cooked on this occasion, but it was so dry. You couldn't really discern the breading from the chicken, and it wasn't very spicy despite being mixed with the dried peppers. I would not order again if this is the usual. 2/5 Chicken dumplings: these were incredible, they came with a very tasty sauce and it's unusual to find dumplings that contain chicken rather than the usual pork or vegetables. The dough was excellent, that stuffing was savory and it went really well with the sauce. I would come back just for this. 5/5 read more

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