Reviews
For years, Chinese-food lovers pined for a place that featured a credible Sichuan bill of fare. Last year we got it with Little Szechuan - a real-deal University Avenue storefront. Bamboo shoots with spicy oil, fish fillet with tofu in spicy broth, Chung King chili shrimp, and beef stew with spicy hot sauce are guaranteed to set your taste buds tingling.
Little Szechuan vaulted onto the scene this year with a menu offering equal pain and suffering to all: If you wanted the numbing, burning bliss of Beef and Tofu cooked with Spicy Tasty Broth ($10.95) you'd get said bubbling, numbing chili inferno whether you were white, blue, spotted, or whatnot, and whether it was Tuesday lunch or Sunday dinner. Eureka! Bring on the delectable, paper-thin beef short ribs, trot out the platters of emerald-green pea tips, and load up on sea-foam-green meadows of cucumber topped with handfuls of black-red chili pods. Real authentic Szechuan cooking for all? Call it a miracle, call it a joy, but be sure to call for another beer to numb the heat—you'll need it.
I did not experience a single misstep in any of my five visits to what is easily the best eatery in the east metro, and one of the handful of honest and authentic Chinese dining experiences citywide. Little Szechuan's food is superb.
– Andrew Zimmern
Mpls St Paul Magazine
Little Szechuan isn't one of those generic Chinese restaurants that puts the word "Szechuan" in its name for marketing purposes, oh no no no. Little Szechuan is the real deal, a Szechuan specialist that uses chili peppers the way blizzards use snow. This is how Szechuan food should be. I think Little Szechuan is the best thing to happen to St. Paul in years.
– Dara Moskowitz, Food Critic
City Pages
Are they authentic? A Chinese-American friend tells me that they come closer to dishes he's had in China than anything he has had at other U.S. Chinese restaurants.
– Jeremy Iggers, Food Critic
Star Tribune
The food is the real deal – woodsy, oily, spicy and hot enough to make your eyes water and numb your tongue. In other words, addictively delicious. The restaurant has only been open a week, and I've been back three times – once on the paper's dime and twice on my own.
– Kathie Jenkins, Food Critic
St. Paul Pioneer Press
Little Szechuan inherits a gorgeous renovation undertaken by the former Bui’s Cuisine owners, along with their beer and wine license. It is a relaxing and wonderful place to eat for lunch and dinner.
Asian American Press