Szechuan Bistro

Owner of Szenchuan Bistro, please let us know when you are going to reopen in same or other location.
My family and I really miss your food and friendly service. I am sad to see what happened and I hope there is anything I can do to help.

I am saddened to report the closure of this business. Four businesses were destroyed in a massive three-​alarm fire that broke out early this morning on Northwest 85^th in the Greenwood neighbourhood.
for the news reports.
My thoughts go out to the business owners and employees during this difficult time. Thankfully no one was hurt.
I rated this the highest star rating because my friends raved about their food and we had made plans to try them soon.

I always hate to be the one who comes into a restaurant a few minutes before close (actually this time it was 20 min) and there are no other tables, however, I got the sense that the staff really didnt care (and i didnt feel so bad because a family of 5 came in at close and were still seated).
Our server was a sweet, older woman who was very attentive even though I could hardly understand what she was saying.
We got the hand shaved noodles in hot sesame sauce, some kind of beef entrée that i cant remember-​i think mongolian?, and chicken fried rice… all was very delightful. The beef was soft and tender with good sauce, the hand shaved noodles were fresh and the broth was good and really not «Hot», and the fried rice was standard. Finally a Chinese restaurant I like in Seattle that doesnt require going to the ID.

I want to like Szechuan Bistro… I really, really do… I just really, really didn’t…
It was a lazy, Saturday afternoon and I was in the mood for some Chinese food. I was really interested in trying something new and more importantly, wanted someone that would deliver. I live maybe 10 blocks away from here and probably should have just called in an order for pick-​up, but I heard awesome reviews about their «Fast» delivery. To make matters more complicated we didn’t have a menu so we just sort of asked for items on the phone. We ended up getting an order of egg rolls, an order of gyoza and one order of hand shaven noodles that came with a peanuty sauce and pork. The total: $ 22. Eek. That’s some expensive food. They said our food would get to us in 20 minutes.
Almost an hour later and with no food we start to get really irritated. The restaurant has no idea where the driver is and we’re starving. It turns out the driver was almost a mile away and was totally lost. When he got to the door he had no idea how much the bill was and had no idea how to handle change (we paid with cash).
We ended up getting really funky, almost rotten tasting egg rolls that were a soggy mess. The Gyoza was cold, slightly slimy, greasy and limp but overall tasted pretty decent. The noodles were also cold and greasy but had some good flavor. I get the feeling they would have been good if they weren’t frigidly cold upon arrival.
A long wait + cold, soggy greasy food = NOT impressed. For the quantity and quality of food $ 22 was a rip off as well (at our normal Chinese Delivery place $ 17 gets you two entrees a lot bigger than the noodle dish here and two appetizers). I might give them another chance… those noodles had potential but I absolutely won’t have them deliver and I’ll certainly never get the egg rolls again.

This was my first time trying hand shaven noodles, however I do have a little experience with Szechuan cuisine. I tried the «Noodle in Szechuan Hot Sesame Sauce» with pork. It’s a steaming hot soupy noodle bowl, greasy and spicy and satisfying (as most Szechuan food seems to be).
The noodles are so light and fresh. The sauce slowly builds a spicy heat inside your mouth, in that unique Szechuanese way. Chinese cabbage and green onions help cut the greasiness. The bowl comes topped with a pile of the freshest, best bacon bits you’ve ever had.
This bowl is amazing: it gets better the further down you eat. The sauce reduces and intensifies; the little bacon bits sink to the bottom; the noodles soak up more goodness. It’s very similar to ma po tofu.
The free plum oolong tea was tasty. I haven’t tried anything else yet though.

I’ve been craving hot pot so I looked here to see what everybody thought about the hot pot at Szechuan Bistro. It’s across the street from Gorditos, which I love, and every time I go there I think to myself that I should try the SB out.
But, the pull of the wet fish burrito from Gorditos is very strong.
What I found out on Unilocal is that while there is not much mention of hot pot, people seem to dig the twice-​cooked pork, the string beans, the shaved noodles, and the chicken with hot garlic sauce…
So, I resisted Gorditos and went to check out what gives at SB.
It’s pretty much what I expected. The people there are very friendly, the room is quite bare. Clearly décor is not a huge interest of theirs. The floor was sticky, but it seemed otherwise clean.
We chose the twice-​cooked pork, the hand shaved noodles, and the string beans.
Yum to one and all.
I’d never had dried, cooked string beans, which is how they are described in the menu. They were spicy and delicious. Sweetheart commented that he could eat them all night like fries. The twice-​cooked pork was delicious, but so fatty, it’s basically bacon stir fry… I felt like it would be better suited on toothpicks as an hors d’eovers. My favorite was the hand shaved noodles. I would be happy as a clam just to have that for dinner, all by itself — and it would be a very economical way to go too.
Looking forward to going again and actually trying the hot pot and the chicken with hot garlic sauce. I guess that’s two visits…
IF I can manage to stay away from Gorditos.

No beer. No music. No ambience. No kidding.
Food is very good, however. We had the green beans which were seasoned and lovely; hand shaved noodles (huh?) that was like a soup almost with lots of yummy sauce, a gravy option and tangy meat; and finally the twice-​cooked pork that was essentially bacon on steroids. Impossible to stop eating. Someone should keep one eye open tonight and keep it on the leftovers in the fridge.

Went there after reading all the positive reviews on Unilocal.The hand shaven noodles were amazing. Definitely among the best I’ve had in the US.
They have a menu with no English on it that I didn’t know existed, though. I should order something from it next time I go and I’ll rereview base on that.

This is down the street from my cousin’s house, and I have memories of their hand shaven noodles from at least 10 years ago. This is super comfort food, and whenever I’m in Greenwood I find myself craving it. I tend to come for the lunch specials, and I love the fact the cute little old owner lady always brings me tea, even if I’m sitting alone. For some reason, this is the only place that brings me tea when I’m alone. Hoorah.
The hand shaven noodles are great, but I’m super fond of their «chicken in hot garlic sauce,» — mmm. That, with some hot and sour soup? Makes for some damn good cheap eats — less than $ 10 with tip, yay.

Dude, don’t let the little unassuming storefront deter you. This place serves up the goods. I went with a friend who speaks Chinese and he ordered all of this stuff that was not on the menu.
Cumin fish — lightly fried fish (halibut) I believe with an amazing hot pepper and cumin seasoning. It wasn’t saucy at all which was nice so you could just taste the fish and seasonings.
Brisket stew — the meat was sooo tender and the stew juice was just the right balance of tomoatoey and spicy. Bamboo shoots made a nice texture crunch with the tender meat.
The service was great and if you ask the server, she will give you some good recommendations if you want to go outside the box. The only bummer of the meal was that they do not serve Tsing Tao. I need a cold beer to wash down the Szechuan goodness! T

A decent and none-​too-​memorable Chinese eatery hanging out on 85^th.
Dirty and tasty like a cool family establishment should be. Enjoyable and not pretentious.
Perhaps a bunch of Unilocalers should come down on this place like a tide of drunken ravenous beasts after the next SHPOC DYL!
Meals are the family-​style slopped-​on-​a-​big-​plate variety and are pretty tasty.
If you don’t expect anything special, you will get exactly what you expect, but enjoyably so: D

Mandarin chicken– crispy, sweet, spicy = delicious
Chow Mein = different but ok.
Sticky Rice = Not so sticky
Egg Role = Had better
Service = Friendly

When we had the «snowpocalypse» in December, a young woman had to abandon her vehicle in front of our driveway. It was totally fine with us. She assured us she’d be back in a few hours to get it when she could get help. We asked her if she wanted a ride or if she wanted to come in to wait, but believe it or not, this woman was making a food delivery. She took off on foot in the dark up the steep snowy hill, bags of food in tow. I have no idea how far she had to go, but she said she worked at a restaurant near 85^th & Greenwood so we presume she walked all the way back there after delivering the food.
Later that night when she came back to get her car she brought us a GLORIOUS meal — totally unnecessary but very kind and VERY delicious!
But there was one huge problem!!! We didn’t know where she worked! We’ve lived in the neighborhood for about 15 years and thought we had tried just about everything, but this was way better than the other Chinese places we’d tried.
But thanks to Unilocal we were able to track down this «hole in the wall» that I’ve driven by practically every day for a decade but never noticed. We thought, A-​ha! That must be the place.
So we tried it out. Yep, it was the place! We especially LOVE the string beans & chicken.
Thanks mystery woman for your thoughtfulness. You created a loyal new customer. :-)

Technically 2.5 stars. I’m giving them 4, the hubby’s giving them 2.
I had some really tasty black bean chicken and an interesting soup (Tomato and egg noodle, spicy, gingery soup with a fried egg on top!) He had the Mandarin chicken, which is comparable to General Tso’s chicken, according to the lady I spoke with on the phone.
While my food was good, his was disappointing. The dish was described as «battered meat and broccoli in sweet & sour spicy sauce.» More like fried batter, hold the meat. It was definitely odd. Is our economy sucking so much that when you order fried chicken, you don’t get any chicken?!
I’ll gladly return, since it sure beats Safeway Chinese food any day, it’s super close to my work, and super cheap.
My husband? He’ll probably head over to Panda Express.

I’ve been a little snobby on Chinese food recently because I’ve been living in Beijing, but I went to Szechuan Bistro last night with four friends and they delivered on my craving. No, it’s not China, but they’ve got an awesome and authentic menu that I won’t hestitate to take people back to again and again.
Personal Favorites:
— Chongqing Hot Chicken
— Stir-​Fried String Beans
— Kung Pao Chicken
— Knife Cut Noodles
Let me not forget that the staff are fantastic and attentive. I’ve got fledging Mandarin skills and they were totally thrilled at the little bit I could speak. :) Big confidence booster!

Ok, a bunch of us from work are ka-​razy about this place. I mean, we crave eating here, no joke. I drive «all the way» from the depths of Tukwila just to eat here.
We always order the same 3 things and we recently had 2 orders of all of them: the hand shaved noodles with pork, the ma po tofu with pork, and the dry green beans with the fried fish. the latter is super salty but in a «I can’t stop eating this» way. it’s covered with the red pepper flakes, so if you can’t handle the hot, i guess it’s not the dish for you.
my picture of the hand shaved noodles is not clear, but you get the idea — it comes with a bit of peanut butter on top and you have to mix the whole thing really well before eating it. it’s super yummy. we also ordered 2 orders of steamed chinese broccoli, but the other platters were empty at the end of the time while we left ¹⁄₃ of the broccoli on the table.
we eat here at least once a month and often take-​out more hand shaved noodle to go for lunch the next day also. can’t stop eating this food.
i hear that a former cook from here opened up Seven Stars Pepper in the ID. i’ve eaten there also and it’s excellent also. more hot-​pots than this place.
if you must eat more «commonly-​known» chinese food, i’ve also had the broccoli beef and the sweet and sour chicken. both were good. it’s hard to screw up deep fried chicken.
it DOES seem like a dive, but just DON’T look into the kitchen if you go out the back door. sometimes you just have to eat the food, go away happy, and NOT think about what’s going on in the back.

Of all the Asian cuisines this fair city has to offer, Chinese usually isn’t my first choice. Moving into an apartment directly above Szechuan Bistro has upped my Chinese food intake these past few months considerably. Under normal circumstances, this would be an unfortunate turn of events, but with Szechuan Bistro servin’ up some decent food, it’s not so bad.
I deducted some stars for several reasons: no General Tso’s chicken (my favorite) and no duck sauce for my egg rolls (it’s an east coast thing).
Their service is always very friendly, and they offer free delivery (don’t worry, I’m not that lazy).

You want a good place for carry out, hot pot or great Chinese food that’s authentic. Well, here’s the place. You know this is the place when there’s a Chinese menu, your Chinese friends from China take you there and the cooks are playing Chinese domino games or making dumplings in the dining area. Then, you order and they jump up go cook your meal and then back to what they were doing in the first place, having a relaxed lifestyle that I respect and appreciate. Here you’ll find some spicy dishes that will set the normal Seattites pallet on fire. This is a place I’ll drop by on a Sunday afternoon and order the special fried rice with everything in it and some pork pot stickers (yummy) to take out.

I was in the mood for a noodle lunch and as I drove through Greenwood this afternoon, I remembered the little Phở shop across the street from Gorditos.
As I walked in and looked around, i saw a ‘we prefer cash’ sign. Well. I didn’t have any cash and I didn’t feel like making things awkward, so I walked up a the street in search of a place that takes plastic. I didn’t get far.
I saw the words ‘hand-​shaven noodles’ and that was it for me.
I stepped into Szechuan Bistro and was one of the only other 3 dining. I wasn’t worried though b/​c this was a joint w/​33 reviews and 4 star on this ‘great and informative site I like to use’, so I knew it was going to be good.
I was promptly brought a lunch menu and asked the woman about which of the specials (there were many) were noodles. She showed me a few options and I went with the Veggie Noodles in Szechuan Hot Sesame Sauce. For $ 4.95, you get tea, a bowl of white or fried rice, egg drop or hot and sour soup, and an entrée.
Yes, I said $ 4.95.
The chefs in the kitchen must be in their 50s or 60s. Clearly seasoned vets and they know what they’re doing. The Hot and Sour soup was tasty and spicy and the hand shaven noodle bowl was lovely. Tons of broccoli and carrots, in a spicy broth with loads and loads of tasty thick noodles. This was my first experience with this type of noodle and I’m happy I don’t have to truck it over to the ID to get them.
There’s about 20 items on the lunch menu, which they serve from 11:30– 4pm– Wed– Friday. Most are $ 4.95 and a few are a whopping $ 5.95. I know?! They’ve got the usuals: Mongolian Beef, Cashew Chicken, Sweet n’ Sour Chicken, Kung Pao Chicken and so on.
Cards are accepted, but cash is encouraged for bills under $ 10. My bill came to $ 4.52, and when I slapped the plastic down, the waitress was a– okay with it.
The dinner menu is slightly pricier (most entrees are $ 9.95!) and boasts sizzling platters and casseroles, kung pao, and various other meat, vegetable, and seafood dishes. Free Delivery in the area for orders over $ 15. I can’t wait to try them for dinner. I believe it’s possible to walk out of there, completely full and happy for $ 20.
and I’m up for the challenge.
Wow. Hmm. This just might be the most useful review I’ve ever written, but vote (or not) how you see fit.

My boyfriend and I tried Szechuan Bistro for the first time last night. Being that we just moved into our new apartment over the weekend, we were far too tired (and lazy) to make dinner. I’d been recommended this restaurant by a co-​worker, so we decided to order some food for delivery.
Ordering was painless and easy (especially since you can do a credit card over the phone if you don’t have cash) and the food was delivered fairly quickly (although it probably helped that we don’t live that far away!).
We ordered the pork chow mein with the hand shaven noodles (oh, the noodles were fantastic and delicious), kung pow chicken, steamed white rice, and vegetable egg rolls. Everything was great and the portions are HUGE! We seriously got a massive amount of food for only $ 18. We have enough left for at least two more meals, which really makes the cheap prices even better.
Next time I think that I would opt for the spicy chow mein over the non-​spicy though, as I feel it could have used a bit more flavoring. Other than that, this place was very good and I have a feeling we’ll be ordering take-​out from here again very soon.