Szechuan Palace Chinese Restaurant

Food was just average and expensive. Fried rice was nothing but rice. Looked like regular rice drowned in soy sauce. Ordered a $ 21 dish that said it included lobster. It had 2 of the tiniest pieces of lobster imaginable. Really? Plus owner was loud. Overall the food had a nice flavor to it.

Me and the family shared a meal and eggrolls for under $ 20. It was not greasy and eggrolls are delicious dipped in their sweet and sour sauce! I would definitely recommend picking up some food here!

My first stop here. Ordered egg roll (very tasty) and big bowl of House Special Combo Noodle Soup. Delightful! Had a diet coke & fortune cookie, all for lunch… all for $ 11.75. Great price! Good hot mustard.
Staff very pleasant and helpful. Décor was older but food and service was good. Will go back. Good job!
Thx! Ciao chow!

I don’t like Sezchuan Palace. I’m surprised it has been able to stay in business for as long as it has. Apparently it is a longstanding restaurant in Vero Beach. On its website, it boasts about awards it received in 1995 and 2000. Clearly its better days are behind it.
I found an old menu in my house, so I figured that I would give them a shot. I decided that I would try their Szechuan String Beans and a hot and sour soup, which I would request to be vegetarian with no meat. I want to note that the string beans were listed in the menu for $ 7.95.
A couple of things went wrong when I went to place the order. First of all, the restaurant was unable to meet my request for a vegetarian hot and sour soup. Well, there goes my soup. I’ve never had a Chinese place fail to meet such a request (except for one time in Illinois, but that’s beside the point). At least I still had my string beans. My meal — consisting of just an order of string beans — came to $ 10.95. But didn’t the menu say $ 7.95? Apparently Szechuan Palace raised its prices! Now, I understand raising prices, but raising them by $ 3.00 is ridiculous. I guess my menu was super old. A vegetable dish for Chinese takeaway should never cost more than $ 10. I know, Szechuan Palace is more than just a simple Chinese takeaway place; it’s a full-​blown restaurant. But it’s still more than I care to spend on vegetables. Whatever, I decided I would try the food anyway, despite its expensive price.
I got to the restaurant maybe at 8:00pm. It was completely empty and dimly lit. The place was like a haunted house or something. Creepy. I honestly felt a little bad for the workers and the owners. I felt sad to see such a decorated restaurant go to waste. It was a shame. I didn’t particularly like the decorations — they looked too old-​fashioned for my tastes — but I could tell that the owners at least somewhat care about their restaurant. Either way, it doesn’t change the fact that I personally wouldn’t enjoy eating in such a gloomy environment. I can say that I was able to make my payment and receive my food in a very timely manner. At least the restaurant is efficient.
When I got home I was surprised by what I found. Instead of the normal plain white rice that I am accustomed to receiving, I was given what appeared to be chicken fried rice. Now, some of you might consider that to be a bonus; it’s essentially a free upgrade on rice. But it kind of sucks when you’re a vegetarian! I mean really, I even told them to take off my soup because it wasn’t vegetarian. And yet they still give me chicken fried rice? That’s completely unacceptable.
So, the rice had to go in the garbage. And that really pissed me off for two reasons. One, I had no side dish with my string beans. Two, I really hate wasting food. I should also note that my fortune cookie was crushed. I don’t usually eat the fortune cookie, but it still shows a lack of quality-​control. I was also provided with a packet to make oolong tea. I’ve never seen that before; I suppose it’s a nice gesture.
This place could easily receive 1 star, but I’m giving it 2 stars because the string beans tasted pretty good. But that doesn’t make up for the fact that they gave a vegetarian chicken fried rice and charged nearly $ 11 for string beans. There are better Chinese places in Vero. Szechuan Palace may have been good in the 90s, but now it’s old, outdated, and overpriced.
Overall, Szechuan Palace has a lot of work to do in order to reclaim its former status. As of now, it appears to be a shell of its former self. I would not be surprised at all to see this place go out of business.

This is an updated review since it has been so long since I did the first time. I came here on Christmas Eve while visiting family. It was pretty packed full of people (a good thing since I don’t like to eat at empty restaurants since it means it isn’t good.) we were able to get seated quickly and our waiter Ben came by quickly. Our order was taken and before I could say egg roll the hot and sour soup I ordered arrived. Piping hot with a perfect balance of hot and sour with large chunks of pork, tofu, and bamboo. My sister ordered the crab Rangoon– absolute heaven! Other places like Noodle House put onions into their Rangoon– eww. I love my Rangoon with even amounts of cream cheese and crab which Szechuan nails it every time. The General Tso chicken is spectacular– crunchy on the outside juicy on the inside and spicy! I asked to add broccoli which is an option for extra. My sister got the Hunan Chicken which was all white meat chicken perfectly seasoned in a brown sauce with mild spice. She wanted noodles instead of rice and they happily obliged for an extra charge which we were happy to pay. I don’t understand the other reviewers claiming that they’re unaccomodating. I traveled all over the U.S. and outside the U.S. and when I find a good establishment with great customer service I remember it. We had many extra requests and Ben easily took care of them no problem. This restaurant has stood the test of time and the now current world of Starbucks crazed fast food chain eating society. Think global eat local! Support your local mom and pop family owned restaurants that serve high quality ingredients unlike other sub par cheap Chinese food. I’m happy to frequent this place whenever I get the chance. Where else do they remember your name AND order after all these years? It’s like Cheers in there «Where everybody knows your name.»

I loved this place in the early 90s when I was in Vero for a few months for work. They turned me on to Szechuan food in fact. We recently moved back to Vero and tried this place again last night. We were very disappointed to say the least.
Overall, the food was very bland and oily, plus all the veggies were WAY overcooked. I have never had Chinese food where the veggies were so limp!
The best dish was the Orange Beef. It was one of my favorites years ago. Yesterday, it was zippy, but not spicy-​hot, as I ordered it. It could have used some broccoli, but that’s nitpicking. This was by far the best dish, but nowhere near as good as it used to be. The flavor just wasn’t that intense.
The Chicken with Broccoli was barley marginal. It came in a brown sauce that was just OK. Overall it had very little flavor. It was oily and this heavily detracted from the dish. Plus the broccoli was overcooked. I’m just baffled by that.
The Chicken with Black Mushrooms was downright terrible. It had a ton of snow peas, which I love. However, they were so overcooked that they were just positively limp. It had some black mushrooms but not many. I expected it to be heavy on mushrooms instead of snow peas; after all, that is the dish. IMO chicken and mushrooms go together fantastically. One will never know with this dish. The biggest problem with this dish is that it was absolutely swimming in oil. That is all that you could taste. The sauce was completely overpowered by oil and you could not even taste the sauce since the oil completely coated the palate. It was one of the worst dish I’ve ever had at a Chinese restaurant.
We also tried a few appetizers. The egg-​rolls were OK, with a decent amount of pork and veggies (overcooked again) but they were a touch oily. The veggies in the spring rolls were way overcooked, and they were much too oily. The Crab Rangoon were quite good though. They contained a good mix of Krab and cream cheese. Most places are way too heavy on the cream cheese and/​or add sugar. These were quite good, with no noticeable sugar.
Overall, it seems that all the veggies are deep fried first to blanch, then thrown into the wok to fry some more. The dishes were just way too oily. My 4 ½ year old boy was picking at his meal (a variety of all except the Orange Beef; he is pretty adventurous) and said out of the blue, kind of to himself, «I can’t take this any more.»
No truer words could have been spoken. If a 4 ½ year old sums up your restaurant in those terms, you need to take a serious look at what you are doing. A cook or chef is in the business of pleasure, and there was nothing pleasurable about this experience.
It seems that the term «hit or miss» applies to this place based on other reviews. Per their website, they were voted the best Chinese restaurant in 1995 and 2000. That was 14 years ago. I can’t imagine that we will be back. What do we do for good Chinese food in Vero? I guess I’ll cook my own. There are some Oriental grocery stores that are well stocked. I’ve already made some Korean dishes since moving. I guess I will be making Chinese as well. Any suggestions anyone?

When it comes to traditional Chinese take-​out, this is great stuff — we won’t bother to try any other restaurants. The food was fresh, flavorful and made quickly. My husband said the General Tso’s chicken was the best he ever had (that includes Indiana, Ohio, Michigan and Fort Worth, Texas).

We always stop by while in Vero Beach. Our kids love to eat here as well.
My Husband & I love the Orange Chicken with a request of set us on fire! Our Children always order Chicken & Broccoli plus LOVE the egg rolls!
The Wait Staff is always pleasant with our Children & load them up with fortune cookies. It is owned by The Liangs, who have always been there. Great Owners! We love to Support Locals & this is a great place to do so.

The General Tso’s chicken was AWESOME — hot enough to make a gal sweat, if requested. But the sweet and sour chicken was frighteningly pink and gelatinous in the middle and is the suspected culprit for notable GI discomfort a few hours after eating. It’s highly unlikely we will risk this again.

Solid, reliable, and super friendly. This is our to-​go Chinese food spot in Vero and is never a miss!

A little pricey for a big family, but it’s delicious, plus I have a sensitive stomach and it has never made me sick. Many Chinese restaurants have come and gone in Vero, but this one has made it for years for a good reason.

Don’t know how anyone could rate this as good. Bland overcooked. What’s with the Orange Crush colored duck sauce– no flavor either. Egg foo yung mushy and tasteless– looked burned. Gen Tso’s chicken passable., but no zip. Mongolian beef had some flavor but almost no beef! No soy sauce included– even hot mustard more like spicy brown Guldens than Chinese hot. Fried rice tasteless. I may be spoiled but if this is best Chinese in Vero, guess I will live without it.

The Chinese food in Miami for the most part kind of sucks, so I wanted to take advantage of being out of South Florida and this is the place I landed. Great service. The lady who runs the place is really nice and makes an attempt to make everyone feel welcome. The prices are actually very good here as well. $ 20 for an entrée, an appetizer, soup and a soda.
The hot and sour soup was definitely above average. Definitely tasty. The general tso’s chicken was pretty good too. I was so happy when she asked how spicy I wanted it. General tso’s chicken is supposed to be spicy and have spicy red peppers in it! Anyway, I liked the version here. It wasn’t the best ever, but good enough. I did not like the fried rice here though. It just wasn’t very good. Generally a pretty solid Chinese place.

Very good Chinese food. I have had better but not in this area. If you ask they will make general tsos chicken into sesame seed chicken, being it is not on the menu. The management is ok but a little difficult to deal with sometimes, again, not as bad as others. I have yet to find a place that can actually make a real general tsos chicken, instead it’s their version of the dish. There is such a thing as original recipe but with all things and places that differs. Don’t get me wrong the general tsos here is decent, just not the original recipe.
They do have good crunchy noodles that you eat before the meal. Theirs is not in thin strips, but large chunks and strips. Very good.
The fried rice is not very good here. Basically it’s just brown rice without anything in it to flavor it.
I have eaten from here 3 times and will again even if I find a better place further away.
Enjoy!

Whelp, not sure what to say about this one! Locals know it’s been here a while now, and for your basic Chinese food… it’s good, lighting is low & very quiet if that’s what your in the mood for. Could definitely have better décor, but we don’t really care about that… So, that’s exactly where we’d go when we felt like Chinese!
I woulda givin’ them more stars… BUT!!! LOL, went there last night, and we REALLY wanted to relax, no crowd… a week night so not crowded & felt comfortable just chillin’ before the main meal, and here’s where the «BUT» comes in, we had finished the soup, eggroll, fried wonton, and piece of chicken… when the main meal arrives.
Now, since there’s NO crowd… and we USUALLY aren’t rushed, we’re taking our sweet time eating & talking… when I DO believe less than 5 minutes had passed after the new waitress there had laid the main meals on our table… when She slaps down the bill! I had «maybe» 3 bites of the dinner when this happens. She didn’t ask IF we wanted desert or anything else.
So, I let the manager know as We leave, they said how sorry they were, and it would be better next time. THIS is when we SHOULD’VE asked for a coupon… or something to assure the next time would «actually» be better! But they waved us on our way!!!
The food is actually very good there, had the sweet & sour chicken & almond chicken (dinner for 2). So… food was very good., but with the rushing of the waitress & NO type of partial refund… or even a tad off next time would’ve felt good, we’ve decided not to go there for quite a while. In the meantime, if we want Chinese… we’ll try somewhere else. So, in My opinion, that doesn’t set well with rating a restaurant. Will update much later when we go back, the service had always been good before!

You may or may not be able to tell from the outside, but the restaurant is formed inside someone’s old house. Before you think «quaint,» this is not a compliment. It feels very uncomfortable to dine here. The service is good and the staff is friendly, but I can’t get around the weird atmosphere going on inside. The food is tasty and moderately priced, but not exactly the most authentic Chinese menu I’ve seen (even for Florida). Portions are a decent size. I suggest take out if you want to try the place out.

Place has interesting décor with murals and artwork all over the place but it had an odd unpleasant smell. The food was not very good, honestly. The service was pretty good and the people were nice. I did hear they were fined by FL Fish and Wildlife for buying illegal, blackmarket fish which kind of turned me off.

After coming here for 10 years — they know me by name even though we come about once a month. Good consistent food and fair prices.

I really do appreciate that this is a family business with quality food, but this place just doesn’t do it for me. I feel like the menu combinations are really strange (example: «dinner special» including 1 chicken wing, 1 egg roll, and one fried cheese thing, in addition to a normal entrée) But even stranger, when our table ordered sodas, instead of receiving fountain drinks we received canned sodas with a iced-​filled glass. I guess when I go out to restaurants I drink excessively and usually can down 2 – 3 decent sized glasses of diet coke. Szechuan has VERY generous portions so I would expect to have large drinks to go along with it. I wasn’t sure if I needed to pay per can, so I tried to limit my drinking to last my meal. That one issue alone really made me not want to eat AT this restaurant again, but I would definitely eat take-​out.
Great quality food, appreciate this place being family-​owned, generous portions, strange combination platters, and please offer soda by the fountain, or at least mention free refills :(

Food is hit or miss here. The egg drop soup tasted great with the chives as garnish but I felt kind of queasy shortly after eating most of it.
For the entrée, I ordered Almond Chicken which came mixed with fresh veggies. Pretty good, but could be a bit better. Maybe the sauce could have used a bit more flavor or something. :shrug:
On the good side, I do love the service. Very on-​point and attentive, as well as friendly and helpful.
And the prices are great for lunchtime. Most entrees average about $ 6 – 8. You also get free crunchy noodles to munch on before your food is ready. Juan was enjoying it until he ate a few overcooked pieces.
On a side note, the décor is interesting here. I have never seen Wild Wild West murals in a Chinese restaurant. I’m talking about cowboys and Indians. Weird!