Red Hot Szechuan

I swear they cook it in the back of the car. You hang up the phone and the guy is just there, like the little girls on tricycles in The Shining. The food is dependably pretty good. We have ordered from them at least 3 — 4 times a month for the last 10 years. The orders are always right, and hot. The veggies are fresh and their versions of the takeout classics are better than many. My bride is Chinese American, from Flushing, and — while it’s not Flushing quality — she thinks it’s probably the best in the Slope. And, did we mention how fast they deliver?

Best szechuan in Park Slope/​Carroll Gardens by far. I don’t know about their non Szechuan dishes, but I do know that their mapo tofu, their chongqin chicken and their double cooked pork are amazing. Those complaining that the food is bland or not spicy enough, are obviously not ordering from the right menu. I look forward to my daughter’s swimming class at a school nearby every weekend cause we usually end up here for lunch.

Bland. Don’t mark your dishes as spicy when they are not only not spicy but also have no flavor in general. This is my second time eating there and both times were not good. I will not go back.

This is a good eatable option for Chinese food around park slope, we used to order the same dinner every week for over a year now.
Last time I received sea food inside a chicken lo-​mein and when called them they where really rude over the phone and keep telling me they can’t exchange my meal so… goodbye to you guys, I found a better me pleasant spot to eat.

Red Hot Szechuan is a good, solid Chinese place. If I lived anywhere other than Park Slope, it probably would score only 3 stars, but honestly, we don’t have that many options for Chinese that offer sit-​down as well as take-​out, and most of the other take-​out is greasy standard fare. Downsides: food comes almost too quickly for both dine in and delivery, making me wonder how much of it is prepared ahead and some dishes are far better than others. And don’t go for dine-​in looking for upscale surroundings, although the wallpaper is pretty interesting. Upsides: extensive vegetarian & vegan options and interesting Szechuan dishes. The stuffed eggplant, Chunquing chili chicken and salt & pepper shrimp are all excellent. Hot & sour soup is good — needs more hot — and the pork bao have great stuffing but the buns are kind of like potato rolls. The vegan really tastes like duck and the veggies are nice and crisp. Service is very friendly and attentive. This may be the last Chinese restaurant in Brooklyn that gives a free pot of pretty good tea!

Was surprised to find out they have very authentic sichuan food. It is just a few blocks away from my apartment. Food is solid and fits the taste requirements for real Chinese. Definitely recommend

The service was great but the food was unappetizing. First, the food came out of the kitchen less than five minutes after we ordered which makes me suspicious. My wife and I ordered vegetarian dishes, one with wheat gluten, the other with fake duck, which was also some sort of seitan. There was nothing (taste, texture) indicating that it was mock duck. The proteins in both dishes didn’t taste good, I usually finish everything on my plate but couldn’t bring myself to do it this time. A friend had the good sense to order some sort of chicken and vegetable dish which was fine, but overall it was a bad meal.

To the guy who reviewed and mentioned the new, more aggressive Szechuan menu: Thank you. You were right. I had the ma po tofu– my comfort food– and it was spicy and complex. I’ll definitely be coming again. Perhaps will become my go-​to north Brooklyn Chinese place!

This is our favorite Chinese restaurant. Possibly favorite restaurant, period. I noticed it gets surprisingly low marks from others. I cannot imagine how because everyone I know loves this place. Odd.
The vegetarian menu is the best part and really the only items I can speak to. Our favorites include: Vegetable wonton Shanghai style, Bean curd orange flavor, Golden green jade, Scallion pancakes, I could go on… what is great about the food is that they only use fresh ingredients. And they use organic when possible.
The servers have been the same for many years and know what we want (open the menu to the vegetarian page) and bring us tea right away. We have never felt rushed from our seats by the waiters (as mentioned in other reviews) but common courtesy to waiting diners when the restaurant is full compels us to eat and leave as soon as possible.
I can only dream about this place now that I live in Honolulu, but when I visit home, a meal (or two) at Red Hot is on the schedule.
And finally, Red Hot delivered to us in Prospect Park South when no one else would. We were so grateful. Not only that, they somehow got us our food consistently in under 15 minutes. I swear I do not know how they did it but we loved them for it.

Lunch with a friend. Standards like Gen’l Tso’s chicken, beef with etc … Comes with std soups like hot & sour, egg drop, etc and white or brown rice, tea, and a fortune cookie. Nice air conditioning, efficient and quick service, no surprises. Prices for the ensemble are in the $ 6 range. Pleasant and tasty — like all fast Chinese food— but nothing special.

Good food but they always seem to be pushing me out of there .
the very second I walk in im seated (which is good) but now comes (what I feel like) is a timer. Order, eat, and constant someone walking to my table and staring from across the room.
I only continue going because the food is good!!!

As of writing this review, 6÷2÷15, Red Hot now has an authentic Sichuan menu. It’s brand new! And, it’s delicious!
I’ve tried the Ma Po Tofu and the Triple Pepper Chicken on this new menu. Both are authentic and mouth-​numbingly good. The Ma Po Tofu was dusted in ground Sichuan peppercorns and full of flavor.
I could eat the Triple Pepper Chicken every day. It was addictive with five spice flavor front and center juxtaposed against heat from the chili peppers, long peppers and peppercorns all tossed in copiously.
And the portions are huge! I had leftovers for days!
The waitstaff seemed very anxious to see the new menu succeed. When I had uneaten Triple Pepper Chicken on my plate, I had to reassure the waiter I enjoyed it but was simply full! I did hear a guy behind me complaining his food was too spicy.
If you have a taste for authentic Sichuan food please hit them up and help this exciting new menu succeed! I’ve been coming to red hot for a while now and this is a great direction for them to go in! They still have their original Americanized and Vegetarian menus. So, everyone can have something they like be it you friend craving beef with broccoli or your veggie sibling who’s dying for curry imitation chicken and you dear reader, who I hope, also love spicy-​tingly-​numbing goodness.

I’ve ordered from Red Hot six times during the past six months via
and probably at least another 15 times directly over the course of the last five years. The food has been consistent, good to very good but not extraordinary, but with absolutely reliably quick service. If I’d rated them prior to this evening, I would probably given them 3.5 — 4 stars.
My experience this evening unfortunately changes this. I’d ordered scallops in garlic sauce together with two other mains and some sides. Delivery was made within 15 minutes. Began eating — and after several bites of bamboo shoots realized I had not come across any scallops. Carefully picked through entire dish to find exactly 7 bay scallops — perhaps 1 ½ — 2 tablespoons total. When I called Red Hot, after several minutes wait I was told that the chef insisted that he’d given me «usual» portion but that restaurant was willing to give me $ 3 credit on future order. When I stated that this didn’t seem right and I was happy to send photo of dish as evidence, response was that they’d refund my money but would come pick up the dish. Five minutes later delivery person appeared with $ 13 cash in hand and took away dish.
Thus, on a $ 12.25 menu item – and already having paid tax and 20% tip – I was left out-​of-​pocket $ 2.75 and with a very bad taste in my mouth. This experience would have merited 0 stars if rated alone – but in deference to past performance will rate Red Hot 2 stars: Reliable and solid until you require any customer service, where establishment fails miserably. That’s a real shame.

I can’t speak for the meat dishes but their huge selection of Chinese vegetarian dishes is fantastic and almost everything on it is a winner, with many unusual dishes you can’t find anywhere else (not even at better known veg Chinese spots like Buddah Bodai, Veggie Heaven etc.). Has a refreshing amount of non-​fake-​meat veggie dishes, meaning these are not just meat dishes made vegetarian but rather unique dishes respectful of the power of vegetables and a seemingly infinite variety of tofu preparations. Definitely worth digging deep into their menu and coming back again and again to try something new, and I would say many of their dishes are UNDER described in their menu and sound far more simple than they turn out to be. That being said, if you come here only to order the typical american chinese standbys you may be a bit disappointed but you would be missing out to not order their more unique specialties. Also, despite their name this food is no more spicy than other Chinese (if you come here expecting to get your fire fix you may be a little disappointed too). On top of everything the service is lightning fast (if not super friendly but who cares) and prices are very reasonable for the quality.
Some personal favorites: Choy Sum with Baby Lima Beans [with tofu and chili peppers], Vegetable Wonton Shanghai-​Style [sesame and peanut sauce], Sautéed Green Bean Noodles with Vegetables [cellophane noodles with a delicious array of string beans, peppers, and fungi], Red Hot Black Bean Tofu [some kind of coated tofu with tons of bok choy in a fantastic black bean sauce, I can’t believe the menu doesn’t mention this is all about the bok choy!], Sautéed Green Peas & Cashew Nuts [with carrots and tofu], Spicy String Beans with Dry Bean Curd in Black Bean Sauce [with peppers and mushrooms], Bean Curd with Hot Pepper Sauce & Peanuts [with broccoli and squash].

Red Hot is one of the best White neighborhood Chinese restaurants I’ve come across in NYC. It’s not destination food, and the atmosphere leaves one thinking «you could do worse,» but the extensive menu of authentic Chinese dishes is far closer in flavor and menu items to what I actually ate in Beijing and Shanghai than most White parts of Brooklyn and Manhattan. I may be biased as they have an extensive vegetarian menu, but I think that this place satisfies all diets well. It’s a far better deal, for excellent, more authentic food than you’ll find at the overhyped and underspiced food at Talde down the street!

We had a tofu and broccoli dish and a veggie Tso’s chicken with broccoli. The first was bland, and I’ve had better veggie Tso other places (this was a little sweet and not that flavorful). And they refused to go off the menu (I wanted veggie duck with noodles, but they flat out refused). But the staff was otherwise really nice.

Review from Jonah and Lucas: It’s really good. Not too fancy. Casual. Any chow fun is highly recommended, options include chicken, pork, veggie, or seafood. They give kid chopsticks with a cool rubber band. Chinese broccoli with garlic was pretty tasty. It had a lot of flavor. I would bring family members here. Plenty of high chairs and space available. Bathrooms were clean, smelled clean, and they have a big mirror. Soaps and paper towels and a toilet plunger in case needed. And to finish it off, the oranges were top notch, while fortune cookies are probably the same as other Chinese restaurants.

American Chinese take out is the same wherever you go right? no.
Hot and sour soup doesn’t taste tangy like most places I go to. Crunchy noodles are different than the ones served to dine in customers.
The fried chicken wings are tiny wings for 5 bucks. Otherwise fried wings are fried wings but have you ever have the huge V shape chicken wings from Chinese take outs? That’s what I’m talking about…
Maybe it’s preference but I’m not feeling it with this place.

I ordered from
which was great. My food was here within 30 mins and piping hot.
The food is good. Its decent chinese food, but it reminded me of something you would find at a mall food court or something like that. It was plain and unexciting.
I ordered the general tso’s chicken because it got such great reviews, and while spicy, that’s about where the flavor ended. The pork fried rice was also very boring.
So while I hope others have had a bad experience I’ll just have to pass on ordering from here again.
Buen Provecho!

I feel terrible doing this, I have been a fan of Red Hot the 15 years I’ve been living in this neighborhood. But tonight I ordered chicken with black bean sauce and it wasn’t until I had 5 – 6 pieces I started to doubt that I was eating white meat. It tasted more like a conglomerate of meats, like a sausage. The texture was a bit rubbery and the taste was more like a sausage. It was really hard for me to discern, and it took me a long while to figure this out, mostly because I am not a skeptic of this place. I called the restaurant and they insist this is «white meat».
Am I being paranoid? I’m calling out to fellow customers — have you had this experience here?