Little Sichuan Express

Great service, great food! My friends and I, four people, got there a bit early for dinner so it’s not that busy. Anyways we ordered food and the service was good and the waitress answered my questions patiently and thoroughly. So we finished ordering and we thought it’s gonna be a while before the food shows up, but it started coming in like 5 minutes!
First dish to come out was a cold noodle. It was like jello except it’s white/​clear. It’s spicy and really tasty. Then closely followed by a sweet and sour soup, which was also really good. I like the spiciness and the warm soup. The day I went was one of the coldest days this winter, so it totally warmed me up! Then 10 minutes later all the other dishes, 3 more, came. It’s really nice to get the food so quickly.
The food tasted really good. We got the la zi ji, which is spicy chicken. I don’t remember if it was fried or not, (I went there a few weeks ago) but I know it was dry and it tasted really good. Then there is ma puo to fu. It was really good also, so I piled a lot of it onto my rice and ate a lot of the spicy oil too. That didn’t go well with my stomach later, so I would say try not to get the spice oil onto your rice.
We also had a few other dishes but those were the most memorable ones. There is also a sweet, sesame beef that was surprisingly good. I had a great time and I will definitely go back! And yes it’s next to Ranch 99. It’s nice to just stroll over there after the meal and get some sweet Asian drink to finish off the spicy meal.

Let’s get one thing straight – I prefer the San Mateo location. Much spicier and they have that awesome family meal that an average party of four can not possibly finish.
This location was alright, not as nice as the other location, though. The food wasn;t as good either. As soon as we sat down the waitress gave us menus. She returned in a few minutes and told us to hurry up on placing our orders because they were expecting a large party soon. I felt annoyed at this. The medium hot and sour soup was quite large. It was not hot enough nor anywhere near sour enough. The duck was awesome and the green beans were equal in awesomeness. These are probably the two dishes I highly recommend. Prices were fair, and would come agian only because it is the only Sichuan place that is local.
Final Verdict: For an authentic Sichuan meal, San Mateo’s the place to go. This location isn’t bad, and to food I never say no! The soup I’ve had better, but the green beans were yummy. The prices were fair and I felt full in my tummy!

I rarely give out 1 star reviews nowadays… I spent all of last night puking and in the bathroom.
Needless to say… spicy szechuan food coming out at 3am is HORRIBLE.

They moved to 35 233 Newark Blvd in Newark. It’s in Newark’s Ranch 99 plaza now. Closer to me, woohoo!

I found this restaurant reading San Francisco Magazine and was surprise to find a local restaurant featured in their «local finds» article.
Definite hole in the wall. I was surprised to see that they use styrofoam plates and plastic forks in stead of silverware (when you dine there!!!). Nothing close to fancy.
We ordered the fried chicken, spicy pork soup and a vegetable plate. All were very tasty — which is a problem I find at other Sichuan restaurants = all spice (as in hot) but no flavor.
Prices were extremely reasonable. You can get four dishes for just a little over $ 20 and leave satisfied.
So why only 4stars?
— 5 stars — I must crave their food.
— I’m «turning green» — they must use a ton of plastic/​paper utensils and plates

I think everyone is being too generous with the 5 stars…
I came here expecting real good food according to the high ratings here. I don’t know maybe I am bitchier than normal due to the fact that I got lost for 30 mins trying to find the damn place and a stupid asian drive almost backed up into me int the lot.
I walk inside to a typical looking ghetto asian restaurant, I love the added touch of ghettoness with styrofoam plates and plastic untensils on the tables. I was greeted than no other but an asian lady who was very friendly but not helpful. I heard on Unilocal that the spicy crispy chicken was good, and I asked the lady for her opinion, she was like I prefer the chicken because you get more of it than the shrimp… I should of saw that one coming.
So I place my order for the crispy chicken and shrimp chow mein medium spicy. The wait wasn’t too long probably, 6 minutes?
The lady showed me the chicken dish at the end, I’m a visual eater and when I saw it I knew I wouldn’t enjoy it, instead of breast fried pieces I get bone-​in weird looking pieces of chicken and lemon grass was seen from the distance. Not a very big fan of lemon grass.
The chicken was still RAW… red…i was so disgusted, I dumped the whole thing in the trash. The chow mein was too greasy for my taste and you can’t really taste any other flavor but your mouth burning. Thank god I got medium hot, I don’t even wanna know how spicy it can get after that.
I won’t come back, 99 ranch (which was next door) take out is way better and cheaper.
I wasted a good $ 7.25 and now I have a sore throaty! UGGGGH.

This is a very good place for quick Sichuan food. I give it five stars for the food, which I consider the best for Sichuan in Fremont. Yes, the service may not be on par with other restaurants, and it’s a small and simple environment, but I think people it’s still a good clean setting for casual dining. The fei pian (beef lungs) special is excellent, and their ji si mian (cold noodles) are also very tasty. I order that almost every time I go. Actually, I have tried many different items from their menu, and they all are pretty tasty. Definitely give this a shot if you like Sichuan style food or spicy food in general.

They know my mother by name and always ask how she’s doing when we go in. Probably because we’re there all the time, ordering the spiciest dishes on the menu. Real great for food that gives you a nice kick in the mouth. The hot food offers you a heavenly sort of pain.
I’m a big fan of food that you’ll remember. Trust me, you’ll remember this. If not because of how delicious it is, then because your mouth is still on fire. Try the cold noodles with spicy sauce, or the hot fish dishes. Also try the thinly sliced beef/​tendon pieces in HOT sauce. The garlic chicken is also great, as well as the egg noodles.
If you’re not a big fan of spicy food, you still have your options. But be brave, be bold, and experience the delight that is a roaring fire in your mouth. This restaurant embodies the phrase, «It hurts so good.»

I like their sichuan spicy noodle and that’s about it.

Kids got hungry so decided to give this place a try… Ordered white sliced pork in garlic sauce as appetizer, beef noodle (not spicy), and bean sauce noodle. The pork belly slice with the garlic sauce was good and definitely should go with rice as an entrée instead of a cold plate. The beef noodle soup was a bit light, but still got good clean beefy flavor with star anise. The bean sauce noodle (zhajian mein) was good but wished they put more cucumber to balance out the saltiness of the bean/​meat sauce. The noodle was tender and toothsome.
Only complaint is that they use styrofoam plates and plastic forks/​spoons which make an already hole-​in-​the-​wall chinese place even more low budget. I guess they don’t like to wash dishes? The waitress was pushy. When I asked for another minute to look over the menu she got impatient. At the end when I wanted to take the leftover bean sauce home she gave me the look and started complaing why I want that little bit home (Doesn’t she know Chinese people don’t like to waste food?) and that it is not going to taste so good, blah blah…
Cash only, no credit card.

located next to 99 ranch, this place looks mostly like a take out place in the evenings. there’s no décor to warrant dining in here. the chairs here seem to be in disarray.
the hot and sour soup (4.75) was tasty and a hit
the spicy tan tan noodle (4.95) was ok but very salty
the beijing bean sauce noodles (4.95) was a miss.
btw, the noodles used are not the hand pulled variety but rather the kind used for chow mein.
they have many «spicy food» and «hot style dishes» in the 6.95−7.50 range.

Miss this place. Always got food to go. As many people has said before, they only accept cash. Their spicy dishes are really SPICY. Be careful. I can handle spicy food. Even I can say that some of their dishes are hot. This is not your regular restaurant that claims their food is spicy, but turns out to be only mildly spicy or not even that.
My two favorite dishes here are the spicy potato strips and the spicy cold noodles with chicken. Based on the comments from other Unilocalers here, I should definitely try the spicy dry cooked chicken next time I’m there. Good food. Definitely should give it a try.

«To all people who wants food with actual plates and proper environments — the food here is too good for you, go spend loads of money to have a nice environment and crappy food»
I don’t understand, although food is about experience as well, but i’m tired to see all these other places excel at their atmosphere while grandly failing in their food. So this is exactly the opposite, good food, cheap price, but the environment suffers a little, and if you can stand fast food places, you can def. stand this one.
Yea, the plastic plates, styrofoam cups, and the wooden chopsticks will be quite distracting at first. But to see the actual food coming out without much delay and WITH the plastic plates, could be quite an experience.
but to taste those food, is another feast. I usually take medium at best, I am willing to go all the way in this restaurant, because the spicy food here got some taste, not just the hotness … and the taste preserved the original taste of the ingredients also. This is not something you can come by a lot.
Don’t judge a book by its cover people, same for restaurant and their appearances. If they cost so cheap, why bother with a nice looking restaurant. FOOD IS ALL THAT MATTERS
my recommendations — pork with spicy garlic sauce, dan dan noodle, spicy cold noodle.

My body’s feeling a little uneasy today from my dinner here last night…
But not because the food was bad… because it was good… it’s just that my body doesn’t process spicy foods quite as well as it used to… and we stayed away from most of the spicy food too.
I came here once a few months ago with my family and had an all-​spicy lunch… and MAN did my body hate me then. Actually, it was more my entire GI tract all the way down to where Angus burgers come from. Though the food was good then, I honestly couldn’t taste much after my mouth and tongue grew numb.
Since then, my cousins have been raving about this place — the non-​spicy stuff… so obviously, I had to come see for myself.
We got a few noodle plates: I honestly dont remember what they were called… I think it was the tan tan noodle, another dry noodle with ground pork «sauce», and another cold noodle. We also ordered the spicy fried chicken, as well as the (winter?) melon with dried shrimp dish.
I actually enjoyed all the dishes that we had. Though the chicken was good, I got lazy picking at the bones (they’re chicken wings chopped in half), so I didn’t eat as many as I would’ve if they were drumsticks… and they definitely had a kick to them.
They also gave us complimentary hot, picked cabbage as well as oranges for dessert… they also gave us free soymilk, which was nice.
Definite «ghetto-​fabulous» though… no-​décor and disposable dinnerware. But the food was good, and they left a pitcher of water at the table (for obvious reasons). I can’t give this place 5 stars, as my body doesn’t like the food quite as must as my tastebuds did… and the ghetto-​factor. But, definitely good food.

Spicy and NOT greasy or salty! Try the spicy fried chicken. ($ 7−8ish)
(They have some non-​spicy dishes too.)
However, I have to warn that they use ALL plastic utensils and styrofoam plates and cups. Kinda ghetto.

Although not well versed on Sichuan cuisine, I had to write a review as this was really good food! The dry cooked spicy chicken was excellent. Nothing fancy here, neither location nor the environment, but the servers were great! It was kind of like mom was waiting on you. The only negative must be the need of real plates as the styrofoam stuff is just adding to the local landfill.
Highy recommend the food though!

When I used to work in Fremont, Skippy and I came here often. The décor was minimum. The dishes were served on paper plates, rice in paper bowls, and drinks in styrofoam cups. However, the quality more than made up for the weirdness — as long as you like spicy szechuan food.
Skippy used to get menu happy and get three dishes. The portions here are pretty big so that really wasn’t necessary. We would get the shredded pork in garlic sauce and it would be (in the words of Archie R.) FILTHY. Everything would be so soaked in bright red chili oil that it would actually seep through the paper plates. But oh so tasty…
I miss that place.

*Featured in the ⁴⁄₀₇ edition of San Francisco Magazine as one of the best «authentic» Chinese restaurants in the Bay Area!*
Little Sichuan Express is a combination fast food and sit down restaurant. I believe the majority of the patrons actually order to go, but there is ample seating from which you can be served like at a more formal establishment. The take out table has a variety of everyone’s favorite classics, such as fish flavored eggplant, kung pao chicken, ma po tofu, and four seasons green bean.
Combos are about average price for this type of fare, around the $ 5 — $ 5.50 range, but the portions are humongous. Even being the big eater that I am, I can barely finish the one item lunch special, let alone the two items plate.
Furthermore, individual meat and vegetable dishes are available, and made to order. As the name implies, the specialty is the spicy cuisine associated with the Sichuan province, although in the US, this generic moniker is more often than not rarely an indicator of the origin of the food.
One of my personal favorites is the green onion lamb/​beef, and it has never failed to impress. Keep in mind that the majority of the menu is in Chinese, and the waitresses do not speak English well, so I would advise coming with a Chinese friend if you are not too familiar with this type of fare.
The décor of Little Sichuan Express is quite odd to say the least. The color scheme and table cloths are more reminiscent of a pizza or ravioli joint than Northern Chinese, but I doubt most people who dine here really care about the atmosphere. The funny thing is that even if you dine in, they serve you with picnic style paper plates and plastic forks. I’m not sure whether I’m supposed to tip or not!
For a grand lunch experience, just order to go, and head on over to Quickly tapioca next door. Grab yourself a milk tea or green milk tea, and chill outside on the terrace.

I love this place because of the sauce they use. If you don’t like spicy foods, then anything with the word «sichuan» in it is probably not good for you! They use the same sauce for the cold noodles as they do for everything else spicy. It’s yummy! The serving sizes are pretty big too. :) Service is not that great, but just get it takeout!

I have mixed feelings about this place. It’s close to my house, next to 99Ranch, but they are ghetto and dirty. Once I saw a lady working there pick her nose, another time they dropped a Diet Coke can and then tried to give it to the customer who saw it. Not a huge place that lots of Chinese people eat at. They serve the food on plastic plates and give you plastic forks so it’s very bare bone but it’s good food.
Updated 12÷5÷06:
I used to like getting food for take-​out after work and going home to eat, but now I have second thoughts about the place. I must be desperate to want to order from them again. They used to have the steam tables so it was more fast-​food like, but they stopped it and it’s not fast anymore. Bummer. They even almost forgot to give me free soup-​which is pretty nasty but I want free soup; also I didn’t mention wanting rice and got NO rice. What I use to get:
eggplant
mapo tofu
string beans w/​cumin lamb
updated 2÷9÷07:
still get take-​out here, scary but true. Still like:
string beans
cumin lamb
dan dan mien
these 3 dishes take-​out cost me $ 20.01, Cash ONLY!
Recommended by EastBay Express:
Dry-​cooked hot spicy chicken $ 7.45
Spicy cold noodles with ground pork $ 5.20
Sichuan smoked pork $ 3.95
Mapo tofu $ 6.95
Peking-​style eggplant $ 5.95
Dry-​cooked string beans $ 5.95
Sour cabbage with fish fillet soup $ 5.25
Green onion with lamb $ 6.95