Little Szechwan

I occasionally take the Highland Park Metra and got used to smelling the succulent aroma of relly good Chinese food. One day, I followed my nose to Little Szechwan. Upon entry, we were warmly greeted. The dining room looked very nice at first glance, but then upon further inspection, there are some basic repairs and cleaning needed. The menu looked very traditional Chinese like from 20 – 30 years ago, before the era of buffets. They had Peking Duck. We ordered the Taiwanese chicken rolls, which were similar to spring rolls. The flavor was very rich with Chinese spice. There was cruncy cabbage filling and the most incredible dipping sauce. I tried the hot and sour soup and it was really good. The crispy tofu was also incredible. I thought the price was a little high, so I would save our visits here for special occasions. The staff were really kind and friendly. They seemed to try to provide personalized service to every single patron and they were very understanding of swirmy children. It would really be to their benefit to fix up the place a little bit. It would help to justify the above average pricing.

Delivery service is lousy. Instead of the 40 minutes we we told, it was over 65 minutes and an item was missing: the «mandarin pancakes» as they were described for the Moo Shu Beef. They are not pancakes, rather, we received flour tortillas when the driver returned with missing said pancakes. Huge difference. We called to complain and they claim that’s how they’ve already prepared it. Tortillas are NOT the same as think pancakes. Way overpriced for the portions received. $ 15 for a shrimp dish in a small plastic container? Never again. There are so many other options in the area we will not be ordering from this place again.

I had the spicy pork dish and it was delicious! Rice comes complimentary and the list of beers is good. I also got the Tsingtao beer, which is a personal favorite.
Can’t sing the praises of the staff enough! They are extremely nice, attentive, competent, and the food always gets here in good time. (My grandfather forgot his cell phone in the restaurant and the waitress urgently came outside to return it. So nice!)
If you’re in Highland Park looking for some good Chinese, this is the spot!

Just ordered delivery for our first time. Loved being able to order online through Unilocal app. Didn’t mind the $ 3 service charge at all. Delivery was prompt. Food very good. Scallion pancakes dangerously good.
They are now our go to Chinese food when we’re too lazy to cook or go out.
Only reason I didn’t give 5 stars is they forgot my brown rice.

Quiet and clean place with delicious food. We’ve been regulars forever and the couple who owns the restaurant are very nice.

This was a terrible experience.
I placed my order through Grub Hub and it was on its way on time. I called the restaurant after it should have been delivered was told the driver was nearby. The driver called me five minutes later to say he was at 770 W. I am at 760 E. I asked if he had GPS (I know he has an iPhone which he called me from, and my location is accurate on GPS so I am not sure what was the trouble). He called a few other times and later supposedly found someone to help him find me (the address was a business rather than residential – maybe too confusing?). Finally one hour after the food should have been delivered, I called and asked them to please cancel the order. They didn’t put up a fight.
Luckily I hadn’t paid by card. Better order from Jin28 instead. Consider hiring delivery drivers that can find delivery addresses/​know how to use GPS.

I have been here many times when visiting Highland Park. I have always been happy enough with what I’ve gotten, but never impressed. The governor’s chicken is pretty good, as is the kung pao, but the moo shu isn’t my favorite. The prices are pretty reasonable, though, and the food has never been bad.

Meh. They accidentally placed the wrong order on our table. Like, who puts two orders on the same tray and intends to serve one dish out of two?
The crab rangoon was super overfried and the cream cheese filling was wet. Not gooey, but wet. The steamed dumplings had water (not sauce) on the inside.
The governor’s chicken was large chunks of meat, lightly tempura-​ed, and coated in brown sauce. The hunan beef was large chunks of beef, well coated and seasoned. Both dishes were high quality.

Vile!!! Do not order from here. I’ve tried several times and different things and it is always so gross. Want my money back.

This place used to be great before new owners took over! All the shrimp got small and the prices got higher. Some new owner is a woman who is very rude about how much soy sauce do you want to go and the prices are very high for a Chinese restaurant!
You’re better off going to a cheaper place and getting the same quality!

We caught a movie and were looking for a place, some Chinese.
Found this hidden gem.
I ordered the Kung Bao Chicken, specifying my spice desire, and my partner went with the shrimp, pork, beef combination (I think). She enjoyed. I enjoyed.
Our server noticed that I had carefully sorted the green peppers out during the meal. She suggested next time that I say no green peppers and it would be arranged. There definitely will be a next time.
We’ve been looking for a reliable Chinese place. The owners are there making sure of your meal. The dishes are very generous and match your order (Kung Bao a little more than medium spicy – how does one gauge that? – they did!)
Definitely a hidden gem.

Decent sized fairly priced lunch specials. I had the Kung Pao Chicken. I told them medium heat and they nailed it! Comes with veggie egg roll and hot & sour soup.
Don’t be fooled by it being a hole in the wall. It’s real Chinese food made by Chinese folk. Genuine tastes made fresh — the green and red bell peppers are crunchy! Perfectly cooked! Now that’s good cookin’.

Definitely decent Chinese food. My only problem is that they can be inconsistent. Most of the time the food is very good but occasionally they miss the mark and deliver sub-​par food. When we first moved to Highland Park 15 years ago, my parents were helping us move in and they were lovers of Chinese food so we went here for dinner one night. They were blown away! Just loved it. Their favorite dish… shrimp with lobster sauce.
It’s been a long while now and lots of dinners come and gobbled. We certainly have our own favorites now. I love the hot and sour soup, Governor’s chicken, Szechwan shrimp and shrimp fried rice. During her high school years my daughter’s favorite was the Homestyle tofu. The son’s favorites are the dumplings and pork fried rice. And more pork fried. He can eat it by the carton full!
Even with its inconsistencies this is still our go to Chinese place!

Today was the American holiday of «jewmusteatchinesefood» we were actually hoping to order thai food. Sadly nothing was open anywhere near by.
So, it was Chinese… we were prepared to order from New China I deerfield. Our friends preferred Little Szechwan in Highland Park.
We placed our order for a 6:30 pick up.
We arrived a few minutes late, there was a small group waiting for a table. There was no one else there to pick up carry out. This is highly unusual on this day. Most other Chinese restaurants have a line out the door on Christmas Day. They also seemed to be moving at a snails’ pace. This struck me as odd on what should be a great day for them.
When ordering I noticed that the prices were a bit high, compared to similar restaurants.
We ordered a variety of items. From appetizers to entrees.
Overall the food was… really disappointing.
We ordered the chefs special noodle dish. This was supposed to contain shrimp, beef and chicken… I found one small piece of beef and 2 tiny shrimp.
Very disappointing.
All in all very few of the dishes had any real flavor.
The fried tofu had 2 tiny pieces per order… at $ 6.50 an order, you must be kidding me.
Even the fried rice was nothing special. It also contained very little of the items listed on the menu. The orange beef had a burnt taste to it.
Our friends felt they were «off their game, this was not their best effort.
Lesson… Stick with places you know. Next time for Chinese food… New China.
Not a great meal… live and learn… happy holiday!

NO! We walked inside, looked at the menu. The food here is already overpriced for a Chinese place, and I am not comparing this to a takeout place. with nothing special items on the menu.
The only good part about this restaurant is I guess the ambiance is pretty good for a Chinese place, our server who is an Asian lady with hair to her shoulder, wore red lipsticks and all black were pretty nice. Also, they always have someone from the kitchen bring out the food, open up a stand next to us and then the server puts the food on the table. That’s a nice touch.
Let’s rewind back to the beginning though. When we were ready to be seated, the guy at the front kept asking for my phone number?! I was so confused, I said we are just dining in, he said yes but I still need a phone number… isn’t this an invasion of privacy? And then he was like «What did you order». I was like «We haven’t ordered, we just want to be seated». Then he explained he thought he had placed take out… After that whole order we were finally seated.
$ 2.99 for two VERY small spring rolls. $ 10.99 for some shrimp fettuccine like dish that they called soft noodle. resembled nothing Asian and was VERY salty. My friend ordered the scallop and beef which came with white rice, she was not given the option of brown or white rice, was also VERY salty. There were 2 scallops in that whole dish, why bother putting any in?
Overall the food was just straight bad, and with the price they charge, there is no reason to be eating here. Way too salty and not a good grasp of flavor, really just seems like bad for my health to be eating that much salt.
The other plus I guess is they do have a good sized fish tank, unlike most Asian restaurants that straight up disrespect koi, and is a case of animal rights, this place has a pretty long fish tank. Not tall or wide, but at least long.
Enough said, maybe to be safe, go next door to Lou Malnati, Lou Malnati can never wrong you.

This is my go-​to restaurant for lunch every time I bring friends and family to the nearby Chicago Botanic Garden. I love the authentic Chinese décor and vibe here. The food is very Americanized though (not saying that its bad!), with many saucy and fried dishes. My favorites are the hand-​made spare ribs, crispy shrimp, and the Szechuan string beans. Even though the restaurant is Szechuan style, the chef is Cantonese and the owner Taiwanese, so I would recommend going for the more southern-​styled dishes rather than the hot and spicy Szechuan-​style ones.
Pro-​tip: order the Taiwanese Beef noodles that is not on the menu!

Excellent Food! Coming from the east coast, it is hard to find a good Chinese Restaurant. You want spicy… you got it. You want duck, they have it! They even «poke holes» in the plastic they use to cover your food so that your chicken and dumplings stay crispy… even when traveling 5+ miles to pick up your food.
Four stars for this place, only because most Chinese Restaurants in the area give you a «free egg roll» or something when ordering more than $ 20 worth of food.

There was metal in our food! METAL!
We ordered delivery, and as I was eating, I noticed something sharp in my mouth. I spit it out and found a bent, thin metal rod, like half a paper clip. I understand accidents happen, but when I’m bleeding from something that I ate, that’s a problem. We called up Little Szechwan and the refunded our order, but still, I would never order from here again.

Little Szechwan is almost certainly the best Chinese in Highland Park. It is by no means comparable to really good Chinese in San Francisco, New York, or even Chicago. That being said, I always really love their homestyle tofu– fried tofu with black bean sauce and lots and lots of vegetables– and their vegetarian fried rice is really eggy, which I love. They also give you free white rice, which is a wonderful touch that you don’t see super often.

Average food, average service. Took the kids here on a Sunday eve (we were a party of 7) and they seemed shocked we hadn’t made a reservation despite the restaurant being completely empty. Food came out fast and the egg drop soup was delicious and the highlight. The rest of the food was just so so.
My 3 year old used the bathroom and though clean, it reeked of fish trying to be covered up with a mothy air freshener. She couldn’t get out of there fast enough. She had to go again mid meal and announced she would not go back in that potty. (We had to go down the steet and find her another bathroom to use.)
On the plus side my kids were quite loud (especially my 2 yr old who spent a good portion of time pointing at the fish tank and yelling sushi) and they didn’t bat an eye.