Great Wall Szechuan House

Great service and decent Chinese!!!

One of the better chinese places in DC. I don’t pretent to be an expert on wheather or not it is authentic or not. I like both authentic and Americanized Chinese food. The food here is very good, regardless of where its origins may be. I will definitely be back here sometime when I am back in the foggy bottom area.

I tried the ma po tofu after seeing it recommended on Unilocal,and hearing it’s vegan without the pork. Many people said it was the best they’ve had or tasted totally authentic. If that’s the case, then authenticity is not a good thing for me. I guess it’s intended to be a spicy dish, which is fine. But the flavor was pungent, and made it near-​inedible. People reference the numbing sensation from the dish, I had that also. I’m sure the other food is great here, but I’m sad to have to toss out the rest of this tofu. If spicy, pungent, and numbing is what you seek in your ma po tofu, this is the dish for you.

Four stars for great Sichuan food!
I came here with a group of friends (including a few native Mandarin speakers, so, unfortunately, I’m not entirely sure of the names of the dishes we ordered), and we ordered enough to feed a small crowd. I’ve had Sichuan food before, and, of course, the main feature is that numbing spice – which was in everflowing supply here at Great Wall!
Some highlights were the eggplant, the mapo tofu, the dry-​fried chicken. Definitely go for the ma la menu items!

I had never heard of Ma La before coming to this place but you can now find me here at LEAST once a week. Spicy, savory, and tingly feeling in your mouth that I really can’t explain (in a good way). I cannot recommend this place more highly! TRY THE MA LA

The last couple times I got the Kung pao chicken, I think it was rotten. The prices aren’t bad, but the food quality is questionable.

Pretty darn good cheap and fast Chinese. Delivery under 15 mins.
A few tips: The chicken is not always white meat, so ask. Ma po is hot, really hot and the real deal. Any changes/​additions to your entrees won’t happen (use less oil).
My favs: amazing bok choy (huge serving and light but not overlooked), Szechuan lo mean combo (not spicy but tasty).
Not so favs: General Tso chicken is tendony meat, fried rice is gummy, soups are flavorless.

Panda Gourmet in NE probably has Great Wall Szechuan House beat on many levels. But one level that it does not compare is the Boiled Fish. Wow! One of the most delectable spicy versions of the dish that I ever had. Fresh, lightly breaded fish with cabbage and a lot of spice. Sounds odd but you should try it. Their cold spicy szechuan noodles are also great and rivals that dan dan noodles at Panda Gourmet.
Both restaurants are known for their specialities. I am so glad I have options when living inside the District!

Very unauthentic food, I think I’m entitled to comment on this since I grew up in Sichuan myself.
The service is quick and friendly though.

My coworkers and I have ordered from here occasionally. This last time we ordered one of my coworkers found a roach in the middle of her rice. I did contact the store and the manager did refund my money but still… a roach… in food… so we’re all off Chinese food for quite sometime.

The food here is quite filling for comparatively cheap prices. My favorites are the spicy beans, spicy eggplant in garlic sauce, spicy fish, and Peking duck.

There are a lot of people who have told me that Great Wall is the best cheap Chinese food in DC. Naturally, based on these recommendations, I knew I had to finally try Great Wall. I ended up being extremely disappointed. I should state right away that I particularly enjoy cheap Chinese food. I’m not looking for anything extremely special from a take out place. However, this was just bad.
I ordered the Ma La Beef. It was absolutely inedible. I understand that the sauce is supposed to be numbing and very spicy, but it fell flat and just tasted too salty with no spice. My boyfriend’s lo mein was similarly over seasoned. On the flip side, the wonton soup was entirely flavorless, and the crab rangoons actually didn’t have any filling. I’m posting a picture so you can see that there is actually no filling in these things.
I was extremely disappointed, and for my Chinese takeout on 14^th, I will definitely just stick with Yum’s.

Hmm, some people swear by this place, but I was underwhelmed. The egg roll was really good and the green beans were delicious. The Singapore noodles were not bad, but not sure I’d order it again. Lastly the ma po tofu was good at first, but then I started getting a weird after taste. If I go again I’ll order something else.

The general rule of thumb is that there are no good Chinese spots in DC — Great Wall Szechuan kind of proves that point.
The most recent time I ate food here, it was a take-​out order. We opted for some cashew chicken, wonton soup, and pork and broccoli. Basically the only thing I remember about this meal was that there was a long black hair in the wonton soup. That is just straight up not acceptable. Who knows what’s in the regular food.
We decided to eat the two main dishes, mainly because we were hungry. It was fine, but obviously nothing special. And it was around $ 37 for that food, which to me is pretty expensive for take out.
I would recommend Great Wall Szechuan at all.

My favorite Chinese food place in DC! They have a great variety of food for the palate that loves authentic Chinese food and the palate that loves Americanized Chinese food. The dishes my boyfriend and I love the most are:
1) mapo tofu (perfect Szechuan spice and blend of numbness and heat)
2) stir fried green beans (flavored and cooked perfectly most of the time, although there have been a couple misses)
3) hot and sour soup (good heat level and perfect level of sourness)
4) chicken and broccoli or chicken with mixed vegetables (just saucy enough and perfect salt level)
The authentic Chinese food is amazing. I will probably never eat the Americanized Chinese food either, because why would o want to?! There is always a group of Chinese people (that you can tell are newly from China) that eat there, so that’s another sign of awesome Chinese food. If you want awesome and authentic Chinese food, eat here!

Went here for Chinese New Year. And I knew it was a red flag when they sat a party of 4 that came before us in a two seater table and then sat my friend and I in a round table! Like why…
We ordered the Kung pao chicken and fried rice. And it’s not because I’m Asian, but any person would point out that their chicken was not that spicy and did not have the regular kick of a regular Kung pao and 2. Their fried rice was a little too al Dente and probably needed more cooking.
The service was okay overall but think this review is accurate because there was not so much people for Chinese New Year as I went early dinner. The bathroom is also downstairs and their fortune cookies did not taste well, that is seriously a deal breaker!
For a chinese place in dc it wasn’t bad, but compared to other chinese food, it’s not the greatest.

This remains to be my favorite Chinese restaurant in the district. It’s unpretentious, filling and flavorful food. And yeah, it can get pretty hot.
First off, I was super stoked to try Szechuan dishes with the famous/​infamous Szechuan peppercorn. The peppercorn has a numbing agent to supposedly help you handle really spicy foods. I was so curious to try it. Was I happy to have tried it? Yes. Do I ask to leave it out when I order now? You betcha.
Honestly the peppercorn left an unpleasant tingling in my mouth and it distracted me from enjoying the rest of the meal. It’s an unusual sensation so it’s fun to experience, but then the gimmick has worn off.
My recommended dishes are the twice cooked pork, mapo tofu and if you like it really hot, the three pepper chicken. I get it WITHOUT the peppercorn. Oh and the hot and sour soup is great! Great balance of heat and tart and not too salty.
The rest of the menu is run of the mill Chinese take out fare, which is why I took off a star. It’s hit and miss you. The sautéed garlic bok choy, spicy eggplant and moo shu pork are all good. The kung pao beef was bad, the meat was really tough and didn’t have any flavor. In general, most Chinese take outs do not do beef well, so steer clear.
Each time 14^th street gets another glitzy high end eatery, I grow to love Great Wall that much more.

I was so not impressed with this Chinese restaurant. I think the only impression that I left with was the bathroom was clean. As far as food goes and service — they were on the same page — terrible. You won’t be catching me back here.

This is real authentic Chinese food — don’t come here if you are looking for «Happy Family» or «Orange Chicken». I’ve been to Asia and I’ve ate at some of the best and most authentic Chinese restaurants in the US. This place has a 5 star taste and probably what appears to be a 3 star wait staff for those not accustom to how the Chinese deliver table service… please remember, this is not American owned PF Chang’s.
My favorite dishes here are the Sauteed Green Beans, Mapo Tofu (Szechuan spice tofu), and Hot Sour Soup.
If you are use to Panda Express or any place called «Tony’s Chinese Restaurant» or «Wok and Roll Carry Out» — you may be in for a bit of a culture shock eating here.
For those of you who like real Chinese food from the Szechuan region of China, you just might enjoy this spot! For the rest of my Panda Express lovin’ and Orange chicken eatin’ friends; bring your adventurous palate and taste the culture shock!

Serviceable, not great. Not terrible either. Just unremarkable, really.
Had lunch here a few weeks back with a friend. Neither of us had tried it before and he wanted to check it out. The food was not bad. It was perfectly fine American Chinese food. A bit spicy.
I’d go back if I were just in the mood for generic Chinese, but wouldn’t make a point of seeking it out for a great meal.
One plus: at least at lunch, it wasn’t super-​busy (on a quiet Friday), so you could definitely hear conversation.
Service was acceptable, also unremarkable.