"Flushing has no shortage of Sichuan restaurants. So to compete with the best of them, places need to offer a lot more than another good mapo tofu. A few blocks from Main Street, Alley 41 serves noodles made in-house, numbing fish steeped in peppercorn flavor, and sizzling beef with plenty of chilis to balance out the cumin. (And yes, they also have fantastic, extra funky mapo.) It's a slightly upscale spot with little touches like ornamental brickwork and decorative screens that are supposed to recall a Chengdu alleyway, and works for a small group dinner you want to go really well. " - carina finn koeppicus, kenny yang, neha talreja, bryan kim, molly fitzpatrick
Alex Staniloff
