Da Sichuan Bistro

Longstanding Chinese restaurant, located on the busy El Camino Real street in Palo Alto. Their specialty is spicy Sichuan cuisine, and the flavors did not disappoint. Mapo tofu was decent, and the beef with peppers was very spicy. Venue is a hole-in-the-wall, but the owners are very friendly, especially if you can speak Mandarin. Large free parking lot behind the restaurant.

Very authentic sichuan food. Good value in terms of portion and price. The owner is a very sweet lady is super friendly. She taught the secret of having spicy food. Should ask her about that next time when you visit. Spicy fish fillet and the suchuan noodle are my favorite in this place.

Da Sichuan is the place to go. I’ve had many meals here and all of them have been fantastic. I’ve brought along many friends and they have all agreed. The owner will often make recommendations about additional or alternate courses; she might even give you free samples. She is always correct. The potstickers are a must-try. The portions are generous and reasonably priced and service is always fast.

Visited on a quiet Tuesday at 1 p.m.; plenty of open tables. After six-plus years in this spot, the owners still greet every customer and check in often—service was warm, fast, and genuine. What I ate • Spicy Dan Dan Noodles (minced pork): Show-stopper. Perfect chewy noodles, sesame-peppercorn sauce, real Sichuan tingle. They can’t swap the pork for chicken, but it’s worth ordering as is. • Stir-Fried String Beans: Nicely blistered with true wok hei. Salt is on the slightly high side, yet they’re addictive. • Dry Wok Chicken: Plenty of bean sprouts, mushrooms, and jalapeños, but light on chicken and only mild heat. Tasty, just not the bold mala punch I expected—will try another entrée next time. • Canned Herbal Tea: Light, refreshing palate cleanser. • Complimentary Chicken Manchurian sample came out crispy and flavorful—likely a better pick than the dry-wok dish. Overall • Cozy, no-frills dining room (maybe a dozen tables). • Friendly staff who genuinely care if you like the food. • Great spot for authentic Sichuan flavors on the Peninsula—don’t miss the dan dan noodles. 👍 Recommended. I’ll be back to explore more of the menu, starting with a full order of that Chicken Manchurian.

For the price I love the food at Da Sichuan restaurant. I think some of the negative reviews are not taking into account the price range of the food (and tempering their expectations accordingly). I like their lamb dish and enjoyed their braised egg plant. The portion size is moderate. Service is nice and parking is at the back so it’s easy to drive to

Amazing food! I love Sichuan food and this place is one of my favorites. The Manchurian chicken is a must, and the sautéed cabbage and string beans are delicious as well.

PROS: - Affordable for Silicon Valley - Easy parking - Easy online ordering - Food was hot and ready on time - Egg Flower soup was tasty CONS: - Poor food quality. We ordered Beef w/Green Onion and the beef had a bizarre squishy, spongy texture, like it had been dehydrated and rehydrated. The noodles in the Chow Mein were overcooked and mushy, as were the green beans in our String Bean Chicken. This is very basic stuff, I don't know how they got that wrong so many times across the four dishes we ordered. - Flavors were inconsistent. The Beef w/Green Onion was flavored well. The Chow Mein was very bland and nondescript. Additionally it was made with breaded beef which is just a really weird choice. - Small portion sizes. The to-go boxes are very small. Every other Chinese place I've ordered from locally serves larger portions. The restaurant was totally empty on a Friday night, except for one couple. We should have taken that as a sign of what was to come! We will not be going back.

This is my favorite sichuan restaurant. The food is really delicious, and the flavors are quite authentic. They do have Americanized dishes, but I’ve never ordered those. Their numbing spice (mala) flavor is excellent, it’s quite hot although not unbearably so. They have a wide variety of vegan and vegetarian options. Particularly of note are the vegan variants of classic sichuan dishes, such as dandan noodles and twice cooked pork. Besides those two, some other of my favorite dishes of theirs are the chuanbei liangfen, garlic eggplant, Manchurian chicken. I also have nothing bad to say about the service, the waitress has always been very welcoming and quite funny whenever I’ve visited.

Cute hole-in-the-wall Chinese restaurant with great (and remarkably entertaining) service, tasty food, and a huge selection of vegetarian options. I visited Da Sichuan with a fairly large group, made up of about half vegetarian (or almost vegetarian) folks and half meat-eaters. At our server's recommendation, we collected all our plant-based folks on one half of the table and our less plant-based folks on the other to make it easier to share. They have an entire page of their menu dedicated to vegetarian options, all of which are delicious and do not leave you missing the meat at all. We ordered a smattering of dishes, including the garlic eggplant, stir-fried green beans, gobi Manchurian, egg rolls, chicken Manchurian, vegetarian twice-cooked pork, normal twice-cooked pork, and spicy fish fillet. Everything was outstanding, but my favorites were the eggplant, gobi Manchurian (which is, quite entertainingly, a Chinese reinterpretation of an Indian reinterpretation of Chinese food), and spicy fish fillet. I will note that if you're looking for truly authentic Sichuan cuisine, this isn't the first place I'd point to. However, if you're looking for tasty Chinese food in general (that may or may not reflect a specific region's cuisine), then this is a great spot. My favorite part of this dinner, though, was the service. Our server was hilarious; she poked fun at the Asian folks in our party for our lackluster Mandarin skills, praised the non-Asian folks for their superior Mandarin, and went above and beyond to serve everyone. We ordered the gobi Manchurian at her strong recommendation, and when it came out, she was extremely adamant about making sure we all tried a bite. She individually served everyone a piece of cauliflower, including two folks who joined us late / after the gobi Manchurian was originally served. She also singled out one person in our group to "teach how to eat the twice cooked pork," which really just involved loading up a bit of every ingredient onto a spoon and then putting the spoon into one's mouth. She co-opted the dish's serving spoon to demonstrate this, even though he was doing just fine with the chopsticks. All around an entertaining meal with tasty food and great vibes -- certainly not one I'll forget anytime soon.

I've lived near this location for a couple of years and finally picked up takeout from here. We got chicken chow mein and veggie fried rice. I appreciated that they had a parking lot in the back so it was easy to park in the back and run in and grab my food. I liked that the veggie fried rice had more veggies than your typical fried rice, it was filled with zucchini and celery. The chicken chow mein was also pretty good but the chicken quality wasn't quite as high as I'd like, but I admit I'm probably overly picky. Everyone inside the restaurant working there was so nice and friendly, I would absolutely come back for some easy takeout!

Food here is very tasty. I like the fiery lamb. The texture is very good, well marinated, stirred fried in onion and peppers. Warning: it's very spicy. The pea shoots is also very good (although sometimes it has sand in it). Without sand, it's my favorite veggie item. The service is good. They are very friendly and accommodating.

Janky taste fitting for its janky interior Wasn't sure how this was gonna go after we stumbled upon the restaurants janky interior. Unfortunately the food didn't hit the spot. The cumin lamb and water boiled fish were solid but nothing special. The fu qi fei pian were super disappointing - small portion with a slightly off putting texture and superrrrrrr salty. The mushrooms and green veggies provided a much needed break from the saltiness. Sadly not the authentic taste I was hoping for

I am truly perplexed on why this business is a sub 4 star. It can't possibly be the food - the sichuan flavors are definitely there in the dishes. Is it the service? Can't be...the owners are extremely kind and welcoming! Is it the decor? Probably, it's old and run down but you're most likely to find the best authentic chinese food at hole in the walls (in most cases, I've had 10/10 at yang kee dumpling which was a spotless new restaurant). I truly believe this restaurant is worth trying especially if you live in the area. I got: Boiled fish filet: 4.5/5 pretty damn good! the fish was extremely tender. my only gripe is it could have been spicier but I have a crazy high tolerance. Dry sauteed string beans: 4/5 nothing crazy but good and tender I will be back to try more dishes, but the 3.7 stars is definitely selling this place short. At least 4.5/5 for me.

Solid overall food nothing spectacular but reasonably priced and hits the spot when you want some easy takeout. The owners were very friendly and polite.

I only ever DoorDash from here but I loved it. My favorite is the cold noodles. I also loved the mapo tofu. They always packaged it with care so great service. Surprising to have good Chinese food in PA... totally recommend

INCREDIBLE VEGAN CHINESE FOOD!!! I had the vegan twice cooked pork which was so flavorful and the faux meat had a great texture. Even my dad who typically doesn't like vegan meats thought it was really good. There is a very extensive vegan/vegetarian menu with non-meat versions of nearly all the meat dishes offered. The rest of my family also tried the chicken chow mein, beef chow fun, and a traditional spicy fish dish. Everyone really enjoyed their food. There were two workers we interacted with and both of them were incredibly friendly and we had a great time chatting with them before and after our meal. The prices are very reasonable. Highly highly recommend!

This place, and specifically the manchurian fish, is my go-to when I'm ordering food on Doordash. I've never been to the restaurant in person.

4.5 just because if you're looking for a 5 star restaurant, the decor is a bit dated and the prices don't reflect the quality (the food is delicious and affordable, shocking!) Star of the show: Garlic Eggplant. This dish is the lynchpin. It's spicy but not killer, garlic filled but not enough to ruin your breath, and the portions are amazing. Two / three inch slices of eggplant in lots of sauce that'll blow your mind. Vegetable egg rolls: a classic, a staple, and even more delicious when dipped in the garlic eggplant excess sauce. There are only three so sometimes it's hard to share, but they're substantial for egg rolls (especially when compared to other restaurants) Kung Pao Chicken: tender, juicy, mildly spicy, chicken with peanuts and red chili. This dish has become one of my absolute favorites! The portion size is massive and it's always steaming hot. Honorable mentions: sweet and sour fish, orange peel chicken, pepper iron steak Over the last year or so, we've been back several times. We've swapped proteins to experience the differences, we've sat in and taken food to go -- we've always enjoyed it. The woman who answers the phone, serves the food, and runs the register is always personable and helpful. It's not a fancy spot and I'm grateful for it. The food is the main event, as it should be!

I started coming here during Covid after my favorite Chinese restaurant closed down. (Su Hong). I loooved that place and was so sad to see it go. The food here is the most similar out of all the Chinese places I have tried in the area! I think this place is primarily meant to be a take out restaurant. I've eaten inside, and it is very hole in the wall, but the staff are very sweet. It's worth mentioning that I am not Chinese- so I cannot speak on the food's authenticity. Regardless, I hope it never closes!

So so kung pao beef, nothing extraordinary. Will love to try something else next time.

For the price I love the food at Da Sichuan restaurant. I like their lamb dish and enjoyed their braised egg plant. The portion size is moderate. Service is nice and parking is at the back so it's easy to drive to

Great food and very friendly service. Our eight person group of colleagues spanned a range from Caucasians who aren't very adventurous to Asians who love Sichuan (and a few in between), and everyone was very happy. One star removed for the bathroom where the toilet was broken.

I found the food well below average in taste. The rice is too dry. And all the dishes were way too salty. The restaurant floor was sticky. We will not come again.

The worst chinese restaurant I've ever been to. The portions are extremely small and didn't even taste good.

We were craving for the boiled fish dish and found this place. We also ordered the kang pao beef + fried rice and everything was delicious! The staff were very friendly and everything on the menu was priced reasonably.

Love this family run spot. Great service and unique menu. Not necessarily going to find every item you may seek at a larger sichuan restaurant here but what they have is delicious

This was genuinely some of the best sichuan food I've ever had. The ambiance was great, and the food was exellently spiced. Its a family run restaurant, and the owners are great! It feels like visting your grandparents for dinner. We ordered two Shui Zhu Yu, and the server (gently) scolded us and told us to order one, and he was absolutely right. He could have accepted the order, and in turn made more money, but he ensured that all food was eaten and enjoyed. If you go, be a little understanding. They made be slightly unfamiliar with American customs, but they mean well and really just want you to have a good time.

All diners, this is a garbage chinese restaurant. Don't go there. All picture you see online was from previous owner of the restaurant. We visit in July 2025. The food is beyond terrible. None of the dishes is good. Disgusting food. Dirty tables. Really desire 0 rating.

Love the spice level here. Seems very authentic. I especially like the Manchurian Fish, just delicious.

Da Sichuan was a piece of my company's history and I was excited to taste it! They were so accommodating to my group's sensitive palates and made sure we were well fed. It felt like I was at home with my parents being stuffed to the max. I love it here and highly recommend.

Super friendly staff. The woman at the front who helped us order was great. The boiled fish slices 水煮鱼片 is amazing, 9/10. Flavor is so good that the fish with garlic pieces with the numbing spice and cilantro made me go to heaven. Price for the portion is good, i had left overs for tomorrow. The manchurian chicken (chong Qing la zi ji) was ok. I'm sure ill be back to try more food here

This was expensive, but I was impressed with the quality of the food. Quantity was reasonable. Of the dishes I tried, my favorite was the kung pao fish, something you don't often see. The fish was lightly breaded and the breading was very crunchy, even with the sauce on, and it was a good kung pao sauce accompanied by plenty of peanuts. Volcano beef was a little more challenging, covered with tiny bits of hot/spicy things, though the beef was very high quality. Cumin lamb was a full serving with lots of onion, though a little less cumin-like and a little less lamb-like than some. This place is worth exploring further.

Started with wontons with Hot Sauce $9.95. It was tasty but not overly spicy hot. Then we got Sizzling Rice Soup 11.95. The taste was good and it gave us four more than one bowl! Manchurian 911 Chicken 15.95 - wow this was hit and delicious! Szechuan style fish fillet $15.95 - another delicious spicy plate I I'll be coming back! A+

I ordered the chicken chow mein this time. Consistency from the first item. I ordered tasty. Great service. I also tried one of their signature spicy appetizers good heat, tasty dumplings.

Where to begin? The service was really friendly and welcoming. We're new to the place but our friends are regulars. I don't even know what my favorite was - we had the cold beef appetizer, fish soup with mustard greens, wontons, twice cooked pork belly with smoked tofu, fish stew, boiled beef, the pickle mix, pea shoots, dan dan noodles and I must be forgetting something but everything was DELICIOUS. 10/10 will be back, want to be back sooner rather than later and can't recommend this place enough!

They will prepare many dishes gluten free for you. I am a celiac with a very severe gluten allergy. I have eaten here many times and have never had a reaction. I have had Kung Pao, chicken, Mu Shu, pork, orange, peel beef among other things and fried rice, prepared gluten-free and I have not had a reaction to any of them. If you call to order speak to Susan. She understands gluten allergy very well. Their dishes are delicious and everyone else in the family who can eat gluten likes them prepared gluten-free as well.

Unassuming restaurant serving small portion entrees. The table service was quick and our waiter was a character. The pork chow mein only had cabbage, noodles and pork. It didn't even have any celery, carrots, garlic, green onions or ginger. However, the kung pao shrimp had all it's ingredients and the sauteed cabbage was delicious too.

This is our local sichuan spot, and for takeout I think it's pretty solid. Inside the restaurant there's a good amount of space, but no one was dining in when we went on a weekday. I was really impressed by the eggplant! So spicy and delicious! We ordered a chefs special chicken too, but this was a little over fried for my taste. Still not too bad! Solid spot if your craving the spicy numbing delicious flavors from sichuan. The standard they make is spicy but they can definitely go hotter if you ask!

Incredible authentic Sichuan cuisine! Susan is a delight to see again post-pandemic. The atmosphere is entirely created by Susan's personality. The 911 chicken is my personal favorite along with the Ma-po and fish stew.

5/5 Garlic eggplant - super sticky saucy tangy garlicky scrumptiously soggy eggplant pieces - perfect with white rice, not spicy even though there was a chili symbol next to it on the menu 3.5/5 Kung pao chicken - had no idea this was a Sichuan dish. Not spicy either, lots of peanuts, small pieces of fresh ginger and onions. The chicken itself didn't taste the greatest, it wasn't marinated and didn't have that wok seared flavor I preferred, kind of tasted like boiled chicken they tossed in sauce. I actually mixed the chicken with the delicious eggplant sauce to enjoy it more. 4/5 boiled fish in chili oil with numbing peppercorns - pretty good, thicker sauce than a lot of places, just the right amount of spice and numbing. Husband really enjoyed it. Tender chunks of fish with some fresh cilantro on top. Could use a little more cilantro and salt. Overall, solid Sichuan food. All the people who complained about portion sizes i think might've gotten skimped when ordering take out. The three plates we ordered dining in were enough to feed 3-4 people plus orders of rice. Price was okay for Palo Alto area. Service was attentive for a Chinese spot although we were the only patrons. Place could be cleaner, women's restroom needed some help...

I moved out of the area in 2015 and still dream about this place. The dry wok hot pot, orange beef, and dry wok green beans are amazing. The ma po tofu is also damn good, and my kids and MIL (who aren't about that spicy life) love the sweet & sour prawns. Yes, the dining room has seen better days, but the food, friends - focus on the food. And Susan. Bless her cranky heart, I love that woman. Much like a pineapple, she's a bit prickly on the outside but has a heart of gold. Don't be swayed by the haters, come with an open mind, a bottle of tums, and prepare to fall in love.

The food is amazing here, I think 4 for the food but taking one away as there were small flies in the dining area. We went here on a Saturday as it is pretty close to our place, lots of DoorDash orders but not too many people in the restaurant. Food:4/5 star, pretty amazing food Ambience: casual, authentic, the people who were working here were just constantly chatting with each other and us and having a ball! Ordered: pea shoots and spicy fish in hot oil Favorite: pea shoots! Be back: maybe, I am just a bit concerned about the hygiene. Might just have been a hot day and some flies through the door.

People were NOT joking about the small portions. First time I've seen such a portion of this dish. It had 6 pieces of fish fillets the size of fun-sized candy bars. Flavor was okay, fish was obviously frozen, but it was slightly spicy with a decent broad bean paste and Sichuan pepper corn flavor. I also ordered the shrimp fried rice but have found no shrimp so far.

Ordered takeout. The Manchurian Fried fish was our favorite. Good seasoning, great fry. But the ratio of peppers to fish was disappointing. The cuming lamb didnt have enough flavornor cumin. Mapo tofu was standard. Intestines were bland and a bit chewy. Also none of it came with rice. Surprisingly. Luckily we had rice already, I'm just surprised this type of food needs you to order rice separately. My search of a good go to szechuan continues.

Great spicy food and good service. This is our favorite Sichuan restaurant. The boiled spicy fish is my favorite.

Ordered through DoorDash. I am underwhelmed and will not order from here again. For $14 the dish contained 10 bite size pieces of chicken. They used raw broccoli to make it appear like the tray was full. See image for details. They are even conservative on the sauce-- there was not enough sauce to put any on the rice. I cannot recommend it. Recommendation to owners: (1) please include the weight of the protein in the dish so that there is no deception about portion size. (2) take 30 seconds to steam or sauté the broccoli. It is obvious that you are using it to fill the empty space in this completely disappointing dish.

I love their spicy seafood noodle, the price is very affordable. The restaurant has been around for a long time, the owner is friendly and good is good.

Amazing Sichuan food in a friendly and comfortable setting. Our waitress recommended some excellent dishes and we loved them. My favorite was probably twice cooked pork, but the dry hot pot, hot won tons, and chili chicken were excellent too.

This place is not bad. We were hunting for dry hot pot so we decided to try this place. -chili wontons weren't bad. The filling was tasty and did not contain shrimp to my delight. It wasn't super spicy. -Twice cooked pork wasn't bad either. The dish also had 豆乾 which I guess is like a soy tofu item. The pork pieces weren't overly fatty which is good. -the beef dry hot pot was interesting. The flavor wasn't exactly what I was looking for - it didn't have a 麻辣 mala flavor that I wanted. It was also not super spicy either. It was however a bit on the saucy side but I did like the sauce that they used. It was a tiny bit on the oily side though. Most of the people that came in seemed to be for takeout or doordash (delivery).

Very good, authentic Chinese food in Palo Alto! Walnut prawns, orange peel beef, and shredded pork in garlic sauce were all prepared nicely for one recent takeout order. The dine-in facilities seem very plain.

After going here over and over again for 1 year and almost have tried most of their famous dishes, I can say that if you want spicy Sichuan food, this is a good place to go. There are not many authentic Sichuan food in the area, so this stands out. Nonetheless, the environment and service are not the best....

I've been coming here for a decade and it's an institution in my household. My go to dishes are: - Manchurian Spicy Fish - Stir fried potatoes with peppers (much better than it sounds) - Sour cabbage and lamb soup pot

1. 水煮魚 boiled fish filet: 4/5 this was my favorite dish coming here! A good amount of flavorful, spicy but not excessively painful fish 2. manchurian chicken: 3/5 This was just okay in my book, although it's really popular apparently? There wasn't THAT much chicken, it's like 70% just peppers that you probably won't eat lol. 3. westlake mince beef soup: 2/5 this was watery, not enough egg or beef. Would not recommend. 4. green string beans: 4/5 these are good! I would get these if you want a yummy veggie option. 5. Free egg rolls: not sure if I made the $50 minimum for free egg rolls, but the waiter gave them to me anyways! These egg rolls were actually decently tasty and crispy. Overall: your standard 3-3.5/5 chinese restaurant, with hits & misses. If I were to come back, the only dishes I'd order again are the green string beans and the spicy boiled fish.

Been a while since I ate here . Food portions have definitely gotten smaller and prices are way up. I got the Tan Tan noodles and it's about half the size at the same price as say Crouching Tiger or Redwood Bistro. I paid like $50 bucks for 2 appetizers,an entree and 2 beers. Food is OK ,but not at these prices. Probably last visit.

I passed by this place many times but never thought of eating there because it really doesn't look authentic at all from the outside. Written "DA SICHUAN" in English, no Chinese name on the big sign, very 1970's fonts which reminds me of Cantonese restaurants trying to serve Sichuan food (no offense to Cantonese food, but Cantonese restaurants in US trying to making Sichuan food never works well.) Well, I was wrong. I ordered a delivery from this restaurant and the flavors of the 3 Sichuan dishes I ordered were spot on. They have LOTS of vegetarian options too, including vegetarian versions of 紅油抄手，擔擔麵 etc which you don't normally find. They have the meat versions too. Their 涼粉 was amazing too. I saw some of the bad reviews who ordered some Chow Mein or some general gao broccoli chicken or something, you're in the wrong place ordering the wrong food. But seriously, 90% of their menu is not Sichuan dishes. In my opinion they really should take that stuff off the menu and just list ONLY the Sichuan food and not pollute the menu with other noise. Those noise makes people order the wrong dishes and result in disappointment. Usually when I see Chow Mein on a menu I think the restaurant is not authentic, because you never find that stuff in China. Seriously, just call the restaurant 四川小吃 and focus on those few dishes. List them big, with pictures. Anyway, I'm happy, I'll be back again. Only thing I would recommend is give the sign a facelift, hire a designer on short-term contract to redesign your sign and menu, make it look less like a random Americanized Chinese restaurant. This restaurant is actually good.

Went here on a weekend evening and this place is quite empty. The three of us ordered 3 dishes (tofu with veggies, pickled cabbage lamb soup and the spicy Chongqing fish). The fish dish was a bit salty but overall they're all tasty. I like the soup in particular! Also the food here has very reasonable price too.

The food is always amazing. Lots of vegetarian options available. Lot of spicy options are also available. Veg boiled beef, veg 911 veg chicken are my favorites. Service is also very fast and friendly.