Sichuan House

Let me say, I'm not usually one to write bad reviews, but if I could give this place a 0/5, I would. Food was mid and bland, we have definitely had better elsewhere. We ordered multiple dishes. When we got the rest of our food, we let our waitress know we were missing Mongolian Beef. 20 minutes after, we still had not received it, so we asked for it to be removed off the bill. There was no remorse or want to make it right. That leads me to the service. Service was horrible. They were so frantic about mobile orders they couldn't even take care of people sitting in the restaurant. Lots of loud phone calls and noticeable panic from the teenager working the host stand and mobile orders. Blonde lady was aggressive, yelled in another language numerous times to other employees (seemingly about customers) and was overall not welcoming at all. I was stressed just sitting at my table because of the vibe they were putting off. Overpriced as well. We ordered 2 dishes and 2 sides and paid $65 dollars. Ambiance was mediocre, it's basically in a gas station parking lot. The chairs were velvet and couldn't be cleaned well, so we sat on dirty chairs. Was so unpleasant and we will definitely not be going back. Wish we would have stuck with our favorite Asian place instead... or even Panda Express!

The food was decent overall. I would recommend the cumin beef and the mushrooms , those dishes were pretty good. The more American-style Chinese dishes are just average, though. Things like sesame chicken are pretty ordinary and probably not worth ordering. I really don’t like the way the credit card processing fee is handled. Charging a fee is one thing, but adding it automatically after the tip has already been entered is very confusing. They charge 2.9% for credit fee. Personally, I think restaurants shouldn’t pass this fee on to customers at all, since it’s normally part of the cost of doing business. But even if they choose to charge it, it should be clearly disclosed before payment, not automatically added afterward.

If you are looking for traditional Sichuan Chinese food in San Antonio, this is the spot. The food has spice, but it’s a flavorful spice and not over the top. Lo Mein is cooked perfectly and very balanced flavors. The pot stickers are crispy and filled with tons of meat. Hand folded wontons in the classic chili oil pack a punch of heat but absolutely delicious. The Don pork belly is out of this world good. It was cooked to perfection and the wife’s favorite dish. The bok choy served on the plate was tender and a nice bonus. The star of the show for me was the Crispy Chicken from the classic Sichuan side of the menu. Talk about a flavor punch! The chicken was moist and fried the right way. The spice levels were just right and it might actually be my favorite Chinese dish ever. The staff was very friendly and do a great job at making sure the experience matches the food. We ordered way too much food, but that’s what you are supposed to do if you want leftovers for home.

The food quality is questionable: we found an unknown piece of meat with bone in our swimming in spice beef dish. When notified, the manager argued that it's bean sprout, the only problem is the dish itself does not have bean sprout in it at all. We took a picture and magnified, which clearly showed the bones, we suspect it's remnants of a shrimp. Fortunately, none of us is allergic to shrimp, in a supposedly beef dish, that would have turned into a very bad outcome. Also, upon check out, they charged an extra 2.99% for using a credit card, which we have never experienced in any other restaurants we patronize. However, we would like to mention our server Oksana, she's great, checking on us periodically to make sure we are comfortable. She did her best effort to assist in spite of the situation, we do appreciate her attitude and sincerity.

The restaurant is pretty small. The food is more Americanized Chinese food rather than authentic Sichuan cuisine. If you’re looking for authentic Chinese or Sichuan food, I personally wouldn’t recommend this place.