I was really disappointed with their food and still cannot understand good reviews it gets. Its Szechuanese dishes are too spicy. Of course, Szechuanese dishes are meant to be spicy, maybe more than what they serve for non-Szechuanese. But the dishes I tried were a way out of balance. In terms of temperature, texture, color, and taste, they are anything but good Chinese dishes.

If you want Chinese food, there are so many good restaurants in Chinatown: better taste, cheaper price, and no waiting. If you are really into Szechuanese food, you should try Yanbangcai (http://yanbangcaichicago.com). The only problem with this small restaurant is consistency, but still better than LSC. If you miss Mapo tofu, Homestyle Taste makes a really good one although they are from Northern China (less spicy but very much balanced).

I agree with you, the three times I have been to LSC have been mediocre. However, LTH's last reports on Yan Bang Cai were also less than enthusiastic. Maybe you should head over and revive that thread with a report on your recent experiences.

botd wrote:I agree with you, the three times I have been to LSC have been mediocre. However, LTH's last reports on Yan Bang Cai were also less than enthusiastic. Maybe you should head over and revive that thread with a report on your recent experiences.

Yan Bang Cai thread here.

=R=

I think you're more likely to run into Tony at his Michigan Avenue location these days.

LSC made a good showing for some friends who had been in Europe for a few years and missed Szechuan cuisine more than just about anything. Potstickers, twice-cooked pork with leeks, and Xinjiang lamb with cumin were excellent. Ma po tofu and boiled beef were savory but weak on the spices, numbing or otherwise.

The linked reports really concern me, a longtime proponent of the place. Tony has already received some warning shots on the bigger picture of how he conducts his enterprise, and if his focus has been narrowed, you'd think getting conditions exactly right in his flagship should be the very top priority. The supplies involved are absolutely essential staples, not ephemeral produce with hitchhikers, which can happen anywhere. There is an explanation for everything, including shared walls, I'm sure, but c'mon.

I've been really enjoying Szechuan Cuisine (http://www.szechuancuisinechicago.com) lately, in addition to the duo of Northern Style and Homestyle Taste. Xi'an Cuisine has been my favorite thing that opened (other than Ahjoomah's and Sala Bua) - it's better than Gene's Flatbread in Boston for my money. I want / need LSC right there in my rotation of recommendations. We've given Tony a lot of confidence and support as a community. Bouncing back from this past year with some humility would be a very good thing to see.

stevez wrote:I think you're more likely to run into Tony at his Michigan Avenue location these days.

Out of sheer idle curiosity, how is that place doing? The design makes it impossible to see into the dining room from the street, so it's not possible to know whether the place is teeming with customers, completely empty, or somewhere in between.

riddlemay wrote:

stevez wrote:I think you're more likely to run into Tony at his Michigan Avenue location these days.

Out of sheer idle curiosity, how is that place doing? The design makes it impossible to see into the dining room from the street, so it's not possible to know whether the place is teeming with customers, completely empty, or somewhere in between.

When I was there for lunch, approximately a month after opening, the place was hopping, with diners paying up to twice the price of the other LSC outposts for fancy (read small) portions of some greatest hits from the menu. An abbreviated Dim sum menu was also being served with dumplings being made on site in a glassed in kitchen for all to see.

I don't know how LSC-Michigan Ave is doing in general, but I can tell you about my one strange experience there: I wanted to have a quick lunch one day recently. There is small sign in their window that describes a lunch special of an egg roll, rice, a drink, and a selection of dishes (including dry chili chicken) for a fairly good price. Maybe $8. I don't remember. Sounds great. I'm seated and given a menu that doesn't have any lunch specials on it. It's just the regular menu with ~$12 entrees. The waiter tells me that the lunch special on the window is only for carry out. So if I want it, I have to go back to the host stand, order it to-go, and then I can eat it in the food court area just outside the restaurant. Ok, fine. Strange, kind of annoying, but fine. Dry chili chicken was great.

Riddleway, to your question, on the day I was there, the main dining room was pretty empty.

Lerdawg wrote:Chinatown location has been closed since last Friday due to health violations.

http://chicago.eater.com/2015/9/9/92977 ... -shut-down

Lao Sze Chuan Re-Opens Five Days After Health Department Shut Down

http://chicago.eater.com/2015/9/10/9305 ... department

Another question about the Michigan Avenue outpost, which sounds like a pretty credible (if more expensive) version of the original. What would people recommend getting there if one wanted to avoid super-spiciness? (A little spiciness is fine.)

Went for a middle-afternoon meal on Easter. Not busy and the food quality was way below usual standards. Anyone else have better recent experiences?

chainey wrote:Went for a middle-afternoon meal on Easter. Not busy and the food quality was way below usual standards. Anyone else have better recent experiences?

I was there about a week ago after a year hiatus. I thought everything in our standard order (house special pot herb, dry chili prawns, & sole fish soup with sour pickle) was firing on all cylinders. The greens maybe had more Sichuan peppercorns than usual and the soup was as pungent a bowl as I've had. Maybe we were just really hungry, but it seemed like there might have been a few less prawns than usual. Also, the wait was only about 10 minutes at 7 on a Friday.

Repeating a question re the Michigan Ave. location, since there's a better-than-even chance I'll be going there this week for lunch. Are there "hot but not super-hot" options? (Or, is it possible to order any dish and request a lower level of heat in it?)

I got take out from LSC in Evanston recently
and everything was pretty good, given that a 30 min car ride is not ideal for Chinese
The only thing that was really a no-go were the pot-stickers- which were very tough, with really thick dough. I know- not their specialty, but my kids love potstickers.
We also had the lemon shrimp, which were great,
the crispy eggplant with pork, which was tasty, but no longer crispy (I know)
the orange chicken -again nod to children
fried rice was great,
and another app I'm forgetting but it was good.
While the chili chicken is their thing it's just too spicy for us.
Portions were good- plenty to eat- prices as always $$

riddlemay wrote:Repeating a question re the Michigan Ave. location, since there's a better-than-even chance I'll be going there this week for lunch. Are there "hot but not super-hot" options? (Or, is it possible to order any dish and request a lower level of heat in it?)

It's a huge menu. Not all dishes are spicy. There's plenty to choose from.

Great. Thanks, Steve.

You can always request a spice level-
they are really good about it

Excellent. Thanks, iris.

Ordered from the Uptown location yesterday off of GrubHub and my food was delivered piping hot about twenty minutes later. Everything was perfectly executed, especially the dry chili chicken being both dry and spicy, not sitting in a pool of chili oil. They might be inconsistent, but when they are on, it's second to none.

Was at Uptown LSC last night after realizing I had an expiring groupon. I aint ever going back.

I kinda feel like someone was deliberately messing with us. The meal was comically bad from forgetting to include the tofu in the fish with tofu to simply forgetting our order of pea pod greens. Those things, however, were the better parts to the meal. Not a thing I tried, from dan dan noodles, to Chengdu dumplings, to that fish, to tiny, crappy shrimps was any good. Gloopy, excessively sweet, not a hint of actual sichuan flavors, a/k/a no ma, but then again there was not much la either as nothing had any heat despite appearances of dried chilis or chili oil--in fact I took to eating some of dried chilis just to cleanse my palate. Did I mention the filling of the dumpling reminded me of cat food? Like I say, I aint coming back here, given I've never had an experience close to this in Chinatown.

Yeah, i used to get delivery from the Uptown location on a regular basis, they were never what anyone would call consistent but after a string of hot garbage I've given up trying.

Current Uptown LSC is to old Chinatown LSC the same way Wabash Gold Coast Dogs is to the old State/Hubbard Gold Coast Dogs.

Same name, different restaurant.

Chicago Hokie wrote:Current Uptown LSC is to old Chinatown LSC the same way Wabash Gold Coast Dogs is to the old State/Hubbard Gold Coast Dogs.

Same name, different restaurant.

Not so for the Skokie location, which is consistently solid.

A friend and I went to the Mich. Ave. location for lunch today, and loved it! We started with the Green Bean Jelly and the Szechuan Wontons, then moved smartly into the Mapo Tofu with Sole, and Lamb with Pure Cumin Powder. We didn't ask for any spice to be dialed back, except for with the Mapo Tofu Sole, because with that dish, the waitress alerted us to the "numbing peppers" and said some customers had found them a little much; we replied "give us *some* numbing peppers, but maybe not the whole nine yards" (or words to that effect). The result was a dish that really did turn our tongues numb, not in the manner of something so hot it cauterizes the lining of your mouth, more in the manner of a shot of novocaine! (Except pleasurable.)

Flavors were intense and wonderful.

I was surprised at how big the place was, and how sort of elegant. Expected something smaller and plainer. Place was doing well at lunch. We'll go back.

stevez wrote:

Chicago Hokie wrote:Current Uptown LSC is to old Chinatown LSC the same way Wabash Gold Coast Dogs is to the old State/Hubbard Gold Coast Dogs.

Same name, different restaurant.

Not so for the Skokie location, which is consistently solid.

+1
I drive from Wisconsin for take out.-Richard

Chinese chef Tony Hu to be arraigned today on fraud, money laundering charges

Chinese restaurateur and chef Tony Hu was scheduled to be arraigned Monday afternoon in federal court on charges of hiding cash receipts to lower what he paid in state sales taxes.

Hu, 48, whose real name is Hu Xiaojun, was charged in what's known as a criminal information — a charge that usually results in a defendant pleading guilty. He was charged with one felony count each of wire fraud and money laundering.

=R=

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/ct-tony-hu-chinese-restaurateur-arraignment-20160516-story.html

failing to report that much is cash receipts while nearly constantly expanding your business and keeping such a high profile seems particularly stupid

The whole thing is very sad.

^^ sad, how?

I think it's sad he didn't run his cash into offshore accounts; it's sad his CPA sucked.

But I'm curious why you think it's sad.