House of Szechwan

House of Szechwan
10 N Main St
Mt Prospect, IL 60056


I have been going to this place for as long as i can remember, maybe 15 years or so. The food is great and the service is nice. I am just throwing this place out on here so that someon else can have a great meal at a reasonable price. How reasonable you ask? I went there today with my grandma during lunch and for both people including a pina colada for myself the total was was about 22.50, if you take out the drink then roughly 6.50 less than that. There are no buffets but you get more than enough food for one person i guarantee. I Have to say that the food is excellent and my favorite is mongolian beef. Im a stickler for mongolian beef and i will give 2 thumbs up for this. Please give it a try if you can and tell me how you feel about this diamond in the rough. I think they need more exposure.

god bless

wow no reply's

You mean "replies."

Anyway, I used to work down the street for about 6 years. Had a coworker who used to love their Empress Chicken. We see eye to eye on most things involving food, I trust his judgement. We just did not see eye to eye on this joint, however. I will say, I only tried it three times, but I found it to be simply fair to middlin' Ameri-chinese glop. On my third visit, I ordered something other than the Empress Chicken, but for the life of me, I cannot remember what it was. While I'm just one person, and this site is about opinions, If I was in that area, and was looking for Chinese food, I would simply skip it, and go straight to Little America down the street for a turkey club, or turkey reuben. I don't wish anything bad to House Of Szechwan, it's just my opinion that the food I've had there was just standard, cornstarch laden glop, being slung out with no pride.

seebee wrote:You mean "replies."

Anyway, I used to work down the street for about 6 years. Had a coworker who used to love their Empress Chicken. We see eye to eye on most things involving food, I trust his judgement. We just did not see eye to eye on this joint, however. I will say, I only tried it three times, but I found it to be simply fair to middlin' Ameri-chinese glop. On my third visit, I ordered something other than the Empress Chicken, but for the life of me, I cannot remember what it was. While I'm just one person, and this site is about opinions, If I was in that area, and was looking for Chinese food, I would simply skip it, and go straight to Little America down the street for a turkey club, or turkey reuben. I don't wish anything bad to House Of Szechwan, it's just my opinion that the food I've had there was just standard, cornstarch laden glop, being slung out with no pride.

and the house of szechwan goes down after a flurry of serious punches, i think that's the end folks. a hit like that to the face and i doubt its getting up before the count.

ill look for that little american place you've mentioned.

helli3yte wrote:and the house of szechwan goes down after a flurry of serious punches, i think that's the end folks. a hit like that to the face and i doubt its getting up before the count.

ill look for that little american place you've mentioned.

Oh, behave. I wouldn't take it that far. Seriously though, I'm just one person, and there are plenty of things I like that plenty of folks probably don't. I've only had the Empress Chicken, and one other dish that I can't remember. Both instances had to be over a year ago, so, it may be completely different now.

As for Little America, it is a totally standard Greek diner type joint, but, it's one of those places that roasts turkeys in house, and uses real mayo.* It's just around the corner from House Of Szechwan on Central, just a bit west on the S side of the road. If you like turkey (real turkey, that is, and not that "stuff" that people seem to think is turkey these days,) and real mayo, this place is a very decent option for a diner turkey club. Soups are all the standard foodservice stuff you'd almost expect from those places, but the turkey sammich offerings...that's the stuff.

*I hope they still use real turkey, and real mayo. I can vouch for them using the good stuff for 6 years straight, but I haven't been there in about a year since moving the office.

Little America Diner
299 West Central Road
Mt Prospect, IL 60056-2401
(847) 255-5404

helli3yte wrote:and the house of szechwan goes down after a flurry of serious punches, i think that's the end folks. a hit like that to the face and i doubt its getting up before the count.

I don't think that this is the way to look at these comments. Obviously this is a restaurant that you have enjoyed for years and that is useful to know, just as it is useful to know that others are not impressed. What this board is good for is to present a range of opinions, positive and negative, and from this develop information that will guide other diners. No one opinion is the "correct" one. Sometimes rhapsodizing about particular dishes (with photos, if possible) proves persuasive.

GAF wrote:

helli3yte wrote:and the house of szechwan goes down after a flurry of serious punches, i think that's the end folks. a hit like that to the face and i doubt its getting up before the count.

I don't think that this is the way to look at these comments. Obviously this is a restaurant that you have enjoyed for years and that is useful to know, just as it is useful to know that others are not impressed. What this board is good for is to present a range of opinions, positive and negative, and from this develop information that will guide other diners. No one opinion is the "correct" one. Sometimes rhapsodizing about particular dishes (with photos, if possible) proves persuasive.

you're right. each person has their own taste and what someone might call slop, someone else might think gourmet. The food isn't all that bad, yet i wish there would be a place where real authentic chinese cuisine is served. Ill definatley give that little american place a try, i do love ruben sandwiches. maybe in a couple weeks. thanks

Don't worry about "real" or about "authentic" (there are plenty of villages in rural China you can visit). Consider what you like. And we have several Chinese restaurants in town that are highly esteemed by the people on the board and that have been labeled "Great Neighborhood Restaurants." I'm not sure if it makes sense to describe Sun Wah, Double Li, Ed's Potstickers House, Lao Sze Chuan, "Little" Three Happiness, Spring World, Shui Wah, Fabulous Noodles, or Katy's Dumpling House as "authentic," but they will expose you to a range of styles of Chinese food.