Sichuan River - Austin

Went there with the family about a week ago and had a really good experience. My only complaint from that day is that the service was pretty slow.. But they were slammed and only had 2 servers. This place really has something for everyone. You want a basic American Chinese meal.. You can but if you want authentic stuff also go here! All of the dishes were a large sized portion and the 4 of us made a mistake by each ordering one entree. I'm pretty sure if we would've ordered 2 entrees and a soup each it would've been fine. We had Tons of food leftover. My favorite dish by far was the cumin lamb. It was super flavorful and slightly spicy. It definitely was not as spicy as I thought it was going to be.. So. Good. Though. The soup portions were large for what they cost. They were also really flavorful! If you're nearby, definitely stop here and have a meal! We will for sure all be back to order something new off of their vast menu.

I really struggled over whether to rate Sichuan River as 4 stars or 5. The food was good but none of the dishes we ordered turned out to be thing we are dying to come back and order again. The service was attentive but problematic. Quantities were huge — but there comes a point where it’s too much. Service: we ordered soup, egg rolls, and dumplings as appetizers but they came out at the same time as the main dishes. This left us no time to enjoy the appetizers before we had to deal with a table over-crowded with plates. This is just poor planning on the kitchen’s part. Dishes: we ordered soup (3x hot and sour, 1x wonton), pork egg rolls, Sichuan stir fried chicken, spicy sizzling lamb, Mongolian beef, and twice-cooked pork bellies. I liked the lamb really well, although I would have like it better with about half the Sichuan pepper content. IMO the twice cooked pork was the star of the evening, with broad succulent slices of of pork in a savory sauce. The Sichuan chicken was a disappointment; it resembled chicken pakoras (Indian dish) more than what I expected from a Chinese dish. The lack of any sort of sauce on it was just weird. My youngest son like the Mongolian beef best, but I thought it was “meh.” Portions: enormous plates covered with food. We took home enough to feed us all another meal. That’s cool I suppose, but I would have preferred smaller plates at a lower price so we could explore the menu more. Verdict: we will be back, but I doubt we will order any of these dishes again.

I arrived right when they opened because I was in the shopping center and I smelled their food wafting away from the restaurant. I had fried dumplings and orange chicken. The dumplings and nice and crisp and the chicken is sweet and spicy and delicious. Not sure why some of their items are hit and miss but I recommend trying this place out.

This place is incredible! I really wish we had discovered it during our first month in Austin. I wasn't expecting to find great Sichuan food here, but this was my first experience, and I was blown away. The eggplant had an amazing flavor, and the fish and soup were simply outstanding. I loved that everything was flavorful without being heavy. I wish I could give it 10 stars!

The food here is incredible! The Sichuan flavors are truly authentic, and the service is remarkably quick. We ordered sliced beef in chili sauce, dry-fried green beans, Sichuan chicken, and sautéed pea shoots with garlic. I’ve been longing for genuine Sichuan cuisine for ages, and this restaurant definitely satisfied my cravings! The 夫妻肺片 (sliced beef in chili oil) was especially delightful!