The first Lao Sze Chuan restaurant opened in Chicago in 1998 and has been rated as the most popular Chinese restaurants in the United States by over 20 mainstream media organizations. 

Now the restaurant group has an outlet in the Chinatown section of the Southwest Management District.

The restaurant’s name means “old Sichuan,” referring to the spicy cuisine from a southwestern province of China. Xiaowei Liu, head of Lao Sze Chuan’s Texas operations, says the chef at the Bellaire Boulevard location trained at the Sichuan Higher Institute of Cuisine in Chengdu, China.

Their selection of ingredients is key to their continued popularity and authenticity.

“In order to ensure the freshness of the ingredients and the high quality of the dishes, we procure them from the supermarket daily. In order to pursue better taste, a lot of our spices are air freighted directly from China,” Liu says.

With the carefully sourced ingredients, Lao Sze Chuan creates many familiar Sichuan dishes imbued with warmth and spice. Its most popular dishes, especially in Houston, are spicy braised pork, chef’s special dry chili chicken, boiled sole fish fillet in spicy Szechuan sauce, crispy shrimp with lemon sauce and salted egg paste tofu. These are classic Sichuan dishes except for the crispy shrimp dish, a Lao Sze Chuan original.

Diners looking to try something novel might want to order a specialty such as Lao Sze Chuan’s fresh frogs with ginger. 

Founded by Hu Xiaojun, who chairs the US-China Restaurant Alliance and is chairman of the Lao Sze Chuan Restaurant Group, the restaurant is dedicated to preserving and fostering the cultural roots of Chinese heritage.

“Lao Sze Chuan is committed to promoting Chinese food culture, promoting Sino-U.S. cultural exchanges, and helping and developing Chinese communities,” Liu states.  

For those who don’t have a high spice tolerance, the thin, lean slices of spicy braised pork sautéed with cabbage and scallions are only a little spicy. While the popular boiled sole fish fillet is tossed in thick, spicy Szechuan sauce, the special dry chili chicken is crispy and spicy-hot, stir-fried with Sichuan peppercorn and classic dried red chilies. 

Represented in Lao Sze Chuan’s logo, the chilies are often used in Sichuan cuisine. 

Everything is a thoughtful homage to Sichuan food culture down to the smallest detail, like the logo printed on the gray accent wall.

 “The logo is a curved chili—representing the most used ingredient in Sichuan cuisine. Also, it looks like a crescent moon, which represents the longing of home,” Liu explains. 

The longing for home is shared by many Asian immigrants in Houston and this restaurant is devoted to providing a familiar comfort through its food.

“Bellaire is home to so many Chinese, and we wanted to make sure we are in the heart of it,” Liu says.

Lao Sze Chuan
9398 Bellaire Blvd.
Houston, TX 77036
346.212.2992
https://laoszechuantx.com/
Open every day 11 a.m.. to 10 p.m.

— By Nicole Ting