Szechwan Cafe

I ordered Kung Pao Chicken and it tasted quite bland and unlike any other Kung Pao I’ve ever had anywhere. The potstickers were quite oily. The prices are low but the quality of the food was even lower.

I’ve eaten here on numerous occasions, and I am consistently pleased. The staff is friendly, calm, and helpful, and the food is fantastic. Its menu is neither trendy nor contemporary, but rather a generous offering of traditional Chinese-​American cuisine. As a born and bred Palo Altan, I will tell you that the reason why this restaurant is not on the dynamite list is because of ambiance and style. You could not find a plainer, less exciting Chinese restaurant in the world. It looks dull and tired from the outside and the interior is not much of an improvement. The décor is sad, the menu is totally visually boring, and the music they play on the little old radio is almost laughable (early 90s pop). Not up to par with standards here in the heart of Silicon Valley. However. If you are an intelligent person who can manage to put substance before style, than you have found yourself a diamond in the rough.

I went here expecting to get some quick grub, but at 1:30 PM they were barely getting the place ready! (And group of people who wanted to have some lunch had to wait «10 minutes» hah! you mean «30 minutes» for the «buffet» to be ready.

Great location. The consistency and quality of the food is spotty. A few changes over the years. The vegetables do not always seem fresh. Maybe it is better earlier in the day.

I go here quite often because of it’s location. It is tasty and not too expensive. The food is a bit greasy, but that’s what you get for inexpensive Chinese food. The ambiance is a bit odd, especially at night. You can tell this is a family owned restaurant.
The buffet is 8.25 (what a deal for Palo Alto). An odd location for a place with a deal (Palo Alto is always expensive). For what this place is, it deserves 4 or 5 stars.

This place is like dead. Slow, not warm atmosphere, personnel is strange and doesn’t care about you much. Food is horrible.

I went there with my friends for dinner on one Friday. Mediocre food. I ordered Kung pao shrimps and fish fillet with black bean sauce. They tasted the same. The sauce was identical. The waitress was extremely not friendly.

One of my fav lunch spots! Pretty inexpensive with lots of options! The lunch buffet is yummy but I usually always get mine togo. They let you fill up as many items as you want (charge by weight) plus you get a soup for no extra charge. I come here at least one a week!

Not authentic; if you like panda express, you’ll like this restaurant.
Came for lunch buffet.
Oily and not Szechuan food at all. Avoid this place. Don’t know why they have such good real estate but such poor food.
Would recommend Chef Zhao’s for authentic Sichuan food.

This was my first time coming here so I wasn’t aware they had a buffet style choice too. I came in for 2 quick and easy meals for my bf & I as we wait for my baby girl’s dentist appt. One to-​go box I had steamed rice, garlic string beans, salt & pepper fish & broccoli beef for my bf. Mine I got steamed rice, sweet & sour pork, eggplant tofu & general chicken. My bf ate all his food. I enjoyed esp the sweet and spur pork & eggplant with tofu. It was fresh and delish. Definitely I would love to eat here again or grab for to-​go if I’m ever in Palo Alto. They weighed our food on a food scale & for our 2 boxes it costed around $ 11. Good deal. In the buffet station I also noticed they served egg rolls, fried rice, bean sprouts, beef and broccoli, zucchini chicken, chow fun, hot and sour soup, ice cream, chow mein & much more.

A nice place to get a quick eat for lunch or takeout.
— Portions are nicely sized, and I have never left feeling full.
— Chicken Chow Mein is better than more expensive Chinese restaurants in the area.
— I have gone with multiple friends for lunch and all were satisfied (college students love the price point too).
In the times I have been, the service has been quick as well, even if the waitress does not speak good english, it does not bother me one bit, since it has not effected the service.
For the price the quality is good, but I would stay away from some dishes such as the fish. It is best to stick to the more simple dishes. I would recommend to go for takeout and not delivery.
Bottom line: I would recommend to friends and family as a place for a good quick and cheap lunch.

The description for 2 stars of «Meh. I’ve experienced better.» is the perfect description for this place. My mom and I had the Walnut Prawns and Shrimp in Lobster Sauce. They were okay. Since it is by my work, I might have thought about coming back to see if other dishes were better if it wasn’t for three things:
One, the waitress was just rude. She constantly had an attitude like we were an inconvenience. Never once did she ask if we liked the meals or needed anything else. Yes her English was not great but I have had great service by non English speakers at other Chinese restaurants before.
Two, there was this group of guys in the back talking. They looked like they worked at the restaurant. No food on the table or anything. Their conversation was very loud and distracting. I understand it was not busy but at least have the decency to have a conversation away from customers. It was unprofessional.
Three, all of this was happening while my mom and I were the only two customers in the restaurant. There is no excuse for any of this and again, the food was only okay.
With so many great restaurant options on California Ave and Chinese food in the area I would skip this place.

I live next to California Ave. since 2013 and I’ve been coming here ever since. At the beginning I was put off by the interior and constantly empty tables, but once I tried their (vegetarian) dishes, I never hesitated again. My husband loves it too and we can say that this is one of the best chinese restaurants in the area. I love my spicy garlic broccoli and have it once a week. My husband really likes their sea food. The portions are so big, that we always have lunch the next day. Since the last couple of months, we’ve been getting some free stuff from them every time we order, and everything was really tasty, not to metion, it is a really nice gesture.

5 stars I love this place! I’ve worked on Cal Ave for 5 yrs and myself plus the entire salon love this restaurant. Yes when you walk in you’re not always greeted but the workers are very nice when you are seated. The food is so delicious this is my favorite Chinese place of all time. I commute from the valley now and I haven’t found a place I like there, so thank goodness I still work here chicken with spicy garlic sauce yum!

i remembered getting Zombie Run across the street when i spot this restaurant with the sign LUNCH BUFFET. if anyone knows me. i like my LUNCH BUFFETS, and it was something im not used to eating? why not right? buuut. that day i was too full already to even have a bite. (save for later)
i was recently in the area around lunch time with my mom, (perfect person to trick into trying a new place with me) we came in around 1115 AM and the food wasnt even ready yet. soo fine. okay. ill wait a lil longer…
once the food came out, i tried the chow mein which is like any other chinese restaurant.
then came the general chicken. it tasted kinda weird. okay. maybe i was sick.
maybe some hot and sour will help my sickness. one bite and im done!
i guess nothing really rang a bell as this restaurant being SZECHWAN to me. just any typical chinese restaurant. meeeh. NEXT!

Walked in. Was not greeted. She asked «you want to order?!» I felt like saying «duh!!» But I held my mouth. Cuz she is the unhappy one. I ordered veggie rolls. 10 minutes later I received my rolls and she handed me the bag. And actually smiled! I was shocked.
The veggie rolls were OK. Smelled better than they tasted. The cabbage or whatever was too rubbery.
Never again.

I work around the area and always crave for my Chinese Food. I came here three times and now I can finally write my reviews. First time I ordered the Beef Noodles Soup, it was just average tasting soup with lots of soy sauce and no flavor beef.
2^nd and 3^rd time I decided to try their buffet style food. The food is your average Americanize Chinese food, nothing too special about it but for the price is decent. Well, this is where I have an issue. The buffet is $ 8.25 with tax it should be $ 8.97 for your grand total. Both time I was charged a flat $ 9, which is very fishy since nothing ever come to an exact amount like $ 9 flat. When I confronted one of the server, she pretend she didn’t speak English and wave the younger cashier (whom wear glasses) to talk to me. She first try to tell me the tax here is higher at 8.75% — which I already knew that in Palo Alto. So I showed her my calculation on my cellphone and she gave me the *OH WELL look* and gave me back my 3 cents when I pointed out it shouldn’t be $ 9 on my bill. No apology of any sort.
I didn’t leave a tip and walked out. I would have gone back there since the food is okay for lunch (price is not bad if she didn’t try to pocket the 3 cents that I deserved in my change). I despite dishonest restaurants of any kinds and especially this Chinese restaurant. I would now rather go to Panda Express and eat my nasty American Chinese food then to come back here

Came here on a whim during lunch today as the $ 8.25 lunch buffet. It’s a bit dated inside but it was pretty spacious and plenty of people inside.
We checked out the buffet first before we decided to eat, and the selection was decent so we grabbed a plate. The usual stuff like veggie egg rolls, chow mein, chow fun, fried rice, and then sweet and sour pork and general’s chicken. My favorite was the sauteed string beans, and this fried fish (although the sign said fried pork chop). They even had hot and sour soup, although it was a bit too bland for my liking. Their kung pao chicken was whatevers too.
But the waitresses constantly filled our water cups, and for $ 8, the price was not bad at all.

Weird that the reviews aren’t stronger. It’s a little hole in the wall, nothing special… but under $ 10 for ATCE buffet on a street where bento boxes are almost $ 30. This place was a solid ‘win’ for us…

Szechwan Café is located on California Ave. The place has about a dozen tables and some very nice and attentive staff. Their hot and sour soup is not as hot and sour as it used to be but then you can always heat it up and sour it up as you like. The Kung Pao Beef I ordered was hot and spicy and wonderful. I was perspiring midway through the meal and thoroughly enjoyed the fried rice that came with the meal. Place is filled with Stanford students and teachers and locals from the area. Great low cost meal. Very clean environment. Table cloths.