Utopia Cafe

Armen is awesome! He can whip just about anything… Some of the best Armenian food I’ve ever tasted!

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I tried going here with a group of friends yesterday to try it out since it got rave reviews. but sadly.it’s closed and a new Viet restaurant has taken over. I thought I was insane. and couldn’t read or something… i walked up and down the street with no hopes of finding the place, but long and behold. the owner of the Viet restaurant popped out and told us.
So…just as a heads up… don’t go here unless you’re looking for viet food! =)
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Usually I go to Hawaiian BBQ or Kiku around this area but decided to try Utopia since I never had before. They serve authentic Sichuan food that is all tasty.
The Dan Dan Mien is so good at this place. Spicy like it should be with well cooked noodles. Prices are really good for the quality of food you get.
If I’m in the mood for something spicier than Kiku or Hawaiian BBQ this is my place.

Utopia is the TRUTH! The best Chinese food in the U. District and authentic to Mainland China from the patrons to the plastic fold-​up tables. Prices are cheap and the quality is excellent. This place makes you feel like you’re back in the Motherland, seriously.
I ordered the Dan Dan Mein and it came in a pretty big bowl. Patrons should be wary; however, because this place specializes in Sichuan cuisine. That means — spicy is inevitable. But good news is that things can be ordered very mild, although that detracts from the experience in my opinion. I am very ready to return and try other things on their menu because this place is great.
It just goes to reaffirm that most of the best restaurants in the U. District are beyond the 50^th ave. boundary of University Way.

Good authentic Chinese food on the Ave? I too was incredulous to say the least when I heard that about Utopia Café. I wanted to eat at Hawaii BBQ but my friend wanted to try Utopia so we decided to try it. It is not Vietnamese/​Dim Sum as the current Unilocal description indicates, but rather is Sichuan/​Hunan cuisine. Apparently they just opened up recently so the inside is kind of drab (you have to look at a giant menu on the wall to order) and they are understaffed. The lady who works there is very nice though and oozed enthusiasm.
The usual Sichuan/​Hunan suspects are on the menu, like gan bian si ji dou (dry fried green beans), yu xiang qie zi (fish flavored eggplant), and shui zhu yu (water boiled fish). The food is definitely authentic and well made. I wouldn’t say the portions are huge like some of the reviews have noted, but they aren’t small either. In the fashion of many other Asian restaurants, you can use 1 – 5 stars to indicate your spiciness preference. I didn’t think their 5 stars was spicy but my friends did (I guess I eat more spice than them). There’s a giant rice cooker where you can refill your rice as much as you want, which is a nice touch.
I liken Utopia to a poor man’s Bamboo Garden. Not that it’s lower in quality, but because it’s cheaper ($ 6-​$ 10 a dish), more run-​down in appearance, and it’s in a tiny corner of the U-​district rather than in Bellevue. However, there’s literally no better place to get Chinese food in the U-​district unless you really like one of those sauced up Panda Express style restaurants masquerading as real Chinese food.

Was craving some Chinese food for lunch, so I decided to give this place a try. Food was reasonably priced, quite tasty, and portions were generous — boxed my leftovers for lunch tomorrow. I ordered the Kung Pao chicken and it came with white sticky rice and hot and sour soup (which hit the spot on this cool rainy day). «Waitress», who may be the owner, was quite nice. Only reason for not giving it 4 stars — not sure if the menu I was given was a lunch and dinner menu, or just lunch, but I was hoping to see more options on the menu.

I attend the University of Washington and I literally bus down to Utopia every day for lunch. The food is ammmaazzingg! I also didn’t know that every bus on the ave can take you to 50^th so the average wait time is literally 10 seconds AND the bus stop is 2 steps from the restaurant. The food is also amazingly inexpensive. Most things on the ave are about 7 – 15 bucks for a dish, but the at utopia there are things that sell for about 5 bucks and I can’t ever finish a single dish. The owner is also really chill. She lets you change the radio and TV station and basically makes it like your home. It’s also really cute and clean inside too! (there’s also a tip jar in the form of a piggy bank) Man I love that place.

I’m so glad this new place opened up. This place has some of the most authentic Szechuan and Chinese food in the U-​District, and the prices are super cheap.
Out of the dishes I’ve tried so far, the Singaporean-​style fried vermicelli noodles was the best. It had shrimp, chicken, beef, and egg, and it was just awesome. The beef brisket noodle soup was also quite delicious.
The service is kinda slow, but the owner is very friendly and takes time to make sure everyone is enjoying their meal. Sometimes she also goes around and gives each table some complimentary shumai (pork dumpling).

The best restaurants on the Ave tend to be north of 50^th Street. With its menu of Szechuan classics, Utopia Café fits right in.
I ignored the sign pointing me to phở (they know the territory) and went straight to the Dan Dan main and spicy beef. The former is numbing hot noodle soup with just the right touch of sourness, and the latter is crispy dried beef. Other menu items include additional cold meat dishes and other numbing-​hot classics. Two dishes is probably too much for one person, but the prices are reasonable and thus even gluttony isn’t too expensive.
Service is as expected. The waitress initially tried to steer me toward the Chinese-​American portion of the menu but was happy when I expressed interest in actual Szechuan food. My dan dan mein came out quickly, but the beef took so long that I thought they might have forgotten to put the order in. She was very friendly about everything, though, and I know better than to expect too much around these parts.
Utopia Café is a place that really deserves a look from anyone curious about Szechuan food. The menu isn’t huge, but everything on it looks worth trying. I’ll be going back.

I live only a couple blocks from the Utopia café and can say that this place has quickly become one of my favorite restaurants. The prices are excellent ($ 5 – 6 for rice dishes) and the food is higher quality than neighboring Kiku’s or Hawaii BBQ, and as good (but MUCH cheaper) than the Mandarin Chef. Also, the portion sizes are very generous… I usually have leftovers that I save for the next meal.
I eat here an average of twice a week and mirror the sentiments about the owners… they are really sweet people. Because of my schedule, I always order take-​out and the staff always offer me water while I wait… there aren’t any restaurants I know that do that!!!

If you’re walking down the Ave and see a little Asian lady jump out of a shop to pull you in, you have probably found yourself at Utopia Café.
The owner is really nice! Unfortunately, I think the store just started up, so the place could use some sprucing up. When I asked about the changes, the owner told me that they have a new cook, so the menu has changed. They no longer have Dim Sum, but does include the new Szechuan selection. Mostly you’ll find spicy food in that section, which is to be expected. Also the food may take a few minutes to reach the table, just because of the lack of staff, but its not that big of a wait.
This place really has a lot to offer. Be guaranteed that regardless of what you order, the food is A+. It’s hard to find an authentic place to eat anywhere let alone the Ave, but this place has really good and inexpensive Szechuan food. Most dishes are $ 6 and normally don’t go over 10, so don’t expect to have to spend too much; as mentioned before, one dish could really feed two or three people. So really it’s like paying around 3 bucks for a meal. Dinner also has the same food and prices as lunch and it’s open late weekdays if you are in the area and need a place to eat.
For transportation, the bus that goes down the Ave actually stops right next to this restaurant, so it’s convenient if you’re coming from UW. The good this is that there is also parking, which is more than I can say for other places. I’ll definitely be back for more!

I was walking along this block and noticed something new where Philippine Island Cuisine used to be: a Chinese place, advertising dim sum and noodle soups.
I came in for a late lunch. No other customers; the owner (?) was sitting with a group of people near the entrance, chatting. She enthusiastically directed me to a small hand-​written menu of Szechuan dishes. Kung pao chicken, mapo tofu — the usual suspects, as well as several dishes I’m not familiar with. «Very good», she assured me, «the chef has 20 years of experience».
I went with the pork with firm tofu, four stars, to go. Spicy, well-​seasoned pork, slivers of tofu with a slightly chewy, almost paneer-​like texture, and thin slices of peppers and spring onions. As far as I can tell, this is Szechuan food done right. Most dishes are in the $ 6-​$ 10 range; my pork cost me about $ 9, including rice. It was easily enough food to feed two humans, or 1.3 Naths. The leftovers call to me as I write this.
They also serve phở, but with all the good Chinese food to be had, why bother? There were also signs advertising dim sum, but I didn’t ask about that.
This part of the Ave sees a lot of great, cheap eateries open up and promptly go out of business. It would be a shame for this to happen to Utopia. Try it soon!
UPDATE: Called it. Closed now.