Sichuan Bistro

I came here for lunch while traveling. I’m a touring musician and have eaten all over the country. The food here was tasty and well prepared. I wouldn’t call it amazing Chinese food, but if you’re in the mood for some good Asian cuisine, and don’t want to break the bank, this is a good bet. The wait staff don’t speak great English, but they’re very nice.

Really good environment and really nice service. The food is quite tasty and authentic. The amount of food is enough. The price is a little bit high. Good place to go.

This is really an excellent taste experience every visit. Have enjoyed every meal I’ve gotten there, even/​especially things that were way outside anything I’ve eaten before.

Taste seemed pretty authentic and it was actually not bad.
In terms of true authenticity tho… ive never had a beef noodle soup like that ever in cali or taiwan so i dont think its quite there… either that or im wrong and sichuan beef noodle soup is completely different but i kinda doubt it. The beef was wrong and the noodles were wrong.
Potstickers tasted decent but presentation was terrible. On some of the postickers the wrapping was come off and the meat was coming out. Ive never seen that ever at a restaurant in cali. Its like ordering a burrito and theres a big hole in it and the contents are coming out… it just doesnt really happen lol
So far I think the taste is pretty decent but ill have to reserve judgement by comin back and tryin their other options.

Just moved to State College in August & wanted to find a good Chinese restaurant. Skip Hunan Wok, try out Big Bowl Noodle, then go here for authentic cuisine.
My two favorite dishes are the 1) Diced chicken in hot peppers and 2) Eggplant in garlic sauce. Perfect combination of spicy, savory & sweet. The sauté green beans are pretty good too
Update 10÷24÷15: Sometimes inconsistent. The diced chicken in hot peppers was incredibly dry. Eggplant was still good.

Order off the authentic sichuan menu, and you will not be disappointed. I particularly love their diced chicken with hot peppers dish, which has crispy chicken in a delicious spice mix along with lots of hot red dried peppers, and the kung pao chicken, which has a bit of sichuan peppercorns.
I’ve eaten in the restaurant a few times (usually get take-​out), and staff has always been very friendly and the wait never long.

If there is a zero star, I will definitely choose that! They kept us waiting for almost half an hour to order food, and another 40 minutes to wait for dishes. They didn’t even provide rice until we called for the 5^th time! Finally, after the one-​and-​half-​hour staying, we only got two of the four dishes we ordered, the amount of which was just as half as it was supposed to be! We are now in Fuji & Jade Garden to have our second lunch today. Worst experience ever!

if I can rate negatively, I will do it without any hesitation. this place is absolutely bad and very slow. the waiters will not even bring u chopsticks after like 5 times asking. the food is really bad as well. and the amount of the food is quite poor. we ordered a dry pot which like is only half size of the regular one u can have in other Chinese restaurants. just remember, it is a very very bad place to have Chinese food.

Swung by today, sign on the door said the place had been shut down by the Health Inspector.

Nice atmosphere and customer service. This place serves some pretty legit Sichuan food:)

Easily the best Chinese in State College. If you’re new to Szechuan, be prepared for some flavors you might not have had before.
They’re not afraid to turn up the heat on some dishes or lay on the lemongrass.
Definitely a fun experience (and great date spot) for foodies. Don’t take picky eaters here.

Now the owner has changed and the new group of people are very nice and make really great food!

Definitely the best Sichuan restaurant in town… everything is really delicious, food and fast and the service is excellent.

Don’t go here. Trust me. I came up to State College and decided to try the Golden Wok replacement. If you don’t know the regional cuisine the don’t do a good job explaining it to the customers. You have to find out on your own. Thank Heavens for Google. By not asking if we’d been there before, and not explaining, they missed out on an upsell. Americanized Chinese was good until my husband found a short curly hair in the rice. Definitely not his. See my photo.
There are way better places to eat in State College for the cost. Also they were out of part of their beverage list and the place had only bottled soda. The dry pots looked nice but with the hair in the rice… This place is on my do not eat list. Bummer.

This was my first time here. I was pleased to find both traditional and Americanized Chinese options, which is rare outside of places like NYC.
I was absolutely delighted to find that the restaurant provides meals and labeling appropriate for vegans (I’m vegetarian and my dinner mate is vegan).
The vegetables were cooked just how I like them: not too soft, not too raw. Perfect. The sauces were excellent. I highly recommend the garlic eggplant. Spicy but delicious.
Friendly and quick service. Delicious food. Good selection. I certainly do recommend it and would go back!

Great tasting REAL Chinese food. I used to come here when it was golden wok, but I like the place even more now that the new owner has changed the menu. Food is always hot and flavorful but still relatively inexpensive.

[this review was originally ‘not recommended by Unilocal’. which is interesting, because the reviewer has a long history and 110 reviews!] But, I might indeed be faking it, ’cause I’m that sort of guy.
Here you go:
This is now a go-​to place for chinese. Yes, many dishes are somewhat greasy, greasier than you would get in Beijing. Yes, some of the flavors are odd, indeed, the tripe tastes waay too much like intestines for my taste. The tofu is squishy and is like a type of congealed soybean paste. But, the flavors seem authentic, and while the hot food is spicy, we overall like it a lot. we go back.
The locals complain that it is filled with chinese grad students and tastes strange and spicy, which I recken is both true and a good recommendation to some.
it is also cool to see what look like professors and their students in pairs eating on saturday nights!

Came to Sichuan Bistro for lunch over Artsfest weekend with a group of 4. The restaurant was practically empty, yet they must have been having an off day because everything seemed… off. Except the food. The food was fine, nothing special. Our group ordered chicken and broccoli, General Tso’s chicken, and an unmemorable beef dish with peanuts. The portions were large and the food was decent. We also ordered fried pork dumplings and they came out steamed and boring.
The restaurant was not busy, yet the service was poor — all the servers looked flustered, plus it took forever to flag down our server at the end and get our check. Lastly, right next to the bathroom, there were a bunch of employees standing around a dining table de-​stemming green beans with no gloves on. Ick.

Sichuan Bistro actually serves up some pretty legit Chinese food here in State College. This place used to be Golden Wok, which in contrast, didn’t serve some pretty legit Chinese food. Sichuan Bistro is right on the corner of Atherton and College. You can’t miss it because it is actually a pretty large restaurant. No matter how many people seem to come here, this place is impossible to be packed to the brim. There are tons of seating both in the front, and back of the restaurant, so don’t worry if you don’ think that you’ll be able to get a table.
If you’re planning to pay with cash, then you get a nice little 10% discount. For those driving here, there is limited parking behind the restaurant, and on side as well.
Each time that I’ve come here, I’ve always gone with the beef noodle soup. I’ve had the beef noodle soup at places like Chopstick Express, and I must say, Sichuan Bistro has the best in town. In the grand scheme of things, that doesn’t mean jack, but within this little college bubble, it is quite amazing. Aside from the noodles, Sichuan Bistro does have a mean selection of dry pots. Mix that up with an order of pig intestine and pickled mustard greens, and you have yourself quite a meal.
Like with any Chinese restaurant, it is always better to come with someone who knows the food. Otherwise, you’ll disappoint yourself by ordering some General Tso’s chicken or good of that sorts. State College obviously isn’t the food capital of the world. There are plenty of horrible restaurants, but in the midst of all that mush, there are some gems. Sichuan Bistro is one of the 3 Chinese restaurants that I actually ate at, and that’s for a good reason. This place serves up some pretty authentic Sichuan food, so that you don’t have to go all the way to Philly or NYC to get your fix.

What’s better than one excellent Sichuan restaurant in town? TWO excellent Sichuan restaurants in town! Duh.
A couple of dudes who used to cook up spicy delights at Chopstick Express have taken over the now defunct Golden Wok and are serving some mighty tasty stuff.
Many of my personal favorites are found on the new menu, like mapo tofu, dry-​fried green beans, stir-​fried bok choy, diced chicken w/​hot peppers and salt & pepper fried shrimp — replacing the Americanized, gloppy goop that used to be standard fare in Golden Wok days.
The friendly owner is happy to explain more «exotic» offerings to curious customers, though the majority of eaters (many Chinese students) seems to know quite well what it wants.
Upon our first visit, he recommended the resto’s highly popular Sweet & Sour Lotus Root, which I politely declined with visions of neon-​red, syrupy «sauce» invading my mind and threatening to ruin my appetite. Well, he was not to be deterred, and presented us with the lotus root «on the house». What can I say, other than that this was the star of the evening, for sure. Crunchy, alien life-​form looking slices of lotus root in a tangy, not very sweet sauce have since become a standard order for us.
Other highlights include the incredibly savory (ok, it’s on the saltier side, but so very good!) New Zealand Lamb Hot Pot: a generous serving of tender slices of lamb with an insane amount of vegetables bathing in the traditional ma la hot chili oil, and the Poached Tender Fish with Soft Tofu in Hot Chili Broth — again, generous bits of fish along with pillowy, silky clouds of tofu in a wonderfully flavorful broth — truly perfect dishes for a cold winter night.
The triple beef salad of tripe, tendon and tongue might be for more advanced eaters, as may be the pig intestines with pickled mustard greens… but ya know — ya gotta TRY some new stuff sometimes.
Be happy you now have two great locations in town where your culinary horizons will experience some serious expanding.
Happiness.