Famous Szechuan Pavilion

Food is okay at best. I picked up a take away order and a woman was preparing food in the dark. Really? No AC and no heat? Disgusting and dirty.

This is the real deal – like you’d get in China. Very hard to find Szechuan food like this in the US – no resemblance to the «szechuan» dishes at most restaurants. Very spicy but easier on the stomach than Indian for some of us; if you don’t like spicy food, probably not for you. I like the staff – friendly but no-​nonsense. Atmosphere is fitting for a basic, authentic Chinese restaurant – spare but fine. It wouldn’t seem right with the standard garish red-​and-​gold tart-​up anyway. Unilocal needs to update the address – as others have noted, it’s now on Olive, in a bigger space.

This is what happens when I’m seated:
–I have to ask for water
–I need to know what I want within 3 minutes.
Unless you’re royalty or a descendant of the Ming Dynasty do not expect top-​of-​the-​line service here.
Why did I give this place 4 stars?
Well, once you have your first bite of your Spicy wonton soup, you’ll know why. This place serves authentic Szechuan dishes!!! I salivate for this soup whenever I see or hear the word «Szechuan.» The chicken fried rice is pretty tasty as well and it’s not greasy.
I really enjoy coming here. I feel like I’m in rural China when I come here. A grandma peeling garlic in the corner, the mom cooking in the kitchen, and the son serving the customers. Give this place a chance!

First, as others have noted, this place has moved. It’s in the strip mall on Olive right near Nobu’s.
Second, this is not the place to go if what you crave is a) a restaurant with a charming ambience and décor or b) a meal that won’t keep you up at night with crazy heartburn. The food is hot as hell, and the décor can best be described as «your Chinese grandmother’s crappy basement», if your Chinese grandmother was kind of poor. And a bad decorator. And loved crazy Chinese game shows, and had them playing on her TV all the time.
But it IS the place to go if you are a spicy food junkie, or if you’re familiar with true Szechuan style cooking. I am the former, but not the latter, but it sure seems very authentic to me. My favorite is the Yu Shan Pork – but beware. I came with my spice-​adverse fiancé and we asked for this mild, and it was the hottest dish of the bunch. I also ordered the Spicy Wonton Soup, which was quite tasty as well but kind of difficult to eat for a klutz like me. We also ordered the Kung Bao Chicken mild, and this was actually kind of disappointing. The chicken was pretty dry and the dish was bland overall. I don’t know if ordering it spicy would have improved it or not.
I’m still a fan because of my love for spicy food that actually has flavor beyond heat, but if you’re not into that, I’m not sure this is the place for you.

Get the hot pot!!!
After watching No Reservations, I’ve always wanted to try a hot pot. The one they serve here is a delicious tasty firestorm! We ordered way more than we could eat, and ended up with a full pot when we were done… so they went out and found a stock bucket, washed it, and let us use it to take the massive amount of leftover soup home! I’m extremely impressed with the flavor, and how wonderful they were to us. I will be going again, and again!
NOTE: This is the same as the listing on Olive. They moved.

If this place is famous, then it’s a awkward-​little recluse, like McCaulay Culkin.
Note: This place is now in Jefferson Plaza, in STL’s «China Town», off Olive Blvd.
Dishes are interesting and complex, with this interesting spice/​pepper bang that sends you to the corner fridge for a sweet tea. Make sure you share — the Egg Drop is enough for 4 I’d say, and the Won Ton soup is a nice portion for two, or as an entrée.
Enjoy the cuisine, and don’t get all uppity about the Italian/​Asian/​French yardsale décor or the big screen with Chinese Music Videos. They only just moved out of a snowcone stand a few months ago, so give them a break on the ambiance.
The only thing I’d like to see are more appetizers like spring rolls, egg rolls or dumplings, but maybe that’s not the way a true Szechuan rolls… $ cheap date $

Like visiting China! I think!
That’s if it’s 105 degrees in China with no air conditioners. I don’t know — haven’t been. The AC broke at Famous Szechuan Pavilion today, but they had a couple of fans and it was mercifully overcast, so it wasn’t too bad.
As noted by others, English is not the preferred language here. I asked if they had Diet Coke. He said Pessi-​Co. I said «Diet?» «No, Pessi-​Co» «Okay, water then.» So he brought a bottle of water. Okay.
The menu here is not like other places, not even other places on Olive. I didn’t know what most of the things were. I had the Chicken Dan Dan noodle, spicy. I’ve had it at PF Chang’s. Don’t laugh — I’m a midwesterner. PF Changs has Chinese food, okay? And a killer Cosmo. And, by the way, dry red wine doesn’t go with spicy Chinese food, but you probably already knew that.
Anyway, there are no killer Cosmo’s at Famous Szechuan Pavilion. There are tables, chairs, a TV showing a Chinese talk show that seems to be pretty funny, to the TV audience, at least. Also a cooler and uh, that’s about it.
The Chicken Dan Dan noodle came out in a kind of smallish bowl, but it was plenty of food. spicy as promised, and delicious. I got chopsticks. He asked if that was okay, so presumably there is a fork there somewhere if you need it.
I’m looking forward to working my way down this menu. They have a couple of noodle dishes for $ 3.99. I might just avoid those — too cheap to be good, don’t you think? Eitjher that, or the meat is collected or captured instead of ordered from the butcher. Dan Dan Coon, anyone?
So give this place a try — pretty sure it will be an adventure. Maybe even like going to China!

Great food. Super spicy and very tasty. For sure going back again to try more of the food. I really can’t wait.
Service was ok… but there was a major lack of communication.
As another reviewer mentioned… they just installed a TV. Kinda kills the atmosphere in my opinion.

Ok so I stopped by recently at the new location over at 170 and Olive next to Phở Long…
… and you know what? I’m not entirely sure that the help that she has… speaks English…
So yeah… a lot of the magic is gone… you don’t get to have that banter with her very much anymore… there’s this tv where they’re showing super super lame Chinese new year crap with horrible renditions of… KPOP? what?
At least show some better Chinese language shows…
Oh yeah the food is still excellent… but I miss just hanging out in the old lady’s kitchen :(

Omg.
How can a place be so small???
We came here for brunch on Saturday (don’t judge) and we were originally going to get the food to-​go because we had a group of eight and while eight people is possible, it’s an incredibly tight (and somewhat uncomfortable) squeeze.
But after much cajoling by the owner-​lady, she managed to convince us to call our friends and tell them to come as well.
My favorite dishes:
— spicy (or the non-​spicy) wontons: delicious
— cold shredded chicken
— fish flavored pork: the spiciness of this is no joke
As to the comments about how the lady treats customers who speak and who don’t speak in Chinese – yes, it’s true. But I think a little cultural sensitivity is needed here. We were with a mixed group of Chinese and non-​Chinese people and she kept telling us several times (in Chinese) about how she couldn’t speak English well. A pair of non-​Chinese speaking customers came in after us and she did struggle even in that interaction.
But during the conversations that we had with her, I thought she was quite funny and engaging and if we weren’t in a mixed group of people, we probably would have talked with her more. I’m sure she gets a little lonely working in that place all day and gets excited when she has someone that she can communicate with.

This is the only review you need.
Just accept what this little hole-​in-​the-​wall is — amazing spicy food from a converted shaved ice stand. Seriously. The owner is a little quirky, but the food is amazing. Try the wonton soup. Try the spicy wonton soup, it will take your breath away with flavor and heat. Try the Chicken Noodle Salad, but heat it up at home. (They serve it cold.)
Be prepared to repeat your order and that she’ll give you incorrect change. Just let her keep the change. I don’t even bother any more.

I love Szechuan food especially dan dan noodles. So when I heard about this place I was sooo excited.
I’ve tried the dan dan noodle, cold green bean dish, spicy wonton soup, and their fried pork. I like the dan dan the best since it’s the most authentic dan dan noodle I’ve found in St. Louis. I didn’t care for the other dishes so much.
So why the 1 star?
1. Its a very small space with very limited seating inside (and it’s not the cleanest)
2. The lady that works here (and she’s the only one here) doesn’t have a strong command of the English language so it’s hard to communicate with her (especially when ordering to go)
3. She takes credit card, but def. prefers cash.
I can handle the above for my beloved dan dan noodles! But what really bugs me is that she doesn’t treat me like she treat her other customers (mostly Chinese, and speaks Chinese with her). Actually, she’s rather rude to me.
1. I’ll order my food, but then a Chinese person comes in and orders their food (and she make their food for them first (we both ordered dan dan noodles))
2. I went in to order my food, and she was on the phone — didn’t acknowledge my existence and proceed to talk on the phone for the next 10 min
3. She makes my dan dan noodles different than the ones she makes for her Chinese patrons. (mine seemed like a more watered down version and def. not as spicy) I’ve tried both versions.
4. I ordered my food to go, went in, she pointed to the to go bag, and said «cash». I said sorry, no cash and showed her my card. She ignores me and and started making food. So i waited. A patron drove up, and started talking to her in Chinese, she chatted it up with him. Gave him a bunch of food, and started cooking again. All while I just stood there, waiting to pay since my food was already and packed up. I asked her If I could pay for the food, since I wanted to leave, and she started yelling at me in Chinese and said «busy» in English and proceeded to ignore me. So I left without my food.
I love authentic food, but I refuse to support a business that treats me like a second class customer.

Good things come in small packages! Delicious authentic food — not the Americanized stuff. The spicy wonton soup is a must have. You’ll feel like you”re in a noodle shop in Asia.

This review is a testament to the power of Unilocal to help us find places we never would otherwise know about. A review popped up for FSP one day and I added it to my wish list. With Aunt Annie in town for a few days, I decided this was a place that she would likely love. We both did.
We were a little confused, is it drive through? Or walk up. Since it is in an old drive through coffee booth, there is no inside seating. We parked nearby and walked to the menu sign. The lady called us inside where another patron who served as our interpreter helped us order. We ordered Szechuan Dan Dan Noodle; Black Sauce Noodle, Kong Pao Chicken and Yu Shan Pork for three people, plenty of food. Don’t be fooled by the term «appetizer» on the menu. These are full individual servings.
The lady invited us to eat at her table inside and this was great, like eating in her home kitchen. She cooked one dish at a time for us and we enjoyed them all. We started with the Kong Pao Chicken. I liked the flavors, but the chicken had been pre cooked and was a little dry. This is the only one I would probably not order again, but none of it went to waste. I actually liked it better, eaten with the next dishes.
We loved the Dan Dan Noodle and the Black Sauce Noodle. I will definitely get the Dan Dan next time. It was a little spicy and full of rich flavors. The Black Sauce Noodle was in a light broth and was not spicy. Again it was very good. I ordered the Yu Shan Pork extra spicy. When she started the chiles in the wok, the vapors made us cough and she had to open the back door, but it was worth it. This is also one I would order again.
I really think I would like anything here. It is FIVE star homemade food, but the issue is not everyone would be able to eat at her prep table as we did, so it is take-​out only. What a great experience! What great leftovers we had the next day! I wish it was closer to home, but is worth a little drive. Just be prepared to take it home.

Hmm.
Maybe my expectations were too high. From the moment I read all of the Unilocal reviews about the Famous Szechuan Pavilion, I knew I had to try it.
Well, tonight I finally did. And while the food was decent, I really wasn’t blown away by anything.
First off, when everyone says how tiny this place is, BELIEVE THEM. Holy moly! I giggled when I pulled into the parking lot and saw this tiny little shack. It’s so cute, I just want to put it in my pocket and take it home with me!
The door is in the back. I walked in and immediately felt like I was entering someone’s personal kitchen. There were already four people in the place eating and chatting up the cute old woman, and when I walked in, they all stopped what they were doing and stared. AWKWARD.
I gave a shy grin, the old woman smiled and handed me a menu, then everyone resumed talking. Phew. I glanced over the menu. Lots of items I had never tried before, but since I already had an idea of what I wanted (dan dan noodles and wonton soup!), it made things easier.
One of the guys at the table asked me if I was ready to order. I said yes, but first, I had a question.
«What’s the difference between the Korea Dan Dan noodles and the Szechuan Dan Dan noodles?» Innocent enough, right? There were no descriptions on the menu.
The guy smiled and repeated my question aloud, in what I’m assuming was Chinese. I’m also assuming he repeated my question aloud, now that I think about it.
Whatever he said, it was enough to make everyone in the place laugh heartily. I felt even more uncomfortable and awkward. Awesome.
He explained that one had wider noodles than the other. Uhhh… okay. I went with the Szcheuan Dan Dan noodles and the Spicy Wonton soup. Since there was literally no where in the tiny shack for me to sit (or stand) to wait for my order, I went out to my car and waited.
About 10 minutes later, my food was ready. I paid for it, smiled, and left.
I only live a few minutes away, so when I got home, the food was still piping hot. The spicy wonton soup looked just like the soup I had at Steak and Rice last week.
Except it wasn’t nearly as tasty. It was DECENT, but it was missing something.
I tried the Dan Dan noodles. Again, the flavor was decent, but it didn’t blow me away. The noodles were a little mushier than I like, too. But I’m not sure if that’s normal, since I’ve never had Dan Dan noodles before.
The food was cheap, and the portions were large (I have more than enough for leftovers!).
However, I’m really not sure I’d come back again. We’ll see. I was just really sort of unimpressed with the place.

Yummy! Had the Dan Dan Noodles, Chicken Noodle Salad and the Yu Shan Pork. All of it was really, I mean REALLY, good. The Chicken Noodle Salad was my favorite. I haven’t had Chinese food this good since… since…since eating at a street vendor in Taipei, 15 odd years ago.

UPDATE: We stopped by again recently. While the cold shredded chicken and beef noodle soup were still tasty, the sweet and sour pork was pretty terrible. It was grisly; the sauce it came coated in was runny and tasted predominantly of soy sauce (not nearly as quality meat or tasty as the same dish at KC Chinese Rotisserie on Olive).
I’m not gonna change the rating as I think it’s still more than 3 stars, but beware when you order that particular dish. I wasn’t a fan.
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Best Chinese restaurants in any town are more than likely not your giant food halls decked out with lantherns and plastic dragons. Sure Lulus and Mandarin House are pretty decent, but for real home-​made flavors, you gotta think small.
How small? Drive-​thru coffee shack small! I read about this place on Unilocal and finally tried it last weekend. It is even smaller than what I expected based on everyone’s reviews. There really are only space for four people to eat and we are talking about cramped in, sitting on plastic red stools. Despite this, the place looked fairly clean and it was pretty cool on such a muggy weekend.
The «lone old lady» is very friendly and chatty with us. Her grandchildren were helping out and we got to talk to them too. We learned that she came from Chongqing, the spice capital of China in the Szechuan province famous in China for its hot pot and fiery-​tempered but good looking women. Plenty of restaurants in the United States have Szechuan in its name, but very rarely do they offer anything remotely close to authentic local flavors (Joy Luck has pretty good Szechuan style dishes if you want to try more substantial dishes that are not offered by the coffee shack. They are on the Chinese menu).
We shared a number of dishes, including the spicy noodle, shredded chicken, Yu Shan pork (sweet and salty pork stir fried with hot pepper), and wontons in spicy sauce. Everything was tasty and reminded me of mom’s cooking. The portions were not big but not bad at all considering how we ended up paying only $ 25 after tip for two persons.
I will definitely return; And if you are interested in more authentic Chinese cruisines, you should check it out too!

I was born in Chongqing. At the time of my birth, it was part of the Sichuan (Szechuan is the older spelling of it) province. Thus, when I heard (from Unilocal) the food here was authentic, I suggested to some friend that we drive out to brentwood to check out this place instead of going to Wong’s Wok (which I love, btw) on the Loop.
My friend told me this place was SMALL. She even said there was only one table that could, at best, fit 5 people. I didn’t realize HOW SMALL. This place is a shed (or maybe more appropriately, a shack) in the middle of a parking lot. It takes up about the same amount of space as 2 – 3 parking spaces. There is only one room, no counter, and the table my friend told me about is the same table that the little old lady writes down orders on (when I was there, she made me do the writing because she was excited that I’m Chinese).
My friends and I saw the place, and I walked around it, looking for a way in. Apparently, it used to be a drive thru coffee bar. There is one door in the back. Just twist the handle and walk in.
Once inside, I saw a little (old, she’s 56 or something) lady (she was TINY) and her (grand?)daughter. They scrambled to set out plastic stools so we could gather around the table. Then, they handed us the menu. Everything (that I can remember) was under 7 dollars. We ordered 6 items (pi dan with seared jalapenos, shredded chicken, dan dan noodles, spicy noodles (soupy ones), wonton soup (spicy variety), and spicy beef noodles), devoured them, and then ordered 3 orders of the dan dan noodles.
The food was authentic. The perfect blend of capsaicin and numbing peppercorn shocked my tongue into blissful homesickness.
I give this place 4 stars only because we watched her cook our food and it made the wait feel that much slower. Also, the portions are not too big (about a 1.5 cups each) so we ended up ordering more food than we expected to fill our tummies. Lastly, the space was cramped which made sharing harder than I expected.
All in all, this is a GREAT place to get take-​out. Dine-​in is an experience that you SHOULD try, but probably only once or twice.

Since the bf is from Chengdu in the Szechuan province of China, as soon as he finished his medical boards yesterday (he’s so Asian), I brought him here for a congratulatory dinner after discovering it on Unilocal (thanks Unilocalers!)
It was one of the weirdest experiences I’ve ever had in Saint Louis but still pretty fun.
There was another couple sitting in there and eating and at first we thought we’d just eat it in the car because it didn’t look like we could fit in there (the only table in there is half used as her cooking area), but they somehow made room since the lady insisted our food wouldn’t taste good to-​go. The place smelled just like every street food stall in China so I knew that was at least a good start.
I had the regular wonton soup while the boyfriend had the dan dan mien and the spicy wonton soup.
I tried some of the dan dan mien and from one piece of noodle, my mouth was burning. My boyfriend was sweating like crazy by the end of it, which his family marks as a sign of a great meal. They love those numbing szechuan peppercorns and this lady packed them on.
As for me, I found the wonton soup too salty for my taste… I would have like to add some water but I didn’t want the lady to see me do it. She was very talkative/​animated to the bf, referring to me as «his old wife» in Chinese (ugh).
But it was still pretty awesome to see her make the wontons from scratch while we were there, folding them up and everything. Another guy joined us and we ended up making friends at the little table! So random yet highly amusing.
The bf is itching to go back, and I will probably return as well… the beef noodle soup looked delicious!
There are a lot of Chinese grad students at WashU who frequent this place, and she said summer is an off time but the rest of the year there can be up to a 2 hour wait. Since the kitchen is ridiculously tiny and there is only one of her, I would really not like to come here during peak hours.
She didn’t charge us for the water but we left a good tip. It felt like being back in China, although I haven’t had wonton soup outside of China that’s been comparable. My bf was in heaven and said it was a little taste of home.

Have you ever wanted to O-​D on capsaicin and dine at the mythical Chef’s Table? Here’s your chance! First of all, if you’re driving on Manchester, this place is so tiny you’d blow right past it. FSP is, as Allan C. notes, run by a «…lone old lady…» And man, can this «…lone old lady…» kill it in the kitchen!
We sat at a long, wooden folding table — you know, the kind you’d sit at for church bingo with your grandma. What was special about this folding table was that it was where everyone sits when they dine-​in at FSP — a true communal dining experience. I mean, where else in St. Louis can you go where you feel like you’re dining in a «…lone old lady’s…» kitchen?
First of all, know that Sichuan cuisine is primarily known for being spicy, thanks to the Sichuan Peppercorn. This peppercorn is used quite a bit in Sichuan cuisine, and FSP is no exception! When ingesting this peppercorn, you’ll get a slight floral aroma, coupled with a little heat, followed by an inexplicable slight numbness — not in the «I just had a dental procedure» sense, but more like a slight tingling in the tongue (don’t read into this, you sickos!).
Okay, onto the food — so we ordered the wonton soup (I can’t remember the exact name, but damn… that was delish!), the dan dan noodles, spicy peanuts, a spicy catfish dish, and cold-​spiced chicken. The wontons were freshly prepared — how do I know this, you ask? The «…lone old lady…» stood behind me (…remember, this place is quite tiny…) and peeled off wonton wrappers, stuffed them, and boiled them. The perfectly cooked wontons sat in a dark red sauce that was spicy, fragrant, and delicious. The dan dan noodles were great — not too oily, and very well spiced. The spicy peanuts sat in a light sauce with a dark brown hue, with scallions, roasted jalapenos, and more sichuan peppercorns (do you see a theme here?) The catfish dish was also delish (yeah, I meant to rhyme that)! It was the whole fish, or most of it anyway without the head, but with bones and all, sitting in a brown curry-​like sauce, with preserved vegetables for texture and heat. This dish took some time to eat because it had the bones in it, and the «…lone old lady…» took great care to make sure we were aware there were bones in the fish and that we should be extra careful. The cold-​spiced chicken was shredded chicken breast along with oil & vinegar, pepper, and vegetables for added crunch — delicious as well!
The portions sizes were perfect — we ate well and didn’t leave overly full — probably because we (or I) sweat so much from the heat… but it was sooo good! The price was great, I mean, 33 bucks for great food, and an overall sit-in-yo-mama’s-kitchen dining experience. So what are you waiting for already? Getch’yoself over there, meet the «…lone old lady…» and get your FSP on!