Sichuan Impression

My buddy took me here because he said it was the most authentic Chinese food since he had been back from working for several months in Beijing. We order like 6 or 7 entrees. We did a variety of types of dishes from soups to stir fry type dishes. Varying levels of sichuan pepper which is an amazing mouth and throat numbing experience that changes the flavor profiles. The rabbit was very good. One of my sleeper favorites was the pork large intestine stew. The bamboo shoots and dumplings were also highlights.

We came here for the first time. Loved the ambiance. The space is spacious with a nice street view. The food was delicious. We ordered the beef soup with rice noodles and the mongolian beef and we shared it. I loved the mongolian beef. Ill definitely get that again. The soup was also very good but it had too much noodles for me and not enough veggies or broth. But it had good flavor. Ill definitely come back. The service was excellent l. They were quick and very attentive and most importantly they were really friendly which I love. There is a parking but its limited. Enjoy!

wow this sichuan place is AMAZING. everything we ordered was delicious and had the perfect spice level. i loved the spicy stir-fried beef as well as the pork intestine. the fish soup was also sooo good. great place to grab a meal if you like spicy food!!

I’m giving this place a high rating not solely due to the taste, quality or price, but because of the experience. Never had I tasted Rattan Pepper, a spice with such a numbing/tingling sensation. The Boiled fish with Rattan Pepper is a perfect example of this. I’m not a big fish soup guy, but this is unlike any soup I’ve ever had. You need to try it if you are new to this place.

My advice when ordering here is to be bold and adventurous. They offer a lot of things you don’t see on a typical menu, such as frog legs, rabbit and duck tongue to name a few. Make sure you get at least one thing with rattan pepper, like the stir-fried chicken. Everything else I ate was quite good. It all had an element of spice to it, but nothing made me reach for a glass of water.

Pricing it quite typical, maybe a bit more then your average Chinese restaurant. That said, this is isn’t your average. You should definitely order family style and share.

Give this place a try if you are feeling daring or if you love Sichuan cuisine.

OMG, not being exaggerated but I’m obsessed with this restaurant so much!! Most dishes impress me a lot!

Boiled Fish with Rattan Pepper: the most tender fish fillet I’ve ever had! They taste very succulent and packed with flavors. It delivers an intensive numbing sensation to my mouth because of the authentic Sichuan pepper.

Mao Cai: the soup is the essence of this dish. It’s neither too oily like many other Chinese restaurant’s food, nor too salty. The ingredients bring a lingering fragrance to the dish. Highly recommended.

Steamed Pork with Rice Flour: the pork is very juicy, and rice makes pork belly not greasy at all. If I’m not wrong, they also put pumpkin inside. The sweetness of the pumpkin offers the perfect complement to the spices through the richness of the pork belly.

Other recommended dishes: Marbled Beef Noodle, Stir-Fried Chili Pork Ribs.

Almost came here every week and recommended it to all my friends. Came around 7pm one day and waited for more than one hour to be seated. You know it’s good just by looking at the queue.

#favorite Chinese restaurant in LA

Very authentic Sichuan food, highly recommend it! Not as oily as other Chinese spicy food, but it’s so tasty. Also great service and super clean facility everywhere. Will want to come back again to try more delicious food.

Not intimidated by some heat and numbing? Willing to explore the depths of Chinese cuisine properly? Come and try Sichuan impression and get a real taste of the far east. This isn't an americanized fanfare, this is the real deal Holyfield. The menu is abundant with things to try and will leave you coming back for more. I used to not like the ordering system but once you familiarize yourself with the QR code menu, you'll be getting food faster than you can blink an eye. Did I mention they have a full beer and wine menu for the drinkers? Come in hungry and leave happy.

To my knowledge, this is the only real Sichuan restaurant on the West Side of Los Angeles. The food is very good, the staff is great and the ambiance is nice. Make sure to pay attention to the spice levels: Sichuan food is notoriously hot!

Great food... If you're love that spicy but not so spicy lol 😆 it's the spot to give it a try. First timers for us and everything came out super tasty!

Yummy, fresh, authentic, fast-serving, and reasonable price. Plenty non-spicy and mild spicy options for people like us. We enjoyed every appetizer, dish and desert we ordered, would recommend to anyone visiting LA.

Man, this place is just stellar. If you’re looking for a reliable spicy Chinese dinner spot, this is it. Service is pretty no-frills.

Recs: stir-fried chili chicken, lamb skewer, mapo tofu

This was a MUST visit place when I planned my LA trip, because we had dinner at Sichuan Impression in Alhambra four years ago and had a stunning experience. So when we visited Santa Monica this time, I am thrilled to find there is one nearby. The restaurant is bigger than the one in Alhambra, so we got seated faster than expect. The food is delicious and spicy. My favorites are 藤椒腰花 and 肥肠酸汤粉.

Probably the best dry-pot cauliflower I've ever had. Loved the variety of add-ins tucked amongst the cauliflower (like bamboo and potato slices). Appreciate that they made the mapo tofu vegetarian upon request, and turned the music on the outside patio down when I asked.

Don't forget to order rice independently, as it does not come with the entrees. $1 gets you a modest single-person bowl. Portion sizes of our two dishes were very generous—with just two entrees we could easily have fed four.

Be prepared for the huojiao to numb you like a kick in the tongue!

Outstanding food, my taste-buds went on a new journey with every dish we ordered!

Cannot get enough of this place. Fantastic food across the board. The fish dishes and the glass noodles are heavenly 😋🌶🔥

We’ve been here several times and it’s always always delicious and very very spicy 🌶. Like, really spicy. Obviously, that’s why most people come here. But just be warned that the amount of non spicy things on the menu is pretty limited. We had our toddlers with us and the waitress was kind enough to bring some noodles over without any of the spicy sauce. Overall, highly recommend for 四川菜.

The most authentic Sichuan food in town. My friend is from Sichuan and he refuses to eat anywhere else.

The food here is very authentic, probably service too. All the servers speak mandarin and the runner will announce the fish name in mandarin when they present it to you. Even the placemats are in Chinese. They have a bell for service on the table, I think they are short staffed because it took a while to get our drinks. The food is really good, the price is affordable, if you want authentic Chinese food experience, definitely give it a try. Will come back!

This is the best Sichuan restaurant that I've ever been to in the states. They have many authentic Sichuan dishes that you probably won't find in other authentic Sichuan restaurants. I've never had a bad dish here.

The service is ok. But I can't complain too much given how good the food is and how reasonably priced it is.

The only problem is that most of their dishes are spicy, especially those good ones. You might not enjoy it if you don't like spicy food.

Amazing food for people who’s craving for authentic Chinese cuisine. Would love to order and visit again and again.