The very first Lao Sze Chuan opened in 1998 in Chicago’s Chinatown and has since become one of the most beloved Chinese restaurants nationwide. The brainchild of Sichuan-born Chef Tony Hu, Lao Sze Chuan prides itself on providing traditional Sichuan cuisine with high-quality ingredients. In 1999, Lao Sze Chuan was recognized by the Chicago Tribune as “One of the Best,” receiving a “three fork” rating that was considered a prominent accomplishment for Chinese restaurants at that time.
Although Lao Sze Chuan has flourished to multiple locations in the greater Chicagoland area and nationwide, our mission to offer, elevate, and promote gourmet authentic Chinese cuisine and provide exceptional customer service has never wavered. Our Grade A chefs are skillfully trained in Sichuan cuisine to provide the most authentic flavors at all locations. To this day, Lao Sze Chuan lives by the mantra “One Style For One Dish, A Hundred Dishes Have A Hundred Different Tastes,” a saying that keeps our most frequent customers coming back for more. Lao Sze Chuan is not only recognized locally as the Best Chinese Restaurant in Chicago by multiple mainstream food columns, but has also received numerous national accolades including “The Best Chinese Restaurant”; “The Most Authentic Chinese Food”; one of the “Top Ten Chinese Restaurants in the U.S.”; “Best Chinese Restaurant for Celebrating Chinese New Year”; and “International Famous Chinese Restaurant,” among many others. Lao Sze Chuan was a consecutive recipient of the world’s most prominent food review authority, the Michelin Red Guide’s “Bib Gourmand” from 2010-2016, and recognized as the “Best Chinese Restaurant in the U.S.” by Travel & Leisure and The Daily Meal and one of the top 10 best Chinese restaurants in America by TimeOut in 2016.
The Lao Sze Chuan journey is far from complete. Chef Tony seeks to continue to take the Chinese culinary world to new heights, having most recently successfully introduced the famous Peking Duck to an overseas audience at his Lao Sze Chuan restaurant on Chicago’s Michigan Avenue. Chef Tony’s passion for and dedication to providing and elevating authentic Asian fare is found in each of his Lao Sze Chuan restaurants, with “Lao” symbolizing old, traditional and authentic, and “Sze Chuan” derived from the province from which Hu himself and the cuisine itself originates.
