Michigan’s

Best Local Eats:

Sichuan Cuisine

serves authentic dishes in Kalamazoo tKALAMAZOO, MI here are a lot of Chinese restaurants around Kalamazoo, which is why Sichuan Cuisine focuses on authentic dishes.

Sichuan Cuisine, 324 N. Drake Road, features two menus – authentic Sichuan food and American Chinese food, Owner Christine Yu said. The authentic menu is the one they promote the most, she said.

“I think as a Chinese restaurant or Chinese food industry promoter, I love my culture, especially food culture,” Yu said. “I think authentic menu is the best way to express the real thing.”

Yu worked as a manager at the restaurant and took over ownership in 2019 when the original owners no longer wanted to run it. Since then, she has focused on making authentic Sichuan food, dishes with centuries of history, like Dan Dan noodles and spicy dumplings. Both come with a price tag of $6.95.

“(The spicy dumpling dish) looks very simple, but it tastes so rich and has balance of avor,” Yu said.

Whatever people order, they can’t go wrong, she said. People don’t always know what Sichuan food is, Yu said. It is one of eight main cuisines from different regions in China and has grown in popularity across the United States over the years, she said.

“It’s taken me two years to educate people,” Yu said. “What kind of Sichuan food is real?”

A lunch buffet is available weekdays 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., except for Tuesdays in the summer. It’s a great way for people to try a variety of Sichuan food to discover what they like, Yu said.

Part of what makes Sichuan food unique is the variety of avors and the way they combine, Yu said.

Hot pot is a popular dish, especially in the winters, Yu said. People can add everything from whole sh to tofu to frog legs to their hot pot.

Sichuan Cuisine serves a large selection of vegetarian and vegan food. That includes a wide variety of tofu – like mapo tofu or General Tao’s tofu – to crispy eggplant to gongbao vegetables. Each dish is $12.95.

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The restaurant currently has a spicy cray sh special. It is served in a spicy sauce with jalapenos, onions and chili peppers.

Running Sichuan Cuisine can be stressful, especially as food costs continue to increase, Yu said. They also have to drive to Chicago to get necessary ingredients after a distributor stopped coming to the Kalamazoo area. She also had to deal with some people telling her to go back home, especially in 2020. But she knows those people don’t represent the community as a whole.

“People keep coming,” Yu said. “We have the best customers.”

During the coronavirus shutdowns, Sichuan Cuisine was part of “We Wok Together,” which was a group of restaurants that worked together to provide free meals to rst responders. The restaurant was also part of a nationwide drive, Food of Love, that raised more than $1 million to donate during Asian American and Paci c Islander Heritage Month, Yu said.

The majority of the restaurant’s business is carry-out and delivery, but they are open for dine-in. Yu does tell customers that dine-in may be slow, depending on how many staff they have that day.