A Massively Popular Sichuan Chain Is Coming to Seattle

Ready for some Chinese food with serious heat? Chengdu Taste — the incredibly popular Sichuan restaurant that started in the Los Angeles area, before expanding to multiple locations, including Hawaii, Houston, and Las Vegas — is planning a spot at the historic Publix building in the Chinatown-International District. After a tipster alerted us to a permit in the restaurant’s name at the mixed retail-residential spot, a call to Publix confirmed the news, although the timing on opening plans is still uncertain (calls to several of the restaurant’s other U.S. locations were not returned at press time). No matter when it arrives in Seattle, diners are in for a treat. As Eater LA wrote in its Essential Sichuan Restaurants guide, “The cold spring onion chicken in pepper sauce is as silky as the best Hainan chicken, imparting that familiar citrusy-grassy numb taste that deepens with each bite.”

In a city that was once dominated by Cantonese cuisine, this is a welcome addition, continuing a trend to more varied Chinese regional representation. Chengdu Taste — named after the capital city of China’s southwest Sichuan province, world renowned for its spicy food — will deliver flavors worth a trip to the Chinatown-International District. Meanwhile, the neighborhood’s Publix building (originally built in 1927 before a 2017 remodel) is quickly turning into a destination in itself for great food options of all kinds, housing the critically-acclaimed Hood Famous Bakeshop and Dough Zone dumplings, as well as the third location of Momosan Ramen and Sake from world-famous chef Masaharu Morimoto (coming soon).

• An Essential Guide to Los Angeles’s Booming Sichuan Food Scene [Eater LA]
• Where to Find the Best Chinese Food In Las Vegas [Eater Las Vegas]
• Sichuan Superstar Chengdu Taste Is Now Open In Houston [Eater Houston]