Chin's Szechwan - Encinitas

Chin's is a wonderful traditional Chinese restaurant that is perfect for a family dinner or a romantic dinner date for two. Their menu is full of delicious dishes served family style. The service is incredibly friendly and attentive.

I am stunned at the amount of 5 star reviews on here and everyone saying it is the best Chinese food in Encinitas or San Diego. Truly mind blown. If you have ever had good Chinese food before, this place is not it. Not to mention they are insanely over priced! No reason a bowl of noddle soup should cost almost $20 dollars. Yes I said that correct. $20 dollars for a bowl of soup. Aside from being over priced the food is so bland with zero flavor. The PF changes frozen bags of food from the grocery store have more flavor than what you order from here. I have tried multiple dishes from here a few times thinking maybe it was an off day for a chef or something. Nope. Every single time zero flavor and super bland. If you are ever craving Chinese food I would say skip eating here and find something else or wait and go to Clairemont Mesa, Convoy area to get something delicious. The restaurant itself is very nice inside and the staff are polite and welcoming. So I give them stars for that.

The restaurant itself is very aesthetic and I thought it was cute. Some of the empty decor takes up space on the table though if you are ordering a lot of food. Salt and pepper chicken wings: They had good flavor! Compared to the typical salt & pepper chicken wings, it tasted like they had marinated them to give it a bit more flavor. I actually really liked it and it had a good crunch to it. We ordered 2 of the salt & pepper wings (total of 12 wings) and it came to be about $28, which is over $2 for one wing!Honey Walnut Shrimp: This was everyone's least favorite dish. We finished everything else we ordered but we still almost had a plate full at the end. It wasn't terrible, but it just tasted very... mayo-ey.Pot stickers: I thought these were okay, the meat on the inside had good flavor however the outer layer was thick and mushy where it wasn't pan fried.Tangerine chicken: This had good flavor and was crispy, one of our favorites from the menu.Overall the food was decent, however the prices were high for the portions you get. It was good to try but we didn't love it enough to come back again. The staff was super friendly, refilled our drinks, and made sure our order was correct. We had a few small kids with us so we asked for the food to be not spicy and had no problem with our request. However, I will say that the salt and pepper wings that were 'spicy' weren't that spicy to us.

Food here is really good. Some of the best Chinese in Encinitas. I gave it a 2 because of the spice level. On a scale of 1-5 I ordered a two. My food is so fecking spicy I cannot eat it. This has NEVER happened to me before. I started with Hot and Sour soup. Fyi, there are no "cups" of soup available. It's the whole ginormous order , that would easily feed 6, available. Since I really wanted the soup I ordered it. I will be eating soup for several days to come. You can get a cup of soup with lunch but I arrived 25 minutes after lunch ended. So, it was the huge order of soup or nothing. I ordered a chicken dish with brown rice. Fried and brown rice are extra. It comes with white rice end of story. Chicken dish is too spicy for me so they are making me another to go. I had 2 Tsing Tso's. Ordered a third, never got it. Waiting for my remade chicken dish and I'm done. This was my favorite Chinese restaurant in Encinitas. After today I will be looking for another

Okay, entering this restaurant is an experience in of itself. I can't have a review of Chin's without first mentioning the decor! Although it's a little dim inside, the interior just screams your stereotypical Chinese restaurant. Truly, like it was transported straight out of a sitcom. It was very fun to dine somewhere like this.In terms of the food, I was pleasantly surprised, as I don't frequent Chinese cuisine as much as I wish I did. There is a great variety on the menu, and I absolutely loved how they had an entire panel dedicated to describing their sauces. Not only does this help you choose and understand the complexity of the flavors, but it also lets you check for any food allergies/dietary restrictions. The prices are higher during dinner, and they're on the relatively higher side, too. I'd say it was an average of $20 per dish. That being said, I recommend that your entire table orders multiple dishes and you share amongst yourselves. We ended up ordering the chicken lo mein, mapo tofu, hot and sour soup, honey walnut shrimp, imperial fish, and ma la scallop. This was the perfect amount of food for six people to share family style. It's also worth to mention that they served us a pot of rice without charge.The hot and sour soup was very sour, and although it wasn't to my personal taste, it was a favorite among my table (and the people around us!). I did, however, like that the server portioned a small bowl for everyone. I have to say that I was impressed by every dish I tried, especially the mapo tofu. And of course, everyone loves lo mein and honey walnut shrimp! I wish I could've tried more dishes. Maybe next time I come back to Chin's!!

We have been patrons of Chin's for many years. We enjoyed the food and ambience. Recently, the prices have skyrocketed and the portions have shrunk. We have decided to take our business elsewhere. Joyee dumpling house and China Fusion are more affordable with generous portions and comparable taste. We actually prefer Joyee over China Fusion. The ambience may not be as nice as Chin's but not worth the extra cost.

This was my second time at Chin's first time at this location and there was plenty of parking easy to find surprisingly when we got there we were seated right away given the holiday. I was expecting a wait time, but the rush didn't come until after we got there so we got lucky. We were attended to right away. Our waitress brought us waters and took our order shortly after a little disappointed that even though we were there during lunch, the lunch special was not being offered due to the mother's day holiday but understandable. Me and my mom ordered the egg flower soup and it was absolutely delicious, our waitress even served it for us in our bowls which I thought was above and beyond service. When our meals came out- portions were huge, definitely shareable. The chop seuy was so fresh and tasty. The walnut shrimp was good too but after a few, it can be a bit much. I know if my brother was there he would've ate the whole plate by himself. Luckily, we were able to take our left over food to go. We did notice the rice was a little hard. Not sure if it was because it was older or if that was just the texture based on the brand the restaurant uses. The restaurant was super clean. It was my mom's first time so she enjoyed the decor. She even wanted to take a picture in the lobby. I will say, at the end, when we were going to pay our waitress asked if I wanted my change back. I told her yes. Me - personally, I like to get my change back first then determine what I want to give. I don't like when people assume they are going to get a tip, or assume what their tip is or should be. But i know that is just a preference thing. Every customer and server is different. Anyway- over all great experience. Thank you for our meals! We will also have enough for dinner.

Great atmosphere, so so service and good food over all it's good hfdvj hgffd bvffdfdddd

Always quick service when you dine in and nice staff. The renovation is really nice but Is It bad I miss that hole in the wall Chinese restaurant feeling?! If you are anything like us we always stick to the same order and It doesn't disappoint, while the price may seem steep (we pay ~$75+ when we come), we have left overs for at least 2 meals.

Over priced, some things OK, somethings not.Their egg rolls are the best I've had in North County, bigger than most and the outside has a great flavor, the inside could use more ingredients like I see back East but ir wasn't mushy like Panda Garden and Chine Fusion.Their entrees are hit and miss. My favorite is the Cashew Chicken which is a little sweet. I wish they would cut the chicken pieces smaller than they do.Good place to eat in, it's big with booths.Their lunch Special is good, a little expensive like everything else here, but they give a good amount of food.