Little Tao

We were going back and forth on where to have a weekday lunch in Allston and finally decided on Little Tao. I'm so glad we tried it! I'll definitely be coming back. The food came out very quickly and was all delicious.We got the weekday lunch specials, which range from $14.95 to $15.95. They all come with rice, which was really delicious! The rice has the perfect balance of sticky and al dente, and paired wonderfully with the food. The complimentary pickled vegetables were also delightfully mala, savory, and crunchy!I got the pickled fish fillet ($15.95) which was amazing! The soup had an addicting savory flavor without being sour and the fish was very tender. I usually don't eat much rice but the soup + rice combo was so good! I would come back just for this.The Sichuan spicy chicken ($14.95) came highly recommended by other reviewers, and I'm happy to share that it was amazing! Great flavor, big pieces of chicken, very fresh and crispy. The chicken took slightly longer than the other dishes, I assume because it was being freshly fried. I would definitely get this again.We also tried the braised beef brisket ($15.95) and braised chicken ($14.95, bone-in). I think the brisket could've been better, and what I tried was a bit tough. I think the other dishes we got were better than these.It's a small restaurant and there aren't many tables, so I imagine it gets quite busy in the evenings. Can't wait for my next visit!

Great place for a quick Sichuan meal!I found this place is very convenient to park and have a quick lunch/dinner stop.Paid parking is available right outside the door of this restaurant.We found the food was epic : special shoutout to the fish!Ambiance is good, but space is congested.Service was quick but our server missed a few requirements and we needed to re-ask them.Overall, moderately recommended.

I absolutely love Little Tao! My personal favorite Sichuan style Chinese restaurant in the Boston area that's affordable. Why does this place stand out to me? It's because the food here especially the dry pot, isn't too greasy or oil! I never leave with an upset stomach. Food always comes out fast, hot, and flavorful without being too overwhelmingly spicy! Everything about this place is enjoyable from the food to the cozy atmosphere. It's a tiny place, so perfect for grabbing lunch with a small group of friends or even dining alone. Staff is quick and attentive to customers. Can't wait to be back.

Amazing food wood definitely come back again can't wait to eat here again best lamb chops ever !!!

Food here are delicious. We enjoyed them very much. The restaurant looks nice and cozy. It likes family restaurant. There are meter parking in the front.

I tasted owner chef was not cooking on my 4 orders anymoreFor this prices it was quite wasting money Below the average experience with new chef or substitute chef. I used to work at few restaurants so I know running restaurants is very tough business, But, still, Food is art and we need good one hopefully every day. we go for chef's own creations not recipe and ingredients. Way Too Much Money for Below Average Tasting Food !!Some restaurants do like this, open restaurants with amazing experienced chef and train few chefs and quality and enjoyment go down.I was so disappointed to know this horrible pattern is on this restaurant.I hope it's temporary hiccups . . .

Small little place on Comm Ave, with about a half dozen tables. Authentic Sichuan with a good mix of dishes mostly appealing to a Chinese clientele. Service is unpolished but friendly, and they'll guide you through the menu with enthusiasm. Dry Chili Tiger Shrimp: Shells on, flavor in, and stays on even if the shells come off. Nicely spicy but well rounded. Plump shrimp and lots of them. Soft Tofu Fish in Chili Sauce: Very delicate fish, with force heat, some oil, and some herbs and peanuts. I could do without the peanuts, but interesting addition.Sichuan Twice Cooked Pork Belly: A standard dish at Sichuan places, and this one is as good as anyone's. Moist, tender, thin-cut pork with a light coating of spicy, slightly oily sauce, celery-like veggies, and some chile peppers. Flavor, crunch, and heat. Great with white rice.Spicy Cumin Beef: Similar to the lamb dishes with cumin had elsewhere, this was tingly spicy, with tender beef that still had some juices. Nice contrast of spices and fresh herbs.Signature Kung Po Chicken: Probably geared for less adventurous diners. Usually the Americanized stuff is a little sweet, but rather than swinging the pendulum in the opposite direction, they leaned in harder and made it even sweeter--with loads of honey, not sugar--but tempered that with an extra potent dose of fiery red peppers. Looks like a lot of peanuts, but many of them are actually large slices of garlic.Braised Beer Duck: This hearty, stewy dish is perfect for the colder weather. The duck is soft, on the bone (requiring some tentative eating, but no less enjoyable), and spicy from the rich broth. Lots of large chunked lotus root and some other vegetables along for the ride. Great on white rice.Wontons in Chili Oil: Wasn't expecting so much broth, but a nice surprise. Spicy stuff, and by no means blow your face off spicy, but the peppers and spices divided a constant tickle to the throat (a la Gene's wonton soup dish for those familiar).Smoky Tea Flavored Duck: Quite possibly my favorite dish of 2022. Great color (inside and out), great texture, great juiciness, great smoky flavor.Signature Fish: High ticket price ($37), but high quality, high voltage flavor, and even high theater (served in a huge coffee-table-like tray, hot and bubbling), even though it's tilapia. Fried to a crisp and then simmered to keep it both flavorful and tender. Lots of peppers for heat and lots of herbs for both textural and flavor contrast, along with a thin, chile peppery, oily sauce that had none of the sweetened brown glop found in most suburban Sichuan whole fish dishes. Decent amount of vegetables (mostly lotus root, jicama, onion), tofu, and aromatics.Twice Cooked Pork Belly Noodle: Ordinary noodles not much different from linguine, but served with a lively, thin, spicy sauce. Studded with leeks and onions in addition to the slightly charred, slightly wobbly pork. Satisfying.Tao Tao Noodle: Flavorful, with beans, nuts, and herbs, and the noodles sometimes soft, sometimes more pleasantly al dente.Basil Eggplant: Sweet, spicy, herbal. Melt-in-mouth tenderness. Somewhat oily sauce, but very doable.Sichuan Stewed Pork: About a dozen sizable slices of pork belly, stewed to become very tender, and with a very similar texture to Jewish deli brisket or pastrami. Nice saltiness and vegetal complement from the little chopped pieces beside it. Leafy, beany, salty, delicious.Basil Eggplant: Mildly spicy but more sweet, though a restrained sweetness and a nice blend. Very tender. I'm not much of an eggplant guy but I always wind up taking more of these than I expect, because it's very appealing.Beef With Cumin Lunch Plate: Seemed different from the entree, as the lunch plate version had more sauce, less spice, and less cumin. I did like the extra sauce for use with the rice. Had I not had it their previous way, I'd love this dish. I'll still get it again, but prefer the entree version.Stir-Fried Garlic Pork Ribs: Very crisp and very succulent bone-in pork, with garlic, ginger, and herbs adding flavor. No sauce to speak of, but juicy enough not to need one. Not necessarily an appetizer, but it makes a good makeshift one.Chengdu Stewed Duck: Tender pieces on the bone, in a very spicy thin broth balanced by herbs. Lots of poultry flavor in the broth. Under what's visible are glass noodles, bean sprouts, soybeans, and other vegetables, but it's mostly a meatfest and a delicious one at that. Some offal in there too, but minor.Eggplant in Mashed Chili: A cold appetizer with the feel of a tapenade, only spicier. Lots of green color from slightly pickled peppers, with purple eggplant underneath.Overall, fantastic. Not every dish is what you expect, so always ask about the preparation and whether it's hot or cold. But more often than not, the meal will have at least one and usually two wow-factor dishes.

I got the twice cooked pork belly noodle to go through uber eats and it was SO good. The portion is massive and even though $18 on uber eats is a lot for two full meals it's not bad at all. I will definitely be back for more food soon. I can't say one bad thing about this place except for the fact that I can't eat it everyday! One thing is I wish they had dry pot on the menu because I love dry pot.

I'm glad to find this small Sichuan restaurant to have authentic dishes (which are far more than just "ma-la"). The dishes are reasonably priced, with decent potion, but more importantly, they are flavorful (and not simply numbing-spicy in everything). I've had their soup, intestines, beef tripe, egg yolk dish and a few others, and they are all delicious.I'll definitely visit again for more.

All the food they have is pre-paired dishes with bad taste, worst service I've ever met