Chengdu Taste 2, The Sequel To Sichuan Greatness

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• Photos by Elizabeth Daniels

After the gas meter disaster, and a much needed break to Yellowstone with his team, Tony Xu says Chengdu Taste 2 will open some time very soon, perhaps this weekend. Despite the proliferation of Sichuanese restaurants on Valley Blvd since the announcement of the build-out, Chengdu Taste's line has not eased. Even Michael Cimarusti himself had to wait a bit when he visited earlier this month. With new menu items such as garlic braised chicken with celtuce and the return of the green chili bobo chicken, even take-out wait times have extended to an hour.

The new location doubles the square footage of the original and nearly doubles the seating. It features a cold deli case, as well as a register area designed to ease the egress of to-go customers. One no longer has to stare painfully at the dine-in customers devouring the spicy steamed pork belly while waiting to carry out boxed foods. The highlight here in Rosemead, though, remains the massive kitchen that Xu designed specifically to prevent the cooking line from ever being in the weeds.

Chengdu Taste 2's new menu has been pressed for months, and the POS has sat idle as well. Xu, from a land where corruption penetrated every facet of daily life, was incredulous of the delay caused by a simple gas meter installation after having to tear the concrete floor for grease trap. He vows to never build another restaurant from the ground up, but first, Chengdu Taste 3 is being shopped around somewhere in Irvine.
· All Chengdu Taste 2 Coverage [~ELA~]