Sichuan Impression 2 Delivers Fiery Chinese Flavors to Orange County Today

A short six months after originally planning to debut, Sichuan Impression (formerly Szechuan Impression) is set to open today for lunch and dinner in Tustin.

The new Orange County location sits in a nondescript plaza that also hosts a couple of Korean and Indian restaurants, and features plentiful parking typical for OC strip malls. The plaza's centrality as well as the proximity to the freeway means Chinese students from UCI and the entire central OC Chinese diaspora are only a ten-minute drive away.

This second outlet of Sichuan Impression clocks in at 2,600 square feet, which means both the seating area and the kitchen have doubled in size. The simply decorated space features polished concrete flooring, art work direct from Sichuan, and lots of Chengdu local ceramicware.

According to manager Lynn Liu, the dramatically larger work area will give the chefs more space to cure housemade Sichuan charcuterie such as a pork belly and spicy sausages, expedite service, and introduce more cold cuts. The restaurant also enjoys a beer and wine license, which means diners will be able to experience spicy rabbits heads (part of the aforementioned cold cuts menu) with a cold pale lager — something not possible at the original.

Sichuan Impression 2 officially opens today in Tustin, keeping both lunch (11 a.m. to 3 p.m.) and dinner (5 p.m. to 10 p.m.) hours daily.

Sichuan Impression 2
13816 Red Hill Avenue
Tustin, CA