The paper umbrellas that decorated the dining room are piled in a corner, and the service counter is buried under boxes and water jugs.
Szechuan Tales, the modern Sichuan restaurant at 8111 Leslie Road in Richmond, has quietly closed.
We found out the way a lot of Richmond closures get found out lately: by walking up to locked doors at dinner time.
A friend had recommended the spot a while back, so we swung by while wandering the Lansdowne area looking for somewhere new to try.
The doors were locked, and through the shaded windows the teardown was already underway, with a ladder standing in the middle of the room and chairs pushed into stacks.
Google now tags the restaurant as permanently closed.
The most recent Google review, left last month, says it was the restaurant’s final day of service.
Szechuan Tales opened in 2022 selling a modern take on Sichuan cooking; the sign out front reads 新派川菜, new-style Sichuan cuisine.
By the numbers, it looked like it was working.
The restaurant closed holding a 4.5-star average across 643 Google reviews.
The menu’s hits ran laziji Szechuan spicy chicken, a crispy eggplant dish, boiled fish, a nine-grid appetizer platter, and a fresh fried dough that reviewers noted for its size.
The website pitched a Golden Pot series and a tilapia and duck blood soup as signatures alongside them.
But when we posted the closure on our Red Note account, the comment section told a more complicated story.
Several commenters said the food never lived up to the rating for them.
One commenter claimed the owner is simply taking a break, which we could not confirm.
Szechuan Tales joins other recent Richmond closures including Jiang Jiang, Mino Conveyor Belt Sushi, and Bruno.
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Address: 8111 Leslie Road, Richmond BC