Han Dynasty

When it comes to Chinese food, Upper West Siders have always been better off venturing uptown, toward Columbia, or downtown, toward everything else, at which point they might as well make the trip to Flushing. When word arrived that Han Dynasty, a popular Sichuan restaurant chain in Philadelphia, which opened a branch in the East Village in 2013, was coming to the neighborhood, hopes were high. Finally, a contender for “real” Chinese—spicy Sichuanese, rather than the blandly sweet Chinese-American takeout fare of places like Shun Lee and Ollie’s Noodle Shop.