The sauerkraut fish soup at Tai Er Sichuan Cuisine unlocked a secret vibrating function in my tongue. Savoring the charged pork broth, I felt as if I had ingested the most incredible electrical static, buzzing its way through my digestive system. I was convinced I might have seen God if I dunked my head in the bowl.
This summer, Tai Er, a China-born Sichuan-style restaurant chain with over 600 locations, opened its first Bay Area outpost in downtown San Mateo. During its grand opening weekend, the restaurant served more than 1,000 patrons, some of whom waited in line for up to three hours. They chased a taste of Tai Er’s signature suan cai yu, the soup that made the restaurant a global sensation and the fuel behind the operation’s rampant expansion.
Tai Er is but a babe and already it’s one of this year’s best new openings…