Chez Chili invites you to discover China's authentic delights. In the Northern provinces of China, where the temperature is always low, people warm themselves up with spicy meals filled with flavours. We offer you the 5 main flavors present in Chinese cooking: sweet, sour, bitter, spicy and salty. Let us take you on a traditional Chinese culinary experience right in the heart of Montreal!
Chez Chili is widely praised for authentic Sichuan flavors, bold spice, and generous portions that offer good value, with standout dishes like General Tao, salt and pepper shrimp, eggplant with pork, mapo tofu, and Hunan specialties frequently highlighted; multiple comments call it the best Chinese in Montreal's Chinatown and a reliable go-to for spicy, well seasoned dishes, including tofu options and vegetable dishes; the atmosphere is described as cozy and basement-like, sometimes noisy, with fast service that can feel rushed during peak times; several reviews commend friendly, attentive staff and quick turnover, while a few report inconsistent service, attitude around tips, or slower moments, and some hygienic concerns such as not seeing hands washed or occasional cleanliness issues; takeout can be problematic at times with missing or late orders, and there are occasional complaints about spice levels not matching expectations or dishes arriving not as spicy as advertised; overall the food is delicious, authentic, and worth a visit, with many plans to return despite some caveats.
used to come here pretty often, but after this last visit, I'm done.
The food has seriously gone downhill. What used to be a decent spot is now completely inconsistent - the same dishes taste different every time we come. One day it's acceptable, the next day it's bland, greasy, or just off. At this point, it feels like there's no consistency in the kitchen at all. For a restaurant that expects repeat customers, that's a major problem.
But honestly, the bigger issue is the way this place is run.
There's a short male staff member who appears to be the owner, & he clearly has a habit of treating customers differently depending on how he judges them. If he thinks a table is'worth more,' his attitude suddenly changes. It's very obvious, & it makes the whole experience uncomfortable.
What pushed this to a 1-star review was what happened with the seating. Two white customers came in about 5 minutes after us, & the owner personally chose to seat them at a large table, even though they only ordered 2 dishes. Meanwhile, there were two of us, & we ordered 4 dishes, but the owner still put us at a small, cramped table. That wasn't an accident, & it wasn't a space issue - it was the owner's decision. If you're going to run a restaurant, at least treat customers fairly instead of making your favoritism so obvious.
On top of that, the owner keeps coming over to the table again & again, asking unnecessary questions & interrupting people while they're trying to eat, but he doesn't actually do anything helpful. Instead of improving the service, he just makes the experience more irritating. Hovering around customers is not good hospitality - it's just intrusive.
Ironically, the actual servers were much better than the owner. The short female server was warm, attentive, & kindly refilled our water, & the male server was polite & helped pack up our food. The service staff were doing their jobs well. The problem is clearly with the person in charge.
To make it worse, the whole restaurant was filled with a strong greasy smoke smell, which made the entire place feel stuffy & unpleasant.
So overall:
the food is noticeably worse than before
the taste is inconsistent from one visit to the next
the owner personally gave later-arriving customers a large table while squeezing us into a small one
obvious favoritism in both seating & attitude
constant interruptions from the owner that add nothing to the dining experience
greasy smoke smell throughout the restaurant
There are way too many good restaurants in this city to waste time on a place run like this. Won't be coming back.
Expérience très désagréable. Le serveur (homme avec des lunettes) a un comportement inacceptable. Il parle aux chauffeurs Uber d'une manière méprisante & agressive, comme s'ils ne méritaient aucun respect. C'est choquant de voir ça dans un établissement censé être professionnel. Franchement, si vous n'êtes pas capable de respecter les gens, vous ne devriez pas être en contact avec des clients.
Follow the amazing smells down the staircase into the open dining room. It's worth it. We went for a late lunch on a Monday & didn't have to wait but would have… so good! We shared a soup & two entrees & it was a lot of food. DELICIOUS!!! Merci, Chez Chili!
It is simply delicious. I went with my family to eat. We had a table immediatly since it was a monday. We ordered Pineapple chicken stir-fry, dumplings & fried rice with veggies. Everything was good. I just wished there would be more juice in the dumplings. The chicken was crispy & the flavor was rich. Every ingredients of the pineapple chicken worked harmouniously. Perfecty, I would say. I really hate when the dishes taste like different ingredients mixed together. It's the same for the other dishes. We got served the chicken in few minutes after ordering. Honestly, I don't even know how they managed to make fresh & delicious pineapple chicken like that in just a few minutes. Maybe we arrived little bit after the chicken was made. I don't know. It's a mystery. I really liked the ambiance. I also liked the fact that people were'nt loud there. There is truly no flattery in my words. It is is truly good there. I wish I could taste more. I'll surely come back.
Editing my comment to resposnd to owner:
First read my comment carefully. I didnt say that you gave a free drink for 5 star review.
Before talking about other's behavior, make sure you have those good behavior & good service.
Opionion on your food's quality doesn't bother you. This is the clear sign of quality of your restaurant. Paying a lot to enjoy the food & ambience, but i had very bad experience in both.
This is my review. WORST CUSTOMER SERVICE, OILY FOODS.
-------Original comment:
Service: not welcoming
** Don't trust reviews from google, most of them are for a free drink **
Fried chicken- call it as fried flour, i need to search chicken in that flour. Too oily & not even 10% chicken.
Stir fried chicken noodles : i ordered stir fried chicken noodles, but they served a plate of oily noodles. & hardly 2-3 pieces of chicken.
Please be aware. Don't take risk.
& the most funny part is, tips starts from 18% for their rude service🫣
I ordered & never received order, I placed & call them to cancel order as it was wrong order, initially order was saying 30 mins to prepare but as soon as I called, they asked me to contact uber one & meanwhile change order status to complete, worst experience, I will rate Chez Chilli 0
