Chili Garden - Milpitas

I am going to start off that this is one of the rare Chinese restaurants that actually know a thing or two about customer service. We had a 7p reservation and the table was not ready. We waited 45 minutes, but during that span the staff brought out appetizers and desserts. That never happens especially in Chinese restaurants so kudos to this establishment. The food here is always consistent. My friends and I have been coming here for the last 10 years. We watched them relocate a few doors down. The new location is better. The ambiance is a step up. The service is standard to excellent. When you want something, you can flag anyone and things get done. I can't say the same at every restaurant these days. Of course what's a review without discussing the food. Sichuan food varies greatly in the US, but here in the Bay Area you'll get mostly authentic Sichuan. The standard order is the Chong Qing spicy chicken. It looks very spicy because it comes in a bed of red chili peppers but it's medium spicy at most. It's a peppery type of spicy. Their stir fried green beans go really well with any order. It looks spicy too, but don't worry it's all a facade. One new thing they added here is the Malatang. That's basically build your own noodle soup. My wife loves it. It's about $17/lb with a minimum of 1lb. A typical soup is about 1.3 lbs and you'll be more than satisfied. Their medium spicy soup is just right in my opinion. My friend also like their dry pot which is a bowl of whatever you put in there. Its spicy comes from sichuan pepper balls so it's a numbing sensation rather than flaming hot spicy. I wish we didn't have to wait for our table, but we understand when restaurants are busy. They were accommodating and that is why this is a rare exceptional review. Finally, we often come here because they accommodate large groups of 10 or more well.

Great dinner solid offering of whole fish and a stir fried eggplant dish. Service was functional, not fussy.

I've ordered the fried pork and the noodles before and they were great. The service is great and this restaurant has been open for 13 years. Newly renovated, this place also has a new menu, they serve hot pot here. It's well lit and orders can be ordered in Mandarin and are very patient with giving details on the dish. The owner is very sweet, he offered me a sparking white peach drink.

I'm giving this restaurant three stars because the food which we ordered is good beside the hot sour soup! Please don't waste your money to order this soup because it tasteless...negative two stars because of the the guy that worked there. As first I thought he is the owner but later after asking him then I feel sad for the owner. This waiter doesn't have much experience with customer service. How do you expect me to come back if your services is shitry? Hope the owner read this review and train his employees better. Overall, the place is clean and does have a good vibe. Will come back with my family next time to try out other good stuff here.

Busy on a weekend evening! Chili garden is in a large plaza with a 99 ranch and countless other restaurants, but still stands out. Our server was friendly, patient, and helped us with many recommendations despite waiting on other tables in the full restaurant. He was a bit surprised when we requested all our dishes to be mild (and rightfully so, given that we had chosen a sichuan restaurant), but still very accommodating. Our favorites were the pea sprouts, 蒜泥白肉(a ma-la spicy pork belly dish that they somehow were able to make pretty mild upon my family's request), 酸菜鱼 which came in a huge bowl the size of a pot, and also a fried milk dessert on the house. The interior was clean and though the place wasn't huge, it holds a good number of tables so wait times likely are never too long.