Red Chili Restaurant - Syracuse — Restaurant in City of Syracuse

My first time here was an excellent experience. I'm giving 5 stars because the greatness of the food, service, and atmosphere heavily outweighs my minor gripes. My friend and I are both vegetarian, and it was a bit much to have to go over such an extensive menu in search of the 1 or 2 viable options from each category. A vegetarian section on the menu would make a huge difference for us.

We got 2 appetizers, 2 orders of spring rolls, and vegetable dumplings. I'm really not a picky eater at all, but these were not enjoyable, and I wouldn't order them again. I would eat them for free, but they were lacking in flavor, and the spring rolls picked up undesired flavors in the fryer.

I honestly just want a huge plate of broccoli with other veggies, and a small to moderate amount of tofu with it, smothered in some kind of sauce. So I ordered the tofu with stir fried mixed veg, which seemed boring by the sound, but I figured it was the best way to get lots of veggies. Instead, it was a giant plate of tofu with literally 4 pieces of broccoli and a few other veggie scraps. Way too much tofu for one person, and honestly, too much for 2 people as well.

It was very unfortunate that the tofu dish (with 2 small sides of rice, which was not enough) came several minutes before the 2nd dish, the Chinese cauliflower dry pot. These 2 dishes complimented each other very well, but we had already eaten a significant amount of the tofu by itself before we received the spicy bowl of vegetables that comprised the 2nd dish.

Regardless, the main dishes were well done and tasted great. Service was pretty excellent, although there was a moment where I needed chopsticks but ended up just eating the dumplings with my hands because I couldn't wait, and a fork wasn't cutting it.

I will ABSOLUTELY return, and I highly recommend checking this place out if you haven't already. It's extremely unassuming from the front/outside of the building. Once you walk in, you're transported to a different world al together. Awesome experience, and $50 for 2 people with plenty of leftovers is...

We ended up here as a last minute change of plans for dinner. We arrived a bit past 4PM on a Friday, and were seated immediately. The waitress promptly took our drink orders and give us time to look at the menu.

My first experience with milk tea, (prepackaged) it tasted OK, I think that my son appreciated it more than I did, LOL

Soon after the waitress took our order, For apps, we had dan dan noodles, fried pork buns and steamed dumplings, both shrimp and pork, along with Peking duck dim sum. Everything came out hot, and it was all amazingly flavorful. I am not a duck person, but the dim sum definitely changed my view on that! My wife and son literally inhaled the dumplings, which were tender and juicy, not rubbery at all.

The main course followed after a nice delay to enjoy our apps. ( We didn't get the robot, though, LOL). General Tso chicken, Dry Pot Beef, and I cant remember the name but it was pork belly bacon and peppers.

This was NOT Chinese take out Tso's. Seasoned and sauced just right, and paired with some really honestly excellent white rice, the dish easily would have served two people. The chicken was tender, and tasted amazing.

The pork belly dish ( I will find the name later) was a blend of teriyaki? flavored pork and peppers and something else. Im sorry I didn't pay more attention, but the way he was eating it like there was no tomorrow says something :)

The Beef dry pot that I ordered came in a mini wok bowl/pot with a small sterno underneath can keeping everything piping hot. It included a mix of melt in your mouth sliced beef, crispy assorted sliced veggies, and a hidden amount of hot peppers. it was just an explosion of flavors on your tongue. Definitely a surprise.

Through out our visit, the waitress was polite and attentive without being intrusive. She didn't offer us dessert, but she probably noticed how full we already were, and just brought out takeout containers, LOL. We couldn't have eaten another bite at that point.

Lots of stuff on the menu that we have our eyes on. We...

I will start by saying the food was good - but nothing “special” I was treating my sister to dinner - I drove in from out of town -this was the restaurant of her choice- it was our 1st time eating at this dining establishment We were seated immediately by the host - who was very kind - Unfortunately it went downhill from there - within mere minutes the server approached us . . . I bet you’re thinking : “that’s great -fast service “ That’s were you’d be wrong - the server FLUNG the menus on the table & proceeded to interrogate us about our drink selection Everything about this person was aggressive & off putting. Upon placing our order -I felt as if we were being verbally accosted by this server I know ppl have bad days but this felt personal. After we ordered- our food was brought to the table with the same ill regard as our menus & drinks - it was so disrespectful. I didn’t know what this man was capable of. I do know he probably should not be working in this capacity- he could be the downfall of this restaurant During our meal -he walked back & forth past our table countless times & never once asked how our meals were -or if we needed anything else- but honestly - I was ok w him keeping his distance I could go on & on about how poorly trained -ill equipped this server was He was seriously unhinged As we exited- I stopped & spoke w the host & gave him a brief synopsis of our experience & he was extremely apologetic & told us we did not have to tip our server if we felt it was inappropriate -he also said he was going to have a conversation w the owners & let them know what had occurred- but I don’t think this was his first time hearing this type of info regarding this server Like I said- the food was good . . . but won’t...