Chicken Meets Rice (inside EatUp! by 99 Ranch) — Restaurant in Cupertino

Found this place after scrolling through yelp, could not decide between sushi, ramen, or this restaurant. Nonetheless, what got me interested in this establishment was the surprising name, "Chicken Meets Rice." Quite attention grabbing. This place is located in a mini food court next to the 99 Ranch Market. The manager, Jonathan, was kind and nice enough to explain and accommodate our requests to our order.

What we had ordered:

1. Split Protein Box: Fried Chicken, Tofu, Chicken Fried Rice, Chicken Broth, and Sweet Chili and Teriyaki Sauce.
2. Grilled Chicken Box, Sticky Rice, Veggie Broth, Teriyaki and Sweet Chili Sauce.

My friend and I enjoyed every bite of our meals. The concept of chicken and rice is simple, but the flavors were so delicious and flavorful. Super healthy with protein and a medley of vegetables with the rice. The broths were a good palate cleanser and not salty at all. I had not eaten the entire day, so I was super pleased that this was my first meal of the day!

Would love to come...

The food itself is pretty good. Most of the servers are nice too. I was going a few times a month, but one time there was an employee who was not too nice. There were a bunch of to go/takeout orders waiting at the takeout/food pickup area. This is a place where people commonly check if their food is ready to go. He not so kindly told us to not touch the orders and that when it’s ready we will be called (would be different if his tone was more friendly), or just have a better system where you don’t take out your frustrations on the customer. Both the customer in front of me and I gave pause to the attitude. Anyways I waited for like 20+ minutes before they checked the order on the table again just to realize it was in fact my order. I didn’t go back after that experience. The food is decent but not good enough for me to look for passive aggressive attitudes while on my lunch break. Also not trying to pay money to be talked to like...

This place is great if you want some Hainan chicken rice. I have never tried any of their other dishes so can only speak to this dish. The chicken is tenn-derr! The chicken rice also has a good subtle flavor. I tried many of the sauces but decided the Thai ginger soy is my favorite and now just get double that. I also really like that you can customize what you want in your dish via the website: white vs dark meat, skin vs no skin, plus I can request them to not include cilantro and carrots easily, and they’ve always gotten it exactly how I want it. Also I chuckled at their “coffee meets tea” drink and had to add it. I’m easily entertained :D Overall a solid place, their estimate for ASAP pickup is always 20 minutes but I’ve had it ready in 5 sometimes. At $20 for lunch (incl drink/tax/tip) it is not cheap, but you get your money’s worth in quality....