Chi'Lantro — Restaurant in Houston

Nut allergy free establishment - see my photos or their website for allergen information. Also cash-free per the signs on the door.

I attended their pre-opening on 04/01. This is the first location in Houston of a popular Austin chain (they have 10 locations in Austin). Popularly touted as the "Asian Chipotle," Chi'lantro lives up to the reputation as a fast casual assembly-line-like meal, very much like Chipotle.

I waited about 40 minutes with 30-40 people in front of me. Ordered the K'Pop Chicken Bowl, modified with japchae noodles instead of jasmine rice and with extra onions, kimchi, and fried egg. The servers were also nice enough to let me sample the soy chicken. The portions were very generous and the ingredients layered well to allow each unique flavor to be tasted.

The japchae noodles were very flavorful, with a slightly oily feel. The K'Pop Chicken was the best protein I tried with a tangy sauce and crispy bite (I think they said it's new with this grand opening). The soy chicken was a little sweet but strangely drier than the K'Pop Chicken, almost reminding me of food court Japanese chicken. The bibimbap beef was a bit dry as well and a little too salty and saucy for me.

The chi'jeu Queso had a pleasant surprise with a lump of avocado in it. The guacamole was nothing too special: standard cilantro and onion and lime mix, but it was good.

There were a few misses in service, possibly due to the busy-ness of the opening and ongoing training:

My +1 asked for a well done fried egg, and received a runny one - they had a constant line of fried eggs coming out for the grand opening so the request was probably missed. I kept asking for the K'Pop Chicken Bowl per their signature menu, but the servers seemed unaware of how to make it because they kept asking me what ingredients I wanted. I saw some printouts of the signature menus on their side so I assume that training is ongoing. My other +1 ordered queso and chips and was given queso in small to go containers at first until a manager came over and provided a full serving. Nice catch.

Overall, though, the flavors were a good representation of Mexican-Korean fusion with a bit too much sauce. At the price point and fast casual environment, I'd definitely come back over Chipotle.

Suggested order: K'Pop Chicken Bowl, sub jasmine rice with japchae noodles, add kimchi. Mix the unsweetened iced tea with the basil peach lemonade for an awesome Arnold Palmer.

Food: 4/5 Ambience:...

Stay away if you value your money and decent customer service.

Ordered a bowl with noodles and chicken but they were making more chicken. No problem, I’ve worked food service and I know that happens. I offered to wait. Instead they went ahead to make the rest of the bowl and put the protein on top instead of under the other items and sauce as designed. Ok I guess? The first server (cooking the chicken) put in the right amount of noodles and handed it off to another worker who built the bowl properly with the items I ordered. They then rang up the bowl and told me they would bring it out when ready. Paid with a tip because, again I’ve done food service and they seemed put together (other than forcing me to accept the the bowl with protein thrown on top). After several minutes waiting and other customers going through the line I look over and see the chicken has been stocked. Walk up to the counter to get my bowl and it’s not there. Turns out they gave my bowl to another customer.

The woman who made my bowl sees me walk up and clearly understands what happened but tells me I have to wait as she’s busy making a door dash order ( I’m here, already paid, and they gave my food away). Finally the other woman came over and they tell her they gave my food away. She proceeds to do the most haphazard thrown together job to slap a bowl together, almost no noodles whatsoever, then tries to throw two scoops of lettuce in to make the bowl look full, followed by paltry amounts of every other item.

The “makeup” bowl after they gave my first one away was no joke half the size of the first one…. And the first one didn’t even have protein yet!

Absolute garbage way to treat a customer after messing up...

I had a really disappointing experience here today.

I stood in line ready to order, having already decided what I wanted since I’ve been here before. One server was helping another customer, while another just stood near the food area. We made eye contact multiple times over the course of 10 minutes, but he never acknowledged me, never asked if I’d been helped—nothing.

At first, I tried to give him the benefit of the doubt—maybe he was new or unsure of what to do. But then a man came in and stood behind me. He asked if I’d been served, and I told him no. I even said out loud, "I guess this server right here doesn’t serve food." Still, nothing.

Eventually, someone came from the back, put on gloves, and asked me what I wanted—immediately. Meanwhile, the server who ignored me turned around and served the man behind me without hesitation. I was stunned.

When I asked the new guy why the other server never helped me, he claimed the server thought I was still deciding. How? I never got a greeting or a simple, "Are you ready?" Yet, the new guy knew exactly what to do: acknowledge the customer and take the order.

Even the man behind me said, "That was crazy."

This experience left me feeling uncomfortable and unwelcome. I will not be...