Chi Restaurant & Bar — Restaurant in New York

Terrible service, mediocre food, wouldn’t return. The positive reviews must be from bots.

My boyfriend and I originally planned to eat at Bourbon Steak, but we didn’t realize their kitchen closed early. There weren’t many options open nearby at 11 PM, and Chi had solid reviews, so we gave it a try.

The restaurant was nearly empty. Only about 3 to 5 other groups were there. When we sat down, we noticed the table next to us had a mannequin-sized plush dog, which we found amusing.

Our server came by to take our order. My boyfriend ordered the chicken lettuce wraps, and I went with the truffle beef tenderloin. I told my boyfriend to go first, and after he placed his order, the server just stared blankly ahead, dazing off. I wasn’t sure if he was ready to take my order, so I hesitantly started speaking. He looked down at his device, entered it in, and never made eye contact. Then he quickly grabbed the menus and walked off.

When the food arrived, the server forgot to bring a spoon for the lettuce wraps, which made it awkward to eat. My boyfriend said the wraps were fine. Nothing to write home about.

The beef tenderloin was awful. It was so tough I genuinely thought there was a bone in it. I switched to another piece and realized it was just that hard. The mushroom and sauce were tasty, and I found myself wishing I had just ordered the truffle mushroom dish instead. I love meat, so the fact that I preferred a vegan option says a lot. The beef was rock hard. I didn’t send it back because I hate making a fuss, but it didn’t matter. Our server never came by to check on us anyway. This dish alone was $46, which is highway robbery. I wouldn’t even accept it if it was free. That’s how awful the meat was.

Not once did our server check in. Our drinks sat empty while he gave plenty of attention to the table next to us. Maybe it was because they were ordering multiple rounds of food and drinks. Who knows.

When we asked for a to-go box and the check, he said he’d grab them, but we watched him start doing other things instead. A kind busser ended up bringing the box and even offered to pack the food for us. That was the only five-star service we experienced all night.

After we left, I joked to my boyfriend that the plush dog reminded me of that TikToker who pretends to be blind and has the dog bark at people. Turns out, it actually was him. His “owner” has over 550,000 followers on TikTok, so I guess our table didn’t seem worth the effort in comparison.

All in all, horrendous service, disappointing food, and absolutely not worth the money. Won’t...

Food was veeery good and at a correct price point but unfortunately we didn't felt treated well at all: they seated us (2ppl) in a 4-5 seat table because they screwed with the reservations, even we said we could wait for some minutes if they preferred to allocate us in a smaller table. They refused but then our main waiter was really rude for the whole time: he appeared at the table just as we were sitting and we haven't had time to check the menu; then we have to wait for about 15' extra minutes to order. We were in no hurry so it wasn't a huge deal for us, but then he proceed to rush us through all the meal just like if they wanted us out. He/they forgot one of the drinks until we were almost finishing our main dishes. When we finished, he brought the bill without asking if we were finished or wanted desserts (their bad, obviously at this point we started being very disappointed). Couple of minutes after that he brought the credit card terminal and we tried 3 different credit cards that had been working perfectly well during the previous 8 days in the US (and kept working for 2 more days) and the three of them failed. We offered then to pay cash, and then he told us that if paying cash, tip was at 20% minimum, so he started trying that we paid 25-30% tip, accusing us of not knowing about how tips work in the US. At this point, we were sure he was trying to mess with us and, again, it was'nt our first day there, nor our first trip there. We asked for a manager and he offered somebody who spoke spanish. When another much nicer waiter came, the first one started explaining a different story about how the problem was that all our cards were failing. I stoped him and asked directly the 2nd waiter if price and tip were different if paying with card or in cash. Since he immediately responded that there was no price or tip difference, we agreed in a minimum tip, we paid cash and we left, saddened by our only bad experience in our trip there. We really enjoyed the food and I only write bad reviews very exceptionally because we understand anyone can have a bad day, but we really hope this guy reconsiders his attitude to customers, because feeling welcome is as important...

Not exactly sure what just happened during my two hour dining experience - there are multiple scenarios : 1- the waitress just broke up with her significant other 2- the waitress didn’t appreciate kind, funny, generous customers 3- the waitress had a strong dislike for humanity 4- the waitress was previously a root canal specialist and is applying those people skills to her new found profession

Regardless, the outcome is the same. This is quintessential example of how everything else can be spot-on but the lack of friendly staff is a cancer to an organization.

Our server (Xinyu M) was top 10 most unfriendly people I’ve ever met in my life - we felt like we were in prison camp.

Now for the plus side : I lived in mainland China for many years and this is best Sichuan food I’ve ever had in the US. Insanely good - diverse menu that covers all the bases. Food was authentic and delicious - get the duck in any format … the okra … the xiaolongbao … skip dessert.

And don’t ask if they can chop raw ginger into hot water for tea - because apparently ginger is in 50% of their dishes but they can’t accommodate that simple request for 2 people that just spent $300 (it’s my own fault, I asked Xinyu instead of Michael - I should have known 🤦🏼‍♂️… Mr Can Do vs Miss F U)

Other servers were very friendly — Michael and others gave service with a smile. Frankly I feel our waitress was judging us for the color of our skin. It was that bad.

Atmosphere is nice except for harsh lights over each table - which contributed to the feeling of being trapped in a Sichuan prison with Xinyu M.

I did try to express my concerns to the manager on duty but I received a deer in the headlights response (duck in headlights?) so I immediately gave up and brought my commentary here instead of attempting to beat my head against the great wall with zero results.

I still left a 25% gratuity because rest of staff (except for the Xinyu and 老板/闆 Manager) were quite friendly and caring - hopefully the staff shares tips 🙄

Worth going? Absolutely! Just make sure you get Michaels section....