Red Chili Hunan Restaurant

I had dinner here last week with some friends after a coworker recommended it. Overall, the food was fantastic — I especially loved all the spicy options on the menu. If you're a fan of spicy food, this place is a must-try. I had seen some reviews mentioning issues with the service and was a bit concerned, but our experience was excellent. The staff was friendly and welcoming, and no one made us feel pressured about tipping. We had a great time and would definitely come back!

This is the worst Hunan restaurant I’ve ever been to. We ordered four dishes. The luffa was bitter, and even the stinky tofu tasted bitter and was over-fried and dry. The duck had a strong gamey smell, like it had been cured and dried—definitely not fresh. The Hunan stir-fried pork was decent, but the portion was really small. When we paid the bill, the waitress gave me the wrong change, less then it is supposed to be,and before I could say anything, she was already pushing me to leave a tip. I honestly felt like returning the dishes. I absolutely do not recommend this place—terrible food. Never going back.

We had a great experience at Red Chilli Hunan Restaurant! The owner was incredibly nice and welcoming — I really appreciated her warm and attentive service. Our group ordered the Shredded Pork with Dried Tofu, sauteed cabage, the Red Chilli House Special and etc — all were delicious and packed with flavor. The atmosphere feels like a cozy local spot, but the owner mentioned they also have private rooms available for parties if you call ahead to reserve. I also love how they asked about our preferred spice level — very flexible and accommodating. Overall, the food was beyond expectations. Will definitely be coming back!

This is a very nice place. I have been back and forth several times. I didn’t take photos when I came here before. This time I just took a few photos. Especially at night, there will be many people coming to eat. So if you want to come, it is better to come as early as possible. The dishes made by their family are quite good, and there are a few special dishes that must be ordered every time you come, but I noticed something recently, if it is very busy when you go there, it is very likely that the taste of the fried food is not good. That's great, there are also private rooms there, and friends with a lot of people can go to the private rooms. There are plenty of parking spaces outside, because it is in a square, surrounded by supermarkets and pharmacies, the location is very good.

Our business partners took us here when they were visiting from China. My husband and I come all the time. We bring our own lobster and I love the Hu Nan style!!!! Love their shrimp & fried rice too. Staff ladies are always so friendly.

You don’t come to a place like this for the ambiance. You come here because the kitchen knows how to cook. If you enjoy spicy hot, the food is delicious. I’d recommend the duck in particular. We’ve visited twice now. Each time we’ve taken many of the dishes home with us. The portions are generous, and mostly tastes even better the days after. I don’t give much credence to theories of flavor melding. It’s more that there’s more time and stomach space to savor each. Now: location, location, location... The restaurant is in a kind of run down strip mall, next to the definitely run down Korean Green-something market. There’s no reason to be at this shopping center, other than to specifically eat here. This affects their business. At 7:00pm on a Saturday night, the restaurant was half empty. I hope they don’t spiral down the quality drain like so many others in similar circumstance. Hedge your bet. Eat here while it’s still good.

避雷：强制现金支付+强制消费！ I had a very disappointing experience at this place. The service was frustrating, and I feel compelled to share my experience. When it came time to pay, the server (who appeared to be a woman in her 40s-50s) refused to accept a credit card and insisted on cash only. This was incredibly inconvenient, but I complied with the request. After paying, I left a 10% tip, based on the subtotal plus tax, as I normally do. To my surprise, the server wasn’t happy with the tip and actually demanded 15% instead! It felt really inappropriate and unprofessional to dictate how much I should tip. I understand that tipping is a personal decision, and while I’m happy to leave a reasonable tip, being asked for more is simply unacceptable. I won’t be returning to this restaurant, and I’d advise others to be cautious of their questionable business practices.

The staff is always friendly and respectable which is a nice plus, the area is very clean, and the best thing about this place is the food! Always cooked the way you expected! It’s becoming my new favorite place to eat! You guys rock!!

Food here is always good and you can customize the spiciness. Highly recommend their egg plant and Mao's pork belly dishes. Service is decent for the level. Will keep coming back for sure.

My husband and I came for dinner on Saturday night. Place was slightly packed but we were seated and offered menu immediately. Food: we ordered 2 dishes - Sautéed fish maw with hot and sour peppers: 8/10 well seasoning, fish maw was crunchy, had no strong smell, and paired perfectly with the sour peppers and celery. - Steamed live fish with chopped peppers 9/10: fish (seems to be tilapia) was fresh, super flavorful, perfect with rice. The sauce that came with fish was also delicious. Our orders came with rice. The fish maw with peppers was $19 and steamed fish was $29 (price on November-2024), while this price is not too bad and food tastes great, the portion is a bit small. It'd be perfect if portion were slightly bigger. Their menu has pictures for every dish which helps us a lot since we don't speak Chinese. Service: pretty basic asian restaurant style, you come for the food not the service lol. We had no issue during our dinner. The server could speak english and was friendly to us. I only saw one server working, so expect slow service if the restaurant was packed. Inside: simple, nice and cozy decor, there're plenty of seats that could accommodate small to large parties.

I had a very disappointing experience at this place. The service was frustrating, and I feel compelled to share my experience. When it came time to pay, the server (who appeared to be a woman in her 40s-50s) refused to accept a credit card and insisted on cash only. I complied with the request. After paying, I left a 10% tip, based on the subtotal plus tax, as I normally do. To my surprise, the server wasn't happy with the tip and actually demanded 15% instead! It felt really inappropriate and unprofessional to dictate how much I should tip. I understand that tipping is a personal decision, and while I'm happy to leave a reasonable tip, being asked for more is simply unacceptable. I won't be returning to this restaurant, and I'd advise others to be cautious of their questionable business practices. 用餐体验非常令人失望。 结账时，服务员（看起来是40-50岁左右的女性，不确定是不是老板娘）拒绝接受信用卡付款，坚持只收现金。这让我感到非常不方便，但我还是按照要求支付了现金。付完钱后，我根据菜品小计和税金总额给了10%的小费。 但服务员对我的小费并不满意，居然要求给15%！小费是个人选择，虽然我乐意给合理的小费，但被要求加小费真的让人感到不舒服。

My favorite hunan spicy food restaurant in Rowland heights. The food was amazing, you can ask the kitchen to adjust salt, oil, and spice level. Service was great and the food came out pretty quickly. It's definitely pretty spicy so I would stick with mild.

Our business partners are from China, and every time they visit they bring us here and we absolutely LOVE IT!!!! Everything is delicious and SPICY here!!! We usually always bring our own lobsters but I think if you call ahead of time they be able to get them for you. Love this place!!! Spicy pork is delicious love their fried rice. Clams with sauce and lobster flavors are delicious!!!

This place is pretty consistently good in that it packs a lot of flavor. However, be careful on the spiciness level. The cook will almost always always add spice and peppers even if you did not order spicy. We ordered one eggplant dish without spice and they still added the red peppers to it. We also ordered a specific dish but it did not contain any of those veggies. Overall still a good place but would love a consistent/server who can speak English to verify your order.

The food tastes bad and feels bad. Braised Pork with Preserved Vegetable in Soya Sauce too salty. Stweet and sour ribs no ribs is meat

Within the ample courtyard and low roofed strip of Rowland Plaza is a bustling Korean BBQ spot. For many of my fellow Americans, K-BBQ has taken the place of the steakhouse. But if you find yourself near Rowland Plaza and would like a break from bulgogi, samgyeopsal, and nakji-bokkeum, check out what's next door at Red Chili Hunan. This Hunan spot has all the quirks you'd expect from a regional Chinese dive. The signage out front features a fuzzy plump cartoon rabbit. Maneki neko cats abound, as does the color red (the color representing prosperity to the Chinese). An employee sits in the dining room, removing the stems from a box of chilis. On one of the bathroom walls, there hangs a still life of a French treatise on mechanics (lol). On the wall perpendicular to that hangs a silhouetted portrait of a Nubian queen (lulz). I had the wok fried tripe with chilies. Where Sichuan cuisine goes by the credo "ma-la," meaning numbing spicy; neighboring Hunan operates under "gan-la," dry spicy. The heaping bowl arrives and once I'd finished it, it occurred to me that I had no memory of a more intense eating experience than that bowl of cow stomach and chilies. The tripe in question is the book-leaf tripe, the omasum, the cow's third stomach. You've seen it in a bowl of pho. And according to clovegarden.com, "it contains a unique double texture of both thick and thin." When in pho, book tripe can be extra chewy, but in this case it was as tender as the feeling of Christmas before you got old and jaded. Along with the tripe there are some bits of al dente celery and an army of chilies. As there are different divisions in an army, so there are divisions in chilies. In the dish are fresnos and jalapenos. Together they add freshness, while individually the fresnos provide the sweetness with beta-carotenes and the jalapenos the grassiness of chlorophyll. There are dried chilies providing the toasted leathery nuttiness. And there are pickled yellow chilies. They are salt pickled, not vinegar pickled. The sourness comes from the funkiness of lacto-fermentation. Those are the qualities that make them different. What they all share is scorching heat. And there are a few Sichuan peppercorns added in for the occasional jolt of electricity. Remember that lady I told you about? The one pulling the stems off the chilies at one of the tables? She's about seventy years old and is glancing over at me and giggling as I'm tearing up and asking for more ice water.

Cockroach in my food , Found last minute. What can I say , Since day one , I come to this place once a week , Crazy how things change now

Don't go. The foods are bad, even I asked, why we ordered red chile chicken no meat, but a lot of power. they replayed we cook as is。 Can't switch, and said, don't order this next time

Enjoyed a great Sunday lunch here. WE had a steamed fish head which was huge. And then a few other dishes. Everything tasted great! Good service. The place was clean.

The waitress had a terrible attitude. She spoke as if I owed her 5 million. I was in a bad mood just to eat there.

Non descript restaurant on the outside somewhat basic look inside and out. However the food is top notch for Hunan style food which you don't find to often. Went with two dishes , expansive menu ...had the preserved egg plant and taro and chives. If you like spicy this has the right amount. Quick service and good prices. Recommend!

Amazingly yummy food!!!! We love this place and we continue to go back often. Dinner N is the best! So dang good!!!!

This place is horrible. The food has no taste, if the food does have taste it is to salty. The portions are small. The service is horrible I had to wait over 30 minutes to get my food when there where no other customers around. I found hair my orders so gross. The place is the worst place I have ever been to. I wouldn't wish for the worst people in the world to even come and eat here. Just disgusting! I wish this place would close down!

The food is great and the service. We came here 3 times already and everything has been great except yesterday. Yesterday's service was horrible. When we give them 13% tips, one of the waitress stopped us and asked us to give them more. Mind you 'tips' aren't necessary, and it is OPTIONAL for us to give them "tips." Plus we also found hairs on our food. And also don't pay cash, they only give 5% less discount for paying cash which is a joke

Oh how I miss Red Chili Hunan! I would come here often with the spice lovers group from work. We always get all the dishes "da la" (big spicy) and I make sure to repeat myself twice while making extreme eye contact with the server. Hunan style cuisine is distinct from Szechuan style cuisine and while both can get spicy, Szechuan is more of a mouth numbing spice. The good: 1. House Special Spicy Fish Filets - I always order this dish when I'm at Red Chili Hunan. The soy sauce used is slightly sweet and very fragrant and pairs well with the spice. I love how generous they are with the fish filet and there is cabbage below the fish to soak up all that yummy sauce! 2. Sautéed Lamb with Cumin - Another super solid dish! The lamb isn't too gamey and I love the flavors of the cumin. Big spicy with this dish is no joke. 3. Japanese Egg Tofu Hot Pot - Something about the tofu I really enjoy (not too firm and not too soft) and the savory sauce is delicious! I recommend this dish. 4. Mapo Tofu - I love their take on this dish. Savory, slightly spicy, and great flavors. 5. Cold Cucumbers - Amazing flavors and not spicy at all despite the red chili oil. This is always good to get to compliment the other dishes. The alright: 1. BBQ Pork Ribs - I got this way back and there must be a reason why I haven't ordered it again. I really don't remember! The bad: 1. House special Braised Duck with Beer - I really wanted to like this dish and I really ended up not liking it. The duck was rough and the flavors were a little weird to me. That has really been the only let down for me.

The spiciness of the chef's cooking is different every time, the quality is unstable, so not going very often as usual. Serving portion become less and less, not happy with that!

If you like super spicy food, this is the best place to go in Rowland heights! Very authentic, a lot of varieties - get to try different types of dish every time we come here

I do not care about the ambience, but the food and service is excellent. We went to this restaurant as a last resort since we were looking to eat later at night. They close at 10 PM. It was surprising to find that the food was tasty and not the conventional Chinese food. I would suggest get the fish fillet and mush eggplant and thousand egg... so good!

Had three dishes to go. The lady at the restaurant made us wait for 50 mins, no idea why it took them that long to serve. Also the prices aren't updated on the to go menu, prices are actually a bit higher.

Uncooked green bean, resulted in food poisoning. If you don't want to die in this restaurant, don't come at all. 傻b，四季豆不熟，吃得上吐下泻。

Came back for the fish soup and tried 2 more items. You have to try the squid!! Very flavorful. The squid taste fresh. They sprinkled some sesame on top makes the dish even more delicious. Fried lamb with cumin is also good. I am a lamb person. Their portion is generous.

one of my best favorite shop! spicy level r sooooio hi then i luv it . never recommend "chop chili fish head" never ! becuz i m the hunanees, no native people would take that order lol ( unless u like salty like real salty ) also is not that spicy ! not only this shop , all hunan restaurants in LA/CA even whole US will not take this order . and don't order seafood like shrimps n crabs , hunanees pop dishes just stir-fry everything.

Mushed Eggplant, House Special Fish, Salt & Pepper Chicken Cartilage, and last but not least, Candid Taro for dessert. I think I had the most pleasant meal here at this restaurant eating Chinese food than anywhere else I've had PERIOD. It was that good. Don't look for a fancy chain. It's one of those mom and pop place with DELICIOUS food. We live far but we will be back! Thank you for the experience.

The gizzards had a smell of meat, couldn't be covered by the seasoning/spices. The portion was okay for the price.

Just had lunch at red chili Hunan, service is like any mom and pop places, straightforward, it's all about the food here. order: the scallion fried rice : 5/5 ( so good, the crispy pork bits really made that fried rice) eggplant with thousand year egg : 5/5, it comes out with a wooden pestle to crush everything together but to me tasted better just mixing it with a spoon so it's not mushy. Flavor is on point! #8 (don't know the name): 6/5, it's a chef recommended dish with fried taro in it. Never had a dish like this before and it is full of flavor. So so good!

My household have this thing where we order togo every Friday from a restaurant we've never tried before. This week, we chose Red Chili Hunan Restaurant. My manager recommended this place to me when i told him i wanted to eat something spicy. I called in advance to order for pickup so i don't need to wait there. Called several times before they finally picked up the phone (I could only imagine how busy they were). After ordering, they told me it'll be 30mins, i arrived and waited longer (oh well, they're busy, i can understand). We ordered Red Chili Pan Fried Special, Spicy Fish and another pork item (Just realized they do not have English on their menu), I have uploaded some pictures, hope they'll help. Food was super tasty, i ordered mild spicy for all dishes and i was still sweating. Fish has a mala spice and taste, loved every bite. The Red Chili Spicy consist of Taro slice, leeks and tiny dried fish, it was super tasty as well. FYI, none of those dishes come with white rice, so if you want white rice to go with the dishes, please remember to order white rice on the side. Will definitely come back and order again.

Came here for dinner and placed was fairly busy. Ordered the eggplant dish with thousand year old egg, stir fried spicy green beans, and mapo tofu. I think the dishes are great, little under seasoned than normal. However I like that the ingredients shines through in each dish and being able to taste the ingredients more and not be masked by a bunch other seasonings. The dishes were not spicy or did not have the numbing spices. This is a great place for those that don't want something too aggressive with seasoning, however I will come back and try other dishes probably a meat/ protein dish to see if they season the dishes more. The place sits about 10-15 tables so it's a bit small and the food came out in a timely manner. Prices for the dishes are somewhat pricey, but a good amount. I recommend 3-4 dishes for 2 people. Parking lot is big and in the same plaza and between Greenland market and Rite aid. They have a lot of different entrees and a menu with some pictures of the dishes.

A bit pricey, over all food taste good, rice is charge by person, I think it's$1.50 each bowl

My grandparents were from Hunan. So I miss hunan dishes a lot. Yelped the restaurant and gave it a try! The dishes were so good! Although my hubby drank a lot of water... lol Hot toffee with taro is the bomb!!! I can't find this fish at any other Chinese restaurant in LA. Must try it!

It's been a while since I been to a seriously good spicy Chinese restaurant. This place is no joke, if u like you like it hot and feel the steam rise from the top of your head. I've ordered takeout from this place a few times since during Covid, and was always good, but dining in get much better due to the freshness! All the dishes were on point. - House special spicy fish fillet (must get) - The spicy pig ears. Good crunch decent spice - Sauté spicy lamb was really spicy, but good flavor. - The crispy beef intestine were perfectly crunchy on the outside and chewy on the inside. The dried peppers in this dish was a lot and a bit too spicy for me. - The pork kidney although good was a little over cooked. - the spicy pickled cucumbers were cool and refreshing with a hint of spice. Although I'm sure they can make these dishes less spicy, i can only say if u like it spicy let them know you like the spice!

Food is tasty but service is annoying. I ordered on their website. But was told that they didn't prepare for it when I arrived on time. So I have to order again in the restaurant and wait for another almost 1 hrBTW order in store is more expensive than their menu online

While my family and I have only eaten here twice, this restaurant is on our favorite list despite the fact that it is 40 miles from our home. As a general rule, I don't rate restaurants or eateries five stars unless the establishment is a Michelin two or three stars. As such, giving four stars to an establishment is high praise and indicates it is worth a repeat visit. My family like spicy food so we tend to frequent Sichuan restaurants whereas this restaurant features Hunan dishes. Even though 'Red Chili' is in its name, half of the dishes on this restaurant 's menu are not spicy which is a positive when some in the eating party want alternatives. What makes this restaurant stand out, however, is the spicy dishes are not overpowered by spiciness even when the hotness dial is at medium or above. Instead, one can taste the distinct flavors, spiciness notwithstanding, of various ingredients in individual dishes. This is no small feat given the power of chili peppers. The one dish liked by my entire family is ' House Special Spicy Fish Fillets (招牌口味鱼片)'. Tender fish fillets accompanied by delicious sauce are equally enjoyable with or without rice. In addition to being tasteful, the amount of fish fillets in the dish is sufficient for a table of four or five if consumed moderately. The spiciness in ' Couple Lungs (夫妻肺片)' is just right yet compliments the beef and tripe nicely. The flavor of lamb is unmistakable in 'House Special Sautéed Lamb (小炒羊)' although bigger meat slices would make the dish better. The green peppers in ' Hunan Style Sautéed Pork (湖南小炒肉)' bring another dimension of spice and infuse the pork with tanginess. The batter surrounding the chicken meat in ' Red Chili Flavored Fried Spicy Chicken (红辣椒辣子鸡丁) is light and crispy. The chicken meat, however, came out somewhat overcooked. That said, the size of the dish is generous. The first time we visited the restaurant was in March 2019. The restaurant was understaffed at that time. I was glad that when we visited in June, there were sufficient number of staff working around the place. It is a sign that the owner, chef, and staff have built up a clientele that includes this family.

I went here with my Husband, we Love to eat Spicy food. The place is very clean and the food taste is very good. We ordered Cumin lamb and mush egg plant with 1000 years egg. The lamb is very tender and it has fresh serrano Chili and dried res chili, we ordered very spicy (Da La). It's not that hot, unless you bite the serrano. The mushed eggplant was very good, not that oily like in other Hunan Restaurant. It has shredded Jalapenos and egg planta, 1000 yrs egg (Chinese preserved black egga) and dried red Chili. Their portion ia a lot, we ate and still have left over to bring home. The waitress was very kind and attentive. We got a Free traditional dessert, fried rice Cake with brown sugar for Yelp Check in. Like the taste, Crispy, sweet and salty, good combination. We will come back and we will being our friends that are spicy food lovers.

They obviously knew one of the ingredients were not even eatable and still served it. What's the point of ordering a dish that you can't even swallow? Save your money go order somewhere else.

I got food poisoning over their undercooked vegetables. 四季豆没熟，食物中毒。It should be a common sense for any chief that green beans needs to be fully cooked before served. I been throwing up for the past two hours, very disappointing!!! Very unprofessional!!! For all your health, don't come here.

Buyer beware. They charged more than menu priced. We went to this restaurant for lunch and order steamed fish $21.99, the bill charged $24.99, which price is not the lunch menu, we reminded the woman boss, she agreed the error, but she ignored intentionally to correct the error. Later she also asked more tips. What a shame. We forgot the magnifier after we finished the meal, the magnifier used by 90 years old friend, one of our guest, the woman boss refused to return the magnifier in bad faith. Don't go this restaurant or watch the check carefully, the boss is dishonest.

Authentic Hunan cuisine at its finest. I wrote a review for Hunan Chili King in Alhambra a while back and I have to say, this place is my new favorite Hunan spot. As I said before and I'll keep saying, if your idea of Chinese food is Beef & Broccoli and Orange Chicken, then this may not be for you. But please don't knock it until you've tried it. Have an open mind, think beyond Panda Express, and you might actually start to appreciate the art that goes into Mainland Chinese cooking. If not it's all good, there's always General Tso's. The food here tastes like home, the pork with chili is just like how mom used to make it. The asparagus root is simple, and yet complex, with a unique flavor set that will leave you wanting more. The fish and house stir fry pictures don't do the flavor quality of the dishes justice. All in all, great food. Great service (not typical in traditional Chinese spots). And a great location. This is our new after the temple (Hsi Lai) spot! Definitely deserve 5 stars

They ALWAYS forget to make my takeaway order I order online. Wasting over 20 min of my time each time I come to pick up my food cause I have to wait for them to cook it when I arrive at my "pickup time" And when the food is out they ALWAYS get 1 or 2 of my dish orders wrong. I have never had one smooth experience here, always something missing. Save yourself the headache and go to a hunan restaurant that has owners that know how to operate a restaurant business. Absolute worst restaurant service.

Trying new restaurant~ Friendly staffs Ordering Mao's braised pork, Mush eggplants with thousands eggs, white pepper fried beef Free dessert with Yelp check-in: Brown sugar rice cake Overall it's pretty good if you like spicy food Dessert is awesome! I love it ! Will come again soon Ps~ we also order the seafood (海鮮大盆） for Togo~ I freaking love it ! definitely will order another one next time!

Great place with homemade food I like! My friend and I took a few trips to this place, we really enjoy the taste and quality of the food and the price is reasonable.

The food is delicious and fast, and a little hot. It is spicy and the environment is good, and the business is booming. When we are late, we have to queue up, the price is acceptable, and the cost performance is acceptable

If you are Chinese looking for specialty hunan food, this is right place, probably the most authentic Hunan in LA , I have been a longtime customer from very beginning, recently I have ordered 5 different dishes from them during the pandemic, everything taste good and consistent, which is very hard for small businesses, the dishes were chili pork, chicken gizzards with yellow chili, spicy clams, chili boiled beef trib, all fantastic! The beer braised duck were just ok. But overall I would give 5 star. Also, please support the local small business, they're important to keep our community functional.

My company ordered lunch form Hunan restaurant and the taste is pretty good. The foods are delicious and not that spicy. The only thing is the wait is a bit long and it is hot inside the restaurant.

Definitely one of my new favorite Chinese restaurants to go to! We ordered 10 dishes and we finished them all! Everything was so good! My favorite was the chicken and the eggplant!

Dirty, and not fresh! Can't believe I paid such money for these dishes, I'd rather eat Panda Express, I can even cook better than these, if you chef not capable of being a chef, please, get another job!

Meh it's not the best hunan food but it satisfies my cravings. For what it's worth, my mom is a Hunan native and she says this place is not authentic.

The food is okay, but the portions are very small! All dishes prices are up. But the portions were reduced. If most dishes are around $20, why the portions had to be reduced. So families decided no more going there.