椒点 ChiliSpot

This was the best Chinese food Ive ever eaten at a restaurant. To be real, I haven't had many places I liked at all. Its authentic! Everything was so good! The best popcorn chicken and the spicy sliced pork in garlic sauce were the best, Dan Dan noodles and pork egg rolls were also good but nothing could touch those first two! I cant wait to get back to STL for another bite.

decent place. The popcorn chicken was spicy even after we asked for milder spice levels. Prob wouldve been good to have more water there to put out the fire. Atmosphere was good, but place was a bit cold inside. Overall decent experience just didn't wow us. The frog soup was disappointing.

This was our second time visiting because we really enjoyed the food the first time. The restaurant was very busy during our first visit, but the food was great and the service was understandable given how crowded it was. Because of that experience, we decided to bring our friends this time. We went yesterday(Thursday) , and the restaurant was not busy at all. There were four of us, and we ordered two dishes, one appetizer, and one dessert (which was sold out). We ordered little because the portions is really big for the dishes. When we placed our order, the waitress looked at us strangely and counted us in front of us, seemingly because we had only ordered two dishes and one appetizer, which felt very unprofessional and uncomfortable. When the food arrived, she didn’t say anything no greeting, no checking in just placed the dishes on the table and walked away. I later had to look for her myself just to ask for a straw. The food itself was very good, and we were enjoying our time talking and eating. However, without us asking for it, she suddenly dropped the bill on the table without saying a word and left. We still had food left and were not ready to leave. There was no wait for tables and the restaurant was still not busy. Despite that, she came back to our table 5–6 times to check if we had put our card down yet, which felt rushed and uncomfortable. When we were finally done, my friend asked about paying with Apple Pay. Another waitress told us to go to the front, then exchanged looks with our server and rolled their eyes while saying something in Chinese. That was extremely disrespectful and made us feel unwelcome. This restaurant was going to be our go-to place, especially since we were excited to introduce it to our friends after our first visit. Unfortunately, the server’s behavior completely ruined the experience. Very disappointed.

The food is quite tasty, and there are so many options to choose from on the menu. Our server was very fast, but unfortunately didn’t seem to have much of a service mindset. The prices are reasonable for the large portions, and there is plenty of parking available.

Amazing and authentic, because Chinese people actually eat here. I didn’t know what to order and they helped! I was wasn’t feeling good when I arrived 🤒 got the spicy noodles and popcorn chicken. I I feel amazing now. Will come back again.

Been here a few times now and it is one of the most authentic Chinese spots in the city. Brought my Chinese friends along and they fully approved and you can tell just by the crowd in there. Weekday visits are pretty chill but weekend dinner time gets busy, just something to plan around. Also a heads up on parking, the lot isn't very big so when it's packed it can be tough to find a spot. Would recommend carpooling if you can. I have a pretty low spice tolerance but there are still so many delicious dishes to choose from if you look around the menu. The soups are so hearty and comforting. Insider tip: the tofu egg dish is not on the menu but ask for it anyway. It is so worth it and the best way I can describe it is like eating a savory cloud puff. So unique and so good. The service is always super efficient, food comes out fast, and the staff will get you in and out. Every single dish I've had has been full of flavor and nothing has missed yet. Would absolutely come back and highly recommend.

Cravings of good Chinese food and spice brought us here. Our excitement was high because it’s been recommended by fellow colleagues, Asian friends, and even brought up on several Facebook groups that this is the best Chinese cuisine there is in St Louis. When you’re too excited and fall it’s a louder thump than you think. This is the summary of Chili Spot for us. When we walked in, there was barely any light. I understand mood lighting but heck I was looking for my glasses when I don’t even wear one. One waitress smiled at us from across the room, but the one we were assigned was rather curt and rather judgmental. She spoke no English and had zero recommendations. When we were ordering she was more in a hurry to grab our menus even before we were done placing our order. Mind you we are one hour and 45 minutes away from the restaurant closing. We found it rather odd, but since we were excited we let go of the minor/major inconvenience. Chongqing Popcorn Chicken: A dish that certainly packed a punch of flavors. It was spicy because of the dried red chilies lending a deep, smoky flavor. The Sichuan peppercorns has a numbing sensation that is often described as "mala" in Chinese cuisine. Yes, we have had some exceptional Chinese cuisine in UAE and have heard it several times on YouTube. It certainly had its distinctive in flavor and made the dish and experience unique. The chicken was crispy as you’d expect popcorn chicken to be, but the meat was barely there. A heavy mix of cornstarch and spices but pretty low on the actual meat. The use of aromatics like ginger, garlic, and scallions was definitely appreciated. Beef with Black Pepper: Sharp and pungent in taste, but loaded with bell peppers. Heavy use of soy sauce made the dish saltier than we anticipated. We were hoping for the beef to be stir fried, but it tasted almost boiled and lacked the juiciness and tenderness we’ve grown to enjoy in Asian cuisines. This was a miss for sure. It came out steaming hot though so wonder what went wrong. Kung pao Chicken: Small chunks of chicken with a generous amount of peanuts. Savory, sweet, and spicy. Very fragrant, but also a lot milder than the popcorn chicken. Heavy use of the Sichuan pepper but balanced out real neat with steamed rice. Steamed Rice: I’m not the one to be rating steamed rice because how can you go wrong with something as basic as cooking rice? Well, the rice was definitely gooey in places and really hard textured in others. The lack of communication with the waitress along with her hurriedness kind of ruined the experience we were hoping to have. The food is good, but I’m sure if we tagged along with our Asian friends they would have better recommendations and maybe be able to get the dishes the place is known for. Definitely a place I would recommend you to visit if you know what exactly to get and with whom!

Great small place where everything is cooked fresh. I had the cumin lamb and spicy wonton. Both were fantastic. I was visiting from out of town and will come back just for this food! It was my favorite meal in a long time!