Best Californian Restaurants in Lakewood / Bellflower

The food was outstandingly fresh, high quality, and creatively prepared and served. The price fixe menu of many courses seemed to climb a bell curve, with the least interesting being the shrimp chip and dip starter ‘snack’ , climbing to a magnificent crescendo with the the scallop and mussel small plate, and an equally exquisite plate of the freshest sliced kampachi. Each plate was beautiful, graced with curated vegetables, flowers, and delicate sauces that completed, never overpowered. Our only complaint: we found the dessert disappointing in flavor, appearance and texture: a choux pastry ball with a heavy dull filling, sitting on top of a scatter of what resembled stale cocoa puff cereal pieces. I would have traded it for the rich creamy mascapone ice cream served earlier, sans the caviar topping. The service was outstanding: gracious, helpful, attentive, knowledgeable and well orchestrated. Overall we had a fabulous dining experience, exceeding our highest expectations. In most every way, including price, dining here is a special occasion; we could not understand how or why most diners we observed were wearing gym clothes, T-shirts and jeans, sneakers, fuzzy slippers. What’s next: dining in our underwear? How about a dress code?!

The food, the staff, the view! Everything was perfect! I love this place!

The breakfast burger was amazing. We showed fairly early and the staff was extremely friendly but the overall service felt slow, especially for a restaurant that was empty when we arrived.

I took my boyfriend here for his birthday and when we first walking into the building it was really cool and nice getting to look at the cars, the little shop, and cafe. I also now see why the wait to land a reservation here is pretty long because walking in, it did not feel packed or too chaotic. I’m a very anxious person and get uncomfortable whenever I’m at a setting where there’s a lot of people so this was extremely nice for me. Now, for the restaurant, I’m a pretty picky eater so not much stood out to me on the menu other than the classic 917 burger which happened to be delicious along with the side of fries that it came with. The bill for me and my partner didn’t come out to a lot or what I was expecting but I mean we did only have the burgers and no alcoholic drinks. Overall really nice and calm place, I felt comfortable and like I could talk to my boyfriend freely and admire the cars together. The service was also really good! I loved everything and my boyfriend enjoyed it a lot as well.

We love everything about CaliChili. It's so easy to find a parking spot and once you enter the restaurant, it's like stepping into a different world. Wonderful ambiance, a unique menu and excellent food. The service is attentive without being intrusive. We started with a new item on the menu, Calamari and French Bean. It leans into more Southeast Asian flavors and was a perfect starter. It was a cold and drizzly night, so we ordered the Dum Biryani with lamb as our main course. The meat was falling off the bone. The rice, lamb and yogurt sauce all melded together perfectly. Thank you for another wonderful meal.