Chili’s

Chili’s recently overhauled their menu and much for the better. For our visit service was good and the food was above average. That had not been the case for Chili’s recently. Chain restaurants are the best and worst thing to happen to the experience of ‘eating out’. When an independent restaurant gets it right it’s a beautiful thing but that is rarely the case for any extended period of time. At least the chains maintain some control and offer a degree of consistency.

Food is always cold or incorrectly cooked. Restaurant is often dirty and floor always has a few spots of water from something leaking. Service couldn’t be any worse and the management over the past several years has been consistently below average. Keep driving if you get a craving for this place.

after reading a few reviews I was hesitant to enter this establishment in the heart of bourbon country kentuckiana. thoughts of sodomites ran through my head. biblical statues meant to disturb my dining experience. but after the reassurance of Hollywood Hackett I pressed on. (that and the thirty dollars worth of chilis gift cards burning a hole in his pocket)
upon entering the establishment I felt juvenile vibe although it was already 10:30 on a Friday night. loud babies crying toddlers running amok. my party was swiftly seated with a strange digital contraption on the table. a table side tablet for looking at the menu and apparently ordering food, calling the server (which we found out only omits a blinking light in which the server must seek out not directly call the server to our specific table), play games and sign up for notifications via email list. this would be my main way to view the menu since the physical one I was given had some sort of sweet strawberry syrup sticking all the pages together. I only presume it to be strawberry from the colour and consistency as I did not taste test the crud.
I ordered a Sam Adams Oktoberfest tall and it was brought to the table promptly. when that was brought our party ordered three or four appetizers including the table side guacamole. while waiting for the apps to be brought out I decided to check out the game selection which were mostly aimed at younger children. the games cost money which I thought was a bit much. 1.99 per game where even on the app stores they do not cost that much. possibly if they had some free levels of each game and if you wanted to continue pay the charge they would be more effective.
soon the apps arrived as well as the preparation of the table side guacamole. the server noted and asked if we wanted each ingredient she added as she went along to ensure our satisfaction. was missing some garlic and a little more salt and lime when tasted. maybe they should have thrown Lot’s wife in to make the guacamole come more alive. the other apps were sub par, chips were too flimsy to hold any good amount of guacamole.
the saving grace of the meal was a perfectly prepared medium rare ribeye steak.
as the meal wrapped up we tried to use the gift cards then check out at the table side tablet but it posed a problem that the server had to correct then we were able to continue on with the process which I found useful and the tip slider device made tipping easy to master although if you were to tip more that 100% that action would be impossible. something for the business to look at in the future.
I end up giving this establishment a three because I wouldn’t willingly say I would like to return, yet if there were no other options available. I would gladly enjoy that steak once again if it were prepared similarly.

We came in late and we left later than we should have. The girl at the bar was nice enough to let us stay to watch a double OT hockey game. Actually, she was nice enough to let us watch the first OT. Then we felt so bad that we left.
Got some food and drinks here as well. That’s what one does at the bar at a Chili’s. Or at least, that’s what one should do. Otherwise you are weird. Or you work there. That’s an option as well.
Decent bathrooms. Not sure why that would matter but maybe it will impact your life in some meaningful way, like there’s a freak snowstorm in the middle of the summer and you’re in the bathroom while the roof all around the bathroom collapses and traps everybody. You have a roof over your head but the door is jammed shut by the other parts of the roof that fell in. And the snow.
In that situation, it will be good to know that the bathroom is at least not a terrible place to get stranded and potentially spend your final moments in before you slip into a hunger-​induced coma and ironically die of starvation while mere feet away from a fully stocked kitchen.
This is all assuming that I’m remembering the bathroom correctly. We went to a lot of places on this trip. I might be thinking of somewhere else.
They didn’t have any corn tortillas for my fajitas that night. That was a bummer.

It took 30 minutes for our order to come. Then I was delivered the wrong dinner. The manager offered to have the right order in 3 minutes, but I did not want to wait any longer.

HORRIBLE service. My son ordered off the kids menu, they brought a full size sandwich. So I also got charged for his drink. When I questioned the bill, the server argued with me!

Yowza. Just had the Cajun Chicken Alfredo as takeout, and good lord, that was salty. They definitely went overboard on the cajun seasoning as I can actually feel the moisture being drained from my tongue, like I just kissed a Sodomite. Thankfully, it was split with a co-​worker and I didn’t have to eat the whole thing or I may have dried up like a Slim Jim.
More often than not, the food from this location is OK, but like many chain restaurants, they think over-​seasoned takes the place of flavor.
Excuse me while I go douse myself directly from the water cooler. I feel like Aquaman on shore leave.

One of the great/​bad things about chilis for me is the standardization of the food. Sometimes I just want a burger/​sandwich/​chicken and I know exactly what i’m going to get. This Chilis kept me on my toes, 95% of which was my server. When I asked for Sam Adams on draft he said they were out, so I asked for Sam Adams in the bottle, later he brings out my Sam Adams on draft but mixes our beers up (we just traded at the table). Lucky for me but not my friend who remained beerless after ordering until we reminded our server. Next I ordered the Chicken Crispers. Apparently they now have an extra crispy variety because what i’m used to was not what came out. I looked at the menu and asked if these were the extra crispy and he said yes. So as my friends at their delicious food, i waited in agony (oh the humanity) while they redid my food. I’ve got great friends though cause i was hooked up with bites from my buddies triple play. Overall the food (4)+service (fail)=3