We came in on a Tuesday night, which happened to be the same day Chili's was running a free Veterans Day menu, so we were a little nervous about delays. But it was my cousin's birthday, and Chili's only lets you redeem the birthday dessert on certain days, so we decided to give it a try. Surprisingly, we were seated in under fifteen minutes, which felt promising.
Our server, James, started off well. My cousin is a regular and had a free chips and salsa reward, which he redeemed right away. While he was taking our order, the host interrupted to let him know she was seating a party of nine right next to us. He repeated our order carefully and got the details right, like honey mustard with the crispers and chocolate milk for the kids meal. At that point, we felt like things were going smoothly.
That confidence faded quickly. We ordered the Wicked cocktails, which arrived without the themed stir sticks and tasted extremely sweet with a very heavy pour. It felt like the strong alcohol was being used to balance the strange flavors. When our food arrived, it came with the wrong sauces and still no chocolate milk. James was busy turning over the large parties around us, so we sat for quite a while with completely empty water cups, which was unfortunate because the cocktails were harsh. The menu even warns customers to drink responsibly, but water refills did not seem to be a priority.
When James finally came back, he brought the items we requested, but he still did not notice that all four water glasses were empty. Thankfully, the food itself was exactly what you expect from a Chili's: consistent and predictable, which honestly helped save the meal.
The biggest disappointment was the birthday dessert. James listed the options, took my cousin's choice, and walked away. When it arrived, it came with no candle, no singing, and no acknowledgement at all. Two other tables in his section had birthdays and received the full celebratory treatment, so it felt especially strange that nothing was offered. We finished eating and waited quite a while for him to return so we could figure out how to handle the bill, the rewards, and the birthday dessert that had been rung up as a charge. When he finally came back, he told us that only one perk can be used per visit. That would have been helpful information before anything was ordered.
By the end, it felt like our table simply was not important. Three of us have worked in the service industry, so we were patient and tried to be understanding. But being overlooked again and again, while a child waited most of his meal for a simple chocolate milk, really took away from the night.
My cousin was excited to celebrate her birthday at a restaurant she enjoys and to try the viral cocktails, but the experience left a disappointing impression. It also left the same aftertaste as those Wicked drinks.
Thank you, Chili's, but we will be trying somewhere else next time. read more