When going to a spot like Chili's or Applebee's, in my opinion, you can expect a sub-par visit. This is not far from what happened with my experience with the Chili's off south Hover, when my wife and I went for dinner.
Staff, First Impressions:
The host could not have been older than 16. He didn't seem to have a grasp on how seating and wait times worked. We were told that our wait would be 15 minutes. We waited for 13 minutes, Not bad right?? I witnessed 5 parties of over 3 people or more leaving and only one party was sat 5 minutes following this. That means that their busing staff needs to get to work. I saw 3 open tables, 2 of them booths, directly in the people waiting's line of sight. Not a very good way to keep customers in house. These tables were already bused and ready for customers. There were 3 other tables that needed to be bused and could have been ready for seating in a matter of minutes. I understand that if you fill house, you put a lot of stress on the kitchen, but NOT in a chain resturaunt where everything is ordered and shipped frozen. If the bus/wait staff had been doing their job, there would have been no wait at all. The establishment was losing money as 2 parties walked out because they didn't want to wait 15 minutes, when you can clearly see open tables.
Dining Area:
The dining area was lively and comfortable. Families and friends visiting and enjoying their night. Not a loud dining experience by any means.
The table we were sat at was not reflective of this overall dining room environment. The ketchup bottle, salt and pepper shakers, and drink menu were very sticky. It felt like I needed purel after putting some pepper on my fries.
Our Waiter:
This person did not take any pride in his job what so ever. I understand working as waitstaff for minimum wage isn't an ideal job, but if you show some pride in what you're doing, you will have opportunities open before you. This is true at almost any job. After coming to our table for the first time, we were not introduced to our waiter at all, Simply, "can i get you guys started with some drinks tonight?" There was no, "Would you like to hear some drink specials?" or "Welcome to Chili's". After ordering our drinks, I tried to get an order of Southwest egg rolls as an appetizer, but our waiter was already gone. He didn't even make the attempt to ask if we wanted to get an appetizer. After he returned, I ordered our Appetizer.
I believe that you should introduce yourself when first before jumping into drink orders. After I asked his name, he went in to his spiel about how he's there to help us and any thing we need, just ask. Was not sincere at all.
Every time we needed something at our table, he would walk away without acknowledging our request, (e.g You guys need more drinks?? As we answer he walks away to the kitchen. ) Even when he asked us a question, just walked away without hearing our answer. This wonderful employee's name was Drew by the way. Watch out for this Champion.
Food:
Our waitstaff service was about as warm and welcoming as your local Waffle House. But the food was excellent.
When you get appetizers from a place like this, you expect it to taste frozen, as it is. Our southwest egg rolls did not reflect this. They were crispy, hot, and satisfying. I didn't expect that from frozen food. The spinach inside seemed to be fairly fresh, despite being fried in oil.
My wife ordered chicken fajitas. Vegetables were fresh and crispy. The chicken was perfectly cooked. Although the plating was strange. Her salsa, guac, and sour cream came on a large dinner plate. Her rice came alone on a similar plate. Plus the fajita platter? Why so much china?
I had a classic bacon burger, cooked medium well. The bacon was crisp, the bread was warm, and cheese was melted. Very Hard to mess this up, I finished the whole thing. Not the best burger ever, but worth the hassle and the wait.
OVERALL:
Don't expect the world when you go to this place, especially from wait staff. If you can get past the 9000 things that you're not supposed to do in a restaurant, then you ahve a chance of getting a wonderful meal read more
