My family and I are fans of Chili's and wanted to stop in for a quick bite as we were traveling home from Georgia. The service, and food was deplorable to say the least. Once we walked in, the hostess asked us "how many?" I told her "Three." she replies "Umm, okay I gotta clean a table I will be right back." a few minutes pass by as we wait for our table. My Wife goes off to the bathroom while we wait. The Hostess returns to the podium and does not acknowledge me, or direct me to the table. She she just started watching the television above the bar. "This is awkward." I thought. I guess after a minute or so goes by she realized that she still needed to seat us. "Okay your table is ready." She seats us next to the bar, and leaves. My wife returned from the restroom and met us at the table.
Once we ordered our Entrees, our server and virtually every employee in this establishment disappeared. No servers, bartenders or managers were on the floor at all. At the point where we were going to get up and leave, our server comes to our table with our food, after an incredibly long wait. I get my ribs, and they are as dry as desert sand. My Wife's quesadilla was dry, with burnt cheese and bacon inside. My son refused to touch his macaroni, and when asked why he isn't eating, he replied "My spoon smells funny, kind of like smoke." My wife inspected the utensil, and as did I, and on the handle of the spoon it smelled like marijuana smoke. ( I am a former police officer, as well as a restaurant manager, so I am well versed on both subject matters) Our server was gone and we could not find him, so my wife went to the bar and spoke with the bartender and asked for a manager.
The manager arrived and explained that she examined the spoon and could not identify the odor we happened to smell. While the manager tried to discredit my wife's claims, I had to interrupt and explain how bad the service was from the moment we opened the doors of the restaurant. she stated that she was sorry and would make adjustments to our receipt. To my surprise, the entire bill was taken care of. Not one of us ate our meal, all we did was consume nachos and beverages. I believe the staff all went outside together (this explains why there was no one on the floor at one point) all had a smoke session together, while my families food sat under a heat lamp for an excessive amount of time. Once they all came inside, our server probably did not wash his hands and grabbed a spoon and put it into my son's macaroni.
I was glad to just get the heck out of there and never look back. Taking care of my bill for me was not enough. Other people will eat here and they need to know what type of food and service to expect. It would be a disservice to not publicly state my experience here. Kitchens are supposed to have standards, as well as in the front of the house. I hope that the right person reads this review, takes it into consideration and uses it as a tool to fix the deficiencies. I love cooking, and I want no restaurant to fail. I however, refuse to let bad food practices, bad customer service, and irresponsible managers get away with collecting a paycheck when millions of Americans are unemployed and would happily have their job. read more