So, my family and I have been coming to this restaurant since it opened, lots of birthday parties, late night dinners, lunches with family from out of town, and evenings at the bar watching a game and making friends, but I feel like my last experience there really summarized all my past experiences there really well.
The atmosphere of this place is like most others in the chain from what I've experienced. It's usually clean, it can stay packed on busy nights even late at night, and it can definitely get loud being a go-to for families and sports fans in the area. I also really love that during hockey season, if we come in to watch a match, they get the channel changed quickly and the TVs actually have subtitles unlike some other places in town.
From my latest experience, even though they were fairly crowded, we got seated quickly, drinks out within three minutes, chips out and food order taken within six minutes of being seated, it took about sixteen minutes for food to come out, and we got our ticket within four minutes of asking for it. So the service is usually fairly quick, though once we got our food the waitress didn't check in to refill drinks nearly enough. I went to the bar because I wanted a drink recommendation and our waitress hadn't stopped by in a while, and it took the bar tender three minutes to show up. When I asked if there was a summer drink menu because we all wanted drinks at our table and tried to ask for a recommendation, I was handed the standard menu and he disappeared in the back again. Our waitress and hostess were both perfectly friendly and professional, but the bartender flat out ignoring me and then throwing a menu at me before leaving was some of the worst bar service I've had in a while. Also, don't expect to see a manager unless you specifically request them even if you're having extremely long wait times or problems with the food and drinks being served.
The only part of our meal that we didn't really enjoy our last visit was the chips and salsa, the chips came out soggy, chewy, cold, and flavorless and the salsa was watery even for Chili's. It seems like more often than not for my family at least one thing is wrong with our food each time we come here, and it's usually something like the chips where it should have been obvious it didn't need to be served. As for my overall recommendations for this location, for appetizers, skip the Awesome Blossom Petals, Fried Pickles, and Crispy Cheddar Bites, but otherwise most of the others are enjoyable. For entrees, be warned their chicken is really hit or miss and it can be different depending on the day you order it, order extra sauce with the Cajun Pasta because they sometimes skimp on it, and for dessert ask for the ice cream on the side with your skillet cookie so it doesn't melt immediately. For vegetarians, check out their black bean burger, have them make a veggie quesadilla if you want something different on the lunch menu (my favorite is onion, bell pepper, jalapeno, and pineapple), and if you don't want a full size specialty salad ask for the house salad to be 'dressed' like the salad of your choice (just explain you don't want the full size salad).
I have never been a fan of this location's bar, but my last visit made me really consider ever getting another drink here. We decided to try the mango margarita, and the drink came out quickly but was made terribly. We ordered the drink with 1800 Gold tequila, and we could not discern if they had used it at all when we tasted it because it was so overwhelmingly sweet because of how much mix they used. The bartender used a tall cocktail glass instead of the margarita glass they usually use, which I wouldn't mind, but all of the alcohol was sitting in the bottom of the glass and all we could taste was the nasty sugary mix they use. After we sent the margarita back I contemplated getting a beer instead, but after seeing draft beer being brought out with no head on top I decided against it.I recommend going for a bottled beer or wine if you really want a drink with dinner here, especially if it's really busy.
Overall, it's the best place in town to watch sports, it stays open longer than 10 pm unlike almost everywhere else in town, it usually has a lively atmosphere, and though the food and drinks can be hit or miss, problems usually get fixed in a timely manner. If you're looking for a restaurant to be able to unwind and talk with your friends, kick back and get good drinks, or hang at bar with people under thirty, this probably isn't the place for you, but otherwise it's worth checking out. read more