We spent the night in Amarillo, TX. I had heard about this place called Green Chili Willy's Grill, so of course we had to try it. I had heard really good things about it, so I was expecting great things. We were staying off interstate 40 and the restaurant turned out to be about 11 miles south of us (this better be good). When we got there we found there was about a 20 - 25 minute wait. That was ok, they have a very large room with seating to accommodate people. Obviously, they are very popular. The atmosphere has a very West Texas feel. Very comfortable. The waitress was very friendly. There seemed to be a lot of local regulars here. Lynette ordered a small version of the traditional chicken fried steak. They also offer a green chili version. I ordered a 10 Oz strip steak, medium rare. With my steak I also ordered green beans and a baked potato. Texas Toast also comes with the meal. The Green beans were average, nothing special. The baked potato was large and came with a generous amount of butter in it. A cup of cheese and a packet of sour cream came on the side. The potato was very good. The steak was cooked properly and was very flavorful. It tasted like it was cooked over wood with a hint of wood flavor coming through. It wasn't like going to a fancy steak house good, but at $20, it was a good steak. Lynette's baked potato was just like mine. Her mixed vegetables were average, like something that came frozen in a bag. Her chicken fried steak was disappointing. The gravy was good, but her first remark was, "the breading looks dark". And it was. In fact, in spots it looked burnt, something you don't expect from something deep fried. Obviously, they were using their cooking oil too long and leaving the chicken fried steak in the oil too long. My sample bite of the chicken fried steak seemed kind of dried out. And then there was the Texas Toast. It wasn't toasted too long, because then the toast would have been too dark and just broken apart. It wasn't under toasted because then it would have been too soft to be toast. Instead, the color appeared correct, but the texture was off. It actually took effort to pull it apart and it was "chewy". Chewy isn't the texture you expect from toast, it's more like what you would expect from stale bread that has been toasted. At the end of the meal we sat a very long time before we saw our waitress and had to ask for the bill. When paying at the counter I found out they couldn't add a tip to our check. They actually had to charge my card a second time in order to leave a tip with my card.
So was this a terrible experience.....no. if I were a local, I might come on a somewhat regular basis. Maybe not for chicken fried steak, but the steak was good and food on other people plates looked good. But would I travel the 11 miles south of interstate 40 to experience this restaurant......probably not. read more