In: 6pm Sharp.
Out: 8:52 pm…read more
I'm going to finish this review tomorrow, so I can sleep on what I am about to write about this place & the amount of white shame this place exemplifies.
So here we are 14 hours later so I could properly assess this review to make sure that I wasn't speaking out of emotion. This review is probably going to trigger some people, but it's honest.
I'll get the basics out of the way. The place was super busy and had a 45 minute wait. This is important & I'll get to that in a second.
Decorum: Typical chilis, TVs everywhere. Somewhat clean, except when I had to ask for a bar rag to wipe down the spot that I sat at that the other couple had left.
I ordered the SmokeHouse 3 item plate. Ribs, jalapeno sausage & Nashville hot chicken tenders. Came w/ fries & mac n cheese. I don't have high expectations of BBQ outside of my own, for obvious reasons so it was typical Chili's food. Except the Nashville hot tenders, weren't Nashville hot at all, no spice or heat whatsoever.
You may want to stop reading now, because this is where it's gonna get real.
Like I said there was a 45 minute wait for food, cuz the kitchen was so backed up. I generally don't care, I thought this place being busy was actually a good thing. This poor elderly couple were crammed into the tiny waiting booth waiting on their table, which there were several that were open. The hostess took them back and sat them since they have been sitting beyond the 45 min. but they still had to wait for their food.
So I sit at the bar, that another couple had just vacated. Now I understand, it's busy in there so I wasn't really expecting that section to be cleaned right off the bat, except for the fact that the bartender passed by me a good 5 or 6 times until I had to ask her for a rag to wipe my spot, which she replied "oh I thought you had been taking care of already, I see a water cup there."
WRONG YOU'RE THE ONLY BARTENDER. YOU KNOW DAMN WELL I just sat down because you saw me.
They gave me the whole 45 minute spiel. I'm not in a big hurry, so I don't care, I just wanna couple cocktails while I wait to order.
So after about 15 minutes have passed, I get my first cocktail, and she asks me if I want a menu. Duh.
As I'm sitting there waiting for her to ask me for my order, this really nice sweet black lady sits right next to me. At this point I've been there probably about a half an hour. The bartender goes rushing up to her takes her drink order & her food order. Her drink is made immediately, her food comes out w/in 10 minutes. What happened to the 45 minute wait? All the while, I am still waiting to order my food. She's in & out in under 30 minutes.
A couple other white people sit in the bar, essentially getting the same treatment I'm getting.
Finally, she's nice enough to take my food order but I have to ask her for another cocktail, in which she should have offered.
About 15 minutes pass, and another black gentleman sits across at the bar. ONCE AGAIN, the bartender is racing over, & this guy has a beer before his butt cheeks even hit the seat, all the while the other patrons that were there before are still waiting to be served.
Within 5 minutes, no more than 10, his hot wings come out, and the bartender is nice enough to offer him another beer.
I'm still waiting on my food.
10 min later, his Burger plate comes out, & offered yet another beer.
At this point I've been sitting for probably an 1¼ hours, and have had only 3 cocktails.
He finishes his food, he pays & leaves.
I continue to sit.
After about 40 more minutes my food finally comes out.
Barback comes over and starts talking about "African-American gentleman this, African American gentleman that" which is fine. But it's also completely fine to not be politically correct, because he would not be saying that "Anglo-Saxon gentleman".
After finishing my meal, I probably waited another 35 minutes to get my check, that I had to ask for as I sat with an empty glass for that entire time.
I got a glimpse of the GM, and that explained everything.
I travel ALL OVER the country, state by state on a daily basis and I thought all of this DEI rhetoric and racism/reverse racism, and white shame was just that. But apparently people actually buy into it, & for the very first time, I personally experienced it. That's why I had to give it a day before writing this review just to make sure.
I feel so bad for the elderly couples and the families that go in there and get treated as second class citizens because of the color of their skin. I can't believe this whole topic has taken a complete 180.
I don't like Illinois to begin with, & I definitely will not be coming back to this Chili's & I will be contacting a corporate representative. This was just flat out unacceptable.
If you're a single white guy, expect a good 1 1/2 hours, at least, & keep an eye on the people that are able to come in and out and be served in a timely manner, paid attention to, and treated w/ respect.