Chili's is a long-time favorite of mine. Their queso con carne is so good! I used to go to the…read moreChili's near my church every few Sunday's, up until they closed their doors. The building still exists with the handles and everything. However, it's been repurposed so many times, by so many people, that it's almost unrecognizable.
Needless to say, I was hyped to be able to eat here. We reminisced about the "old days" and ordered that delicious queso. While ordering, I noticed that the mozzarella sticks were replaced with the monstrously huge "Fried Mozzarella". I simply HAD to order them too. I'm so glad I did because they were crunchy on the outside, juicy on the inside, piping hot all the way thru, and deliciously melty and flavorful! Honestly, in the moment, they were way better than the queso dip. Ok...enough about the amazingly, deliciously, fantastic Fried Mozzarella [pockets]. Well, on more thing: they really should rename them to (if you have to keep this part: "Fried", so be it) Fried [Mozzarella Pockets]. They resemble Hot Pockets, but they're filled with just mozzarella. The name fits so much better than saying just Fried Mozzarella, but hey, what do I know? I'm just some guy.
DO IT, CHILI'S! "Mozzarella Pockets"
Anyway...
My sister ordered the Sirloin with Avocado and lime sauce on top- medium. She said it was refreshing and very tasty. Her steak had ZERO sinew and no fat. That's a good thing for her because she doesn't eat the fat.
I ordered the Classic Ribeye. The chef put a beautiful crust on the outside with a touch of pepper and salt. Unfortunately, there was a little bit of sinew, but when I say a little bit, I really do mean a little bit. The sinew amounted to approximately the same amount as the wide section of my fork. This is very nearly negligible. The fat was almost entirely rendered and was very easy to chew thru along with the meat- adding wonderful mouthfeel to every bite. The dollop of whipped butter on top was basically only there for decoration and "just in case-ness". Honestly, just as good as any ribeye I've done carefully at home.
I got french fries so that I could dip them in the leftover queso con carne. Always the right choice! Advice: NEVER LEAVE ANY QUESO. Seriously though, they never give you enough chips for the salsa AND the queso, but if you order more chips, then you have too many chips! It's like the old hotdog and hotdog bun conundrum. I figured out that if you use more chips for salso and finish that off and use less chips for queso, then you can finish off the queso with your fries!
Lastly, I wanted to mention the asparagus. The asparagus, you'll notice is on both of our plates. It was cooked perfectly. The bases of the stalks were tender and the spear heads were not mushy at all. There was a perfect amount of pepper, but perhaps a bit too much salt for some. Although, that's really how I like it.
When we walked in, we were greeted after only a couple minutes of waiting. The hostess walked us to a table and went off to retrieve our waiter. When are waiter came, he asked for a drink orders, and I went to head and gave him the appetizers. Our appetizers arrived within about eight minutes, while we were looking at the menu. The chips and salsa did not actually come to our table until after our queso arrived. The person that delivered our queso to the table, saw that we did not have any chips or salsa and said he would get us some immediately. He did. The Fried Mozzarella came out a few minutes later. Our food arrived about 8 minutes after that. The waiter was attentive and came to our table four or five times to check on us throughout our meal. He did not interrupt our conversations or pester us in any way and was very friendly as well.
I highly recommend this location. It is loud, so if you are sensitive to that kind of thing, be aware of that. However, all the TV's are on the side of the restaurant with the bar. So, it may be tolerable for you on the other side of the restaurant.
Check them out if you are in the area! I'll definitely be back when I'm visiting my grandmother!
