Chili’s

I decided to write a review because this chili’s is so bad, and of course, I see on Unilocal that it has a 1.5 star average — had I only looked before walking through the door… it’s a full star too high
It’s a Saturday night, when I’d expect a chili’s to be bouncing off the walls — this place is like the gathering after a funeral, including the football on the tvs. Suffice it to say that it’s not busy.
We were greeted at the front door by a cheery individual who asked where we wanted to be seated — she indicated that this evening’s bartender was fantastic, though when we asked the bartender’s name, she drew a blank.
In light of the recommendation for «whatever her name is» we chose to sit in the bar area. It took nearly 8 minutes for someone to ask what we wanted to drink (there are literally 17 people in this bar right now) and the person who asked for our drink was our friend from the front door!
Our waiter showed up about 60-​seconds later, and did his usual song-​and-​dance, and left us alone while front-​door-​girl took care of our drinks. Not sure what happened after that, but it took another 5-​minutes to get the drinks — including a blue moon which came sans orange from «what’s-her-face» the fantastic bartender.
Speaking of «whoosey-​whatsit», her voice: nails on a chalkboard. I much preferred her being preoccupied in the kitchen handling the take out orders than doing any talking whatsoever in the bar. The whiny high pitched voice is like a caricature.
Quick review of the food: I ordered the premium chicken tacos — thought they were great, but hadn’t realized that I ordered the salt tacos — my god, I’m a big guy and I could only eat two of the three — I envision myself floating face-​down in the Dead Sea.
Walking to the bathroom with trepidation, I thoroughly expected to be a disgusting experience. Actually that’s the nicest place in the entire restaurant. The smell was pleasant and it was refreshing we clean. So if you go to Chili’s and Southpark Meadows I highly recommend you ask to be served in the bathroom.

Terrible experience at this Chili’s location recently. We had a group of 12 and arrived before the lunch rush. It still took 45 minutes to be served our food. The food was tasty, but then the big surprise came, in that we were told that credit card users had to use a credit card device sitting on the table. No one knew how to use it, and the server gave an incomprehensible and rushed «course» on how it worked. Since everyone at the table wanted to use their credit cards, it took 25 minutes for everyone to figure out how to use the device and actually make it work properly. This was 25 minutes we hadn’t counted on in our busy schedules, along with the lengthy delay in being served. Never going back.

Wow, I’m really surprised at the bad reviews here; My husband I have been going to this Chili’s for the past 11 years –at least three times month (it’s convenient and close by our home). The management and the staff is always friendly and consistent. If I ever had an issue (which is hardly ever) it’s been fixed and a manager will make sure all is okay. Between Keenan (we miss him… where’d he go?), Tasha (THE BEST server EVER), Cece, Edgar, and quite a few others… we’ve never had a horrible server here. I’m really happy to see that Chili’s has a rewards program now; Too bad it’s not retroactive, because we would have racked up a millions of points by now. Keep up the great work and we’ll keep spending our money here.

If you are wanting dinner and expecting to have a happy hour drink in the dining area — forget it!!! They won’t give you the happy hour price. You MUST be in the bar! Ok. So now we go to another restaurant. This will be my last chili’s purchase! And the logic explained to me is that they had a button on the register that gave the flexibility to charge HR price. It was abused by staff SOOOOO the customers are now screwed die to their unethical behavior. This will be shared everywhere!

Pretty chill place, they just redecorate the whole interior and it looks great. Food was good too, always a good place to treat your tooth.

We came with the family (8) and had a great experience. The staff was really helpful and courteous. The waiting time wasn’t bad for the amount of people we had.
The food was really good and tasty! Family time was great and we weren’t disappointed at all.

Omggggggg! The service in the to-​go area is the absolute worst! I would’ve done better sitting at a table, ordering my food and then packing it up. Took too much time to receive my food! Sheesh!

Well for starters, there was a hair in my husband’s burger. The first burger they made was overcooked but luckily, our server caught it and had them remake it before it was brought out to us. Unfortunately, the new one had the hair.
The little touch pads on the table make it way too easy to purchase games. We accidentally purchased Trivia because of it.
My Crispy Chicken Crispers were fine except the corn was overcooked (or over-​microwaved).
Wasn’t expecting much because it is a Chili’s after all.
The manager did come out and take the burger off our meal, and or server was apologetic, but let’s be real, it wasn’t the server’s fault.

The service was not bad… if i had to be critical… i would say the following. They need to know when to cut off the drunks… wow

Food was cold… took forever and there were three people in the whole restaurant. They need to get it together

Service was abysmal. Had three different waiters helping us. They kept coming back to ask what our order was. We were there 1 ½ hours, yet the restaurant was half full. Saw my drinks sitting at the bar for ten minutes. Food came out cold. Manager apologized and told us one of the cooks didn’t show up. This is not the first time we have had poor service at this location.
The manager did comp our meal, along with other diners that evening.

Though the service was fine, the food was almost tasteless. I’ve had plenty of good meals at this chain in various locations around the country. I always have the Margarita Chicken with rice and black beans. This one was tasteless even with lime and salt. My husband had the grilled chicken salad with a side of mashed potatoes. I had some of both and the honey lime dressing was bitter but the salad was very pretty. Mashed potatoes were again, quite bland. Not typical for the chain.

DO NOT GO TO THIS LOCATION!
The very last time my husband and I ate (or tried to eat) at Chili’s was New Year’s Eve. ((I know it’s now October, but I didn’t think about writing a review until now)) MAYBE It was because it was NYE and they had their c-​staff working that night but that is me being NICE.
Let’s just say we were there almost 2 hours and only recieved our drinks! PLUS they were NOT that busy. PLUS we asked to speak to a manager and waited 10 mins for said manager to come to our table and… NO Sign of Any Manager! Totally uncalled for! NEVER going back to that location EVER again and it is going to be really hard to convince my husband to go to any Chili’s ever again that’s for sure!

Sucked sucked sucked… The only thing than was good, was the company… My graduating senior!
Won’t ever go back, I can promise you that!

This specific Chilis has disappointed me several times now. Here was the worst time.
A friend and I went to Chilis. We walked through the door only to be greeted by… absolutely nobody. Stood there for a little while until finally a waitress comes up to us, points to our left and tells us to seat ourselves «somewhere over there». (Also, it was late on a weekday and they weren’t that busy.) So I’m immediately turned off at this point and I haven’t even sat down yet. Our waitress was cold and inattentive. She appeared to be doing the bare minimum of work possible. I don’t even think she smiled at us, and there was hardly any eye contact made. Just super impersonal basically.
So we order, yadda yadda, and my friend wanted a second Long Island but our waitress hadn’t come back to check on us since she dropped our food off. So he literally gets up and goes to the bar to order his drink because she wasn’t attentive enough to her table. We’re close enough to see the bar and watch minutes pass before someone actually makes the drink only to see it just sitting for several more minutes once it was made.
I don’t know, guys. This time and times after I’ve come to the conclusion that this Chilis basically has the worst customer service.
I do have to say though, today I picked up a to go order, and if the guy was whoever the name said on the receipt, Justin was pretty cool. The nicest person I’ve come across in this Chilis.
They really need to make some changes.

One star because I had to. Worst service ever. Food took forever, waitress was not attentive at all. I had to get up and ask for silverware, again for dressing for my salad. And lastly to pay the bill. She said they were understaffed. Made no sense when the manager and wait staff are standing there joking for over 20 minutes. 2 other families left at the same time and all complained of the service. Bad establishment and will not return again.

My boyfriend and I come here maybe twice a month or so. Service is always great, the food is good & it’s not expensive.
We really like this location, even when it is busy we get our food at a reasonable time. Probably my favorite Chilis location in Austin!

Upon entering we waited for the manager to be finished speaking to the hostess while he had his back to the door. That is a huge no no in the restaurant business you never have your back to the door and lean on the hostess stand! The hostess kept smiling at us and trying to cut him off.
Finally got seated and the server was really trying to sell the watermelon margarita and after she convinced me she came back to let me know they were out of watermelon flavoring. Another restaurant no no, please inform your staff of what you are out of. The ambiance in here is poor at best with terrible music being piped throughout the restaurant.
We did a 2 for $ 35 that included two margaritas, an appetizer and two entrees. First, when I undid my silverware the knife had crud all over it. When the girl brought me a new one she left the dirty knife sitting on my table… um yuck!
Our appetizer was the onion and jalapeño loaf with ranch sauce on the side. It was decent, not too greasy and was the best part of the meal. The second best part was the margaritas! We paid extra to upgrade to the top shelf ones and they serve them in these little shakers and they were delightful (only reason they get two stars).
The timing of the dining experience was awful. Five minutes after our appetizers came we received our entrees. I hate that. My friend ordered the Cajun Chicken Pasta and I had the Ribs with a dry rub (served sauce on the side) with a side of french fries.
The pasta was so terrible my friend had two bites and him being a critical person I decided to try it. I have to confirm he was correct. The pasta was so overdone when you bit into it water filled your mouth and mooshy was the consistency. The sauce was so thick with cream it was like a thick gravy instead of a sauce. My ribs were actually good but, my french fries were cold and when I say cold I mean glacial! My friend told the server his pasta was bad and she apologized and sent the manager over who did comp the pasta off of our bill and offered to get him something else. He declined as I let him finish my ribs which he also said were good. That was good steps of service on the managers party right there. He did however have that young attitude about it and didn’t really seem super friendly about the complaint.
My friend ordered a chocolate chip cookie skillet to go and it was packaged nicely with everything separated and was delicious from what he said. However, after placing the to go desert order we waited and waited and waited for our check. Standard restaurant steps of service should be to bring the check promptly after someone orders desert that way you can pick it up and cash them out when you bring the desert to the table. We must have waited for 15 minutes.
I am a known over tipper, sometimes 40%, if the service is out of this world! I base my tipping on service because I know it’s not the servers fault for food quality. I left 15% because the service from management to server was terrible. This does not include the friendly hostess, she was good! Just overall terrible experience and I will never return to Chilis and actually remember why I haven’t eaten here in 5 years!

I don’t know why people think Chili’s is so bad. Granted, their food isn’t gourmet quality, but you know what you’re getting. Caveat: Like most at most chain restaurants, I don’t order the «expensive» entrée items where you’re more likely to be disappointed. If you want a steak, for example, don’t order it at Chuy’s; go to steak place. There are quite a few menu items that are unique to Chili’s that I think are quite good. Their original Chicken Cripers, the Southwestern Egg rolls, the soup/​salad lunch special, and a few other things. Their fries are really good, as is their corn-​on-​the-​cob. It’s consistent from one Chili’s to the next, so you know what you’re getting.
All-​in-​all, a pretty decent place.

Chili’s is Chili’s. You always know it’s there. You know it’s not always healthy. The concept is a little tired. Yet you still go every once in a while. It’s good. It’s convenient.
A reason to go to Chili’s is, of course, their chili. It is indeed tasty, worthy of a visit in and of itself.
This location is in front of a large Target store, convenient to IH 35 in north Austin. Plenty of parking. Good service. Decent food that is rarely healthy. But hey, it’s Chili’s. I’ll be back soon.