Chili’s Grill & Bar

Had a great dinner: baby back ribs (always great), fajitas (sizzling good), & fish tacos (family favorite). Nate was an attentive & kind server.

Okay, before you write me off or send an angry mob with pitchforks to chase me off of Unilocal,remember this review is solely based on MY experience with the food ‘I’ ordered.
First, I groaned at the suggestion of eating at the lower-​tiered chain. Sadly their reputation proceeded them. However, my disdain quickly vanished.
I ordered the Grilled Fish Tacos:
3 tacos with grilled chile-​lime tilapia topped with house-​made cilantro slaw, pico de gallo, sliced avocado, chopped cilantro & queso fresco wrapped. Substituted the rice and beans with a side fresco salad and quinoa and wheatberry salad.
When I opened my box, I was surprised to see how fresh and colorful everything appeared. The side salad was a nice mix of baby greens. The lime vinaigrette that came with the salad was refreshingly and light. Not overly oily at all. The Quinoa and wheatberry salad arrived warm. It had delightful balance of diced red peppers and sauteed onions that dressed up super-​grains, and gave it a flavorful zest.
The fish tacos were amazing! They softly sat atop of what appeared to be wheat flour tortillas on a bed of fresh shredded cabbage — not coleslaw (this is very important to note, as there have been other offenders), drizzeled with pica de gallo and piled with generous slabs of ripe green avocados. The sauce was hiding underneath.
Visually, this was not what I expected out of Chili’s. Slapped on a colorful bold platter, and could have passed in any other established Mexican restaurant.
They were so tasty! The tilapia was well seasoned and brought out the entire flavor of the tacos, complimenting the otherwise unadventurous cabbage. It tasted fresh, not a hint of fishyness at all.
Another thing I love about Chili’s, sure some people may associate it as junk food or think of high sodium-​inducing coma, but you can customize the meal to as healthy or as unhealthy as you want it to be.
For example, you can go with the Bacon Ranch Beef Quesadillas, topping at a whopping 1,800 calories with a sides of Mac and Cheese, which are an additional 490 calories. Or instead, you can choose the Fish Tacos (820 calories for all three!) with a Quinoa and wheatberry blend (a mere 130 calories), and still have enough room — calorically speaking — left for dessert, and not feel guilty about it.
I’m just so thrilled I was able to have a great meal at Chili’s!

I have been to this location multiple times and I have yet to find a decent waitress/​waiter. All of them seem to be rude and in a rush. I don’t know if they are just understaffed or undertrained but the service is absolutely terrible and I don’t plan on ever returning.

I would never say, «Hey, let’s eat at Chili’s tonight!» It’s really not my cup of tea. However, props to the company for the thorough allergen menu (s). We stopped by for lunch on a Sunday and were able to confidently get our 10 y/​o a bacon cheeseburger and fries with no worries. Service was attentive and friendly. Utensils were spotty and some pieces a bit dirty, like they’d been overloaded in the dishwasher. While the kid downed his burger, we had salads … that each cost more than the burger. Overpriced little chicken salads! :) Will we be back? In a pinch, sure. But for chain restaurants with allergen menus, I prefer Red Robin.

This is a hit or miss. The new menu is awesome but the staff are a little lazy. I’ve had decent servers too. Food is always consistent.

Seriously, don’t come to this location.
We actually really enjoy the food, but have yet to receive anything close to acceptable service.
Tonight we came in, as we had vouchers from our last visit. Our last visit was the single most offensive dining experience I’ve ever had. The waiter was racist, and told us how he gives up any tables that might be Hispanic, because, and I’m quoting here, «I don’t speak Mexican, and it’s too confusing.» Like, seriously? Then he continued on with the racism train and did a ridiculously stereotypical Asian accent. Like South Park bad. I told management and was given a voucher. Ok, fine second chance time.
Tonight was not much better. True there was no racism, thankfully, but that waiter is still employed. So that’s cool. Good to know that Chili’s supports racist assholes. Service was pretty awful. Appetizer came out after the food, a personal pet peeve of mine, and that’s about when our server dropped off the face of the earth. Finally found out he was out back smoking. He could have at least brought us the beverages he promised 5 minutes before he disappeared before vanishing for an extra 20. Finally got another server, who seemed awesome, to bring us our beverages. So thanks random waiter for being better than anyone who’s actually served us there.
Will not be returning to this location a third time.

My family and I were seated immediately, but that was the only timely thing that happened. After seating us and being greeted by the waiter, fifteen minutes went by before we saw him again to order our drinks. The entire night the service was terrible; the waiter only stopping by to drop off our drinks and food. Our dinner took an additional thirty minutes after the drinks came. We got our appetizer after dinner (still paid for it though). One of my friends was seated near us, after we arrived, but got their food and finished it before we even got ours.
With no apologies or explanations, I’m left thinking this is the norm and have no desire to go back to find out.

My wife and I go here pretty regularly. Sure its a large chain restaurant, but their Steak Fajitas and Queso are always great and the quality is pretty reliable. I’ve always had good luck with the service as well.

Went there today and the waitress was beyond rude. Another waitress came over and gave us chips and salsa. Our group thought chips and salsa came with the meal, so we started eating them. Our waitress then asked who was going to pay for the chips they gave to us… We refused to pay that was not our mistake.
The waitress then asked us 3 different times how we are going to pay for 8 of us. We asked every time to please separate the bills. She not only rolled her eyes, but she said «okay then…» in a rude tone. I would not go back to this particular location.
We also had to asked 3 times for waters and the drinks that we ordered. Finally the manager came over to help. The only thing that evened out the trip was the fact the food was actually good…

LOVE Chili’s! The wait staff –everyone there is fantastic! Talk about superb customer service-​WOW, they ROCK! The food is delicious! Ample servings, served hot and so very flavorful! My hat is off to the chef there to a job well done! The best part, it’s affordable. What a great place to go for lunch, with friends or your family. Very kid friendly, which is important to us! Fabulous restaurant!

Just picked up nachos to go. They were way over «cooked». The chips were almost burnt. Next time, if there is one, I’ll check my food before I leave. Who wants to drive back to the restaurant when you have an issue.

Decent food at decent prices, the bar here isn’t too bad either.

Well that was one of the worst meals I’ve had in a long time. We asked to have our son’s food first so we could feed our 1 yr old and everything came out at once in under 5 minutes. The food was sub par at best, the «crispy chicken» was more soggy then my pasta and half of her dish was ice cold and the corn on the cob was raw. And my dish was better served out of a buffet. It might not have been so dry and tasteless if the food was not cooked this morning. My wife’s drink originally came with something floating in it. Even though it was a Saturday evening it was still early, we saw the bus boy at our table more often than our waiter. It has been some time since our last visit to a Chili’s and the only reason we went there tonight was because we had a gift card. I think it will be some time before we’ll feel brave enough to try them again.

Chili’s…it is what it is, and my review reflects this…
We typically come here at least 3 or 4 times a year, at least one time being for a birthday party and ribs. They have ALWAYS treated us well, the food is decent, service is friendly, the the Chili’s experience is perfect for a fun, bit loud, and silly birthday party. The staff are fun, and oh-​so-​patient. Hint… free brownie-​ice cream treat on birthdays and with movie ticket stubs. DANGER… sweet but, hard to resist.
The other times we’re here it’s for lunch during errands. We usually sit at a hi-​top in the bar to avoid the wait. The waits can be long during peak periods but, they handle them well. It’s a fun place to watch games, good visibility of televisions in the bar and they’re really nice about switching channels. I’ve always had decent service here, too.
The food… the food is Chili’s. It’s not fine dining, and not meant to be. It’s a hell of a lot better than Perkins or Red Robin. They do a nice Tex-​Mex/​American blend menu, with a lot of good healthy choice options. They’re also not afraid to do tangy, hot, and flavorful. If you can’t find something you like on the huge menu, you’re just too darn picky and don’t go out to eat with me.
My only complaint is the place can be dirty. To be fair, that’s a bit inevitable with such a popular and busy location. The staff do run around cleaning and are attentive but, on more than one occasion, I’ve had a dirty booth or table. So, for that, 4 of 5 stars. I’d give them 4.5 if it was an option.

I have had some good food here but a few years back they went downhill in quality especially noticeable in their burgers. So I pointed it out to management and they gave me some bs about how I must have just hit a bad day or something and no apology or compensation for a disappointing meal.
Anyway, I haven’t been back in years but recently stopped in for a burger and the menu was changed and the burger I ordered was enormous and quite good. Not sure yet about the other burgers but it looks like they have corrected some things.
Service was a little slow but ok. Food took a little while but finally arrived after say 15 min? I’d rather wait 15 for properly prepared food than get something quick and not properly prepared. Everything was super hot. Yum!
They have some techno gadget on the table that serves as a sort of menu/​gamebox/​call for order thing. I just pushed it aside. Does anyone know what this is all about? I thought it was kind of weird.

I am normally not a big fan of chain locations like this. I came here based on my friends votes. But the food was tolerable and the service was friendly enough. So nothing to complain about, but nothing to brag about either.

Not offensively bad, but there are too many good restaurants in Madison to waste your time on a mediocre at best chain like Chili’s. Better restaurants on the West Side. Heck, better restaurants at the same mall: If you’re considering Chili’s, go to Granite City instead.
It’s also unforgivable (well, almost… I’ll expand on this when I review the Dane) to be a bar and grill with lousy fries.

I agree with Patrick T. I should hate to eat here but I don’t. It’s actually not a bad place to get some food. Service is always above average.

This is one of my personal favorites… super-​busy on friday nights… but they have a very lively atmosphere. It always perks me up if I am feeling low. You can never walk out without getting the following 2 things:
1) Shanghai wings… yummmmm
2) Molten Chocolate cake… yummmmmmmmmmmm