Chili's Grill & Bar — Restaurant in Cookeville

On 6/30/19, what was anticipated as a typical Chili’s visit featuring a starter of delicious chips and salsa turned out to be nothing but a series of disappointments.

First we were served a very weak glass of lemonade tasting like mildew. Not sure why -- it was either the water or the ice, or VERY old, expired lemonade.

Next, we were served a basket of stone cold, rubbery chips -- several which were inedible masses stuck together (see pic) with congealed grease — a seriously disgusting mess. When the waitress was shown the clumps of stuck together chips, she laughed and walked away saying “I’ll get you a new order.” No apology. About SEVEN minutes later, she returns and says they’re having a “problem” warming up another order of chips. We told her to take away the plate and forget about, just take it off the check. She returns a THIRD time, this time bearing a basket of semi-warm chips which we go ahead and consume since we are ravenous by this point.

Given the poor service thus-far, one of us ordered for their dinner a simple bowl of potato soup -- a nation-wide Chili's staple that normally does not disappoint -- until now. The smallish size bowl (did they shrink their serving size at some point in time?) contained about 80% assorted shredded cheeses, and 20% actual soup. Once the cheese melted, it became a thick, gooey sauce that was not all that appetizing or edible. A few spoonfuls were about all that could be tolerated. The other entree ordered was a bbq brisket plate with fries and corn on the cob.

The first thing we noticed on the entree was that the corn was essentially cold... not even warm enough to melt the congealed "sauce(?)" they use to dress up the most basic of side dishes. Our waitress came back to ask if we needed anything else, and when we mentioned the cold corn, she sighed, and said she would "go get the manager." Said manager came to the table and defended the mystery "corn sauce" by claiming it "comes that way" (cold!) and offered to microwave a fresh piece and comp us the cost of the chips. And off he ran... In his temporary absence, we discovered that the fries were piping hot; the brisket, not so much. The manager delivered more corn and left in a flurry... not once uttering the simple words: "I'm sorry." Closer examination of the brisket revealed shiny white slices of mostly fat surrounded by a hint of actual meat, piled on top of a soggy piece of Texas toast. The chef evidently thought an ample squirt of bbq sauce would hide the nastier slices. Guess again. In vain, we tried to dig deeper and find actual meat. A single taste was enough to completely lose ones appetite, so the remainder of our short stay was spent staring in disgust at our barely touched food.

By this time, the waitress seemed well-practiced in completely ignoring our obvious displeasure and skillfully slapped the check on our table while avoiding all eye-contact.

Regrettably, we paid the check in full and even left a dollar tip for our hapless server. We consider it a valuable $28 lesson entitled "NEVER AGAIN eat at a Chili's restaurant anywhere, especially in...

Will never ever be back to this chilis again. I warn you do not go their. Ive been their twice. First time service was horrible. Our onion rings for the appetizer were burnt and my cajun chicken pasta was cold and when I told them they left and came back with it in two minutes. I no how to use a microave but is not a good idea when you have tomatoes kn a dish. Was absolutely disgusting. Now the last time I went was the worst restraunt experience in my life hands down. We sat down nobody came to get our drink orders for ten minutes. Then took another ten to bring them back. The appetizer literally took another twenty min to get to us. We waited about an hr for our food and she had all of our food but decided to tell us when she brought it that my daughters corn dog they were out of which she was whining at this point. So i asked for fried chicken nuggets instead and they were so soggy my four yr old daughter wouldnt even eat them. The server was very cold with us the whole time especially when I asked to replace them. At this point we had been in their for two hours and I was just over it. I told her to forget about her meal completely that we had waited long enough. She gave us the check after another twenty min. Well our order was 24 dollars and for her sorry service I was gonna leave her 26 dollars not realizing that two twenties were stuck together until I went out to my car and looked inside. I ran back in and informed the hostess. She told my server and she completely denied it. Well I work nights and I just thought maybe im tired so went to head to walmart and he informed me I did give the lady an extra twenty. We turned back around and I spoke straight to a manager. He told me their was nothing he could do but give me the gms number. I called him that morning and he said he would investigate it and call me right back. Four days later I call because I never heard anything and he said he lost my number. How unprofessional. Then he said he could give me a store credit but no cash. I told him I would never be at his restraunt again because the service is the WORST I've ever had. So im warning you if you go here please be weary of your pockets because these people are theives and have no professionalism whatssoever. Will never step foot in...

After many bad experiences I'm officially done with this Chili's!! Last night we ate there and i have celiac disease so I need to order off the gluten free menu which they offer. Its serious for me as any small amount of gluten I get exposed to causes an inflammatory auto immune response and has me sick for a very long time, sometimes resulting in hospitilization if it is a lot. I rarely eat out but trusted chili's. I got the baked potato soup as its already gluten free and so I thought it wouldn't get contaminated. Of course today I am paying for it and I am extremely sick which means something happened. I heard from someone else on an online forum that they had gotten sick from the same soup there and found out later from a chef there that sometimes they use flour to thicken it if it gets watery waiting to be served. They should NOT allow something to be on an allergy menu and then add that allergen in and not tell you!!

If that wasn't enough, the time before this that we went (couple months ago) my friend with me got chicken tenders and they came out cold. He kindly asked if they could warm it up and the waiter reached out and touched his chicken with his bare hands and said "doesn't feel cold to me"..... Um unprofessional much?!?!"

Then for the last 3 times we've visited our silverware has had to be sent back cause it still had crusty food on it. That is nasty first of all but because of my dietary restrictions due to my disease it can also be dangerous for me. The bathrooms are always disgusting too but those are little things compared to the big things. I'm guessing the kitchen looks like the bathrooms....