Chili's Grill & Bar — Restaurant in Little Rock

Yes, this is a long review, but that is how bad our experience was. The summary is that we wasted our time. We placed an online order a little before 8 and received a notification that said our order would be ready to pick up at 8:15. We we're at the restaurant by 8:20. We then spent a little bit of time deciding whether or not to go in and after driving by the door and seeing that the entire entry way was completely full of people we decided to stay out. After a while of waiting for the amount of people to go down, we decided to call. We then realized that the automated message specifically said to not go in and instructed us to park in a to go spot and wait for someone to deliver the food. So that is what we did, but no one ever came. We then tried multiple times to reach someone but were put on hold for a long period of time. 45 minutes later the reastruant was closed but we stopped a customer who had been walking out and told them our situation. He was very kind and decided to help us out. After talking to the person at the desk for a few minutes, he came back and told us that the person asked if we had ordered to that Chili's and said they didn't have an order in the system. After pulling up our order confirmation we decided to bite the bullet and go in. We showed the person at the desk the confirmation and he showed it to someone else working there, who came to talk to us. He explained their delima of only having 3 people working there that shift. While I'm sympathetic to his situation, it is a business. He then suggested we'd set our order to delivery and that someone from door dash came to pick it up. While this was happening, one of his co-workers went through the one to go order that was left and it turns out it was ours. After all this we were not offered any form of discount or compensation. When we got home and sat down to eat, there was sides missing from the dishes and things that were requested to stay off still on. Until Chili's figures out an effective and safe system, I would recommend that you not waste your time or...

We were traveling and really just needed food, as we had several more hours to go, and it was starting to get late...so we mapped to this Chili's. I've waited a couple of weeks before posting my thoughts, which is the reason I'm giving 3 stars, instead of 1. Okay...so we ordered 3 different meals, including 2 different soups. Literally every single item tasted beyond overly salted. I've sat at many different Chili's tables, for decades, and tried many different items of their menu. This meal made no sense. With experience of managing restaurants myself, somebody in charge, that does not want their financials to tank in the next couple of years, and close their doors, may want to intervene. The food, as I stated, was horrendous. We asked for 3 to-go boxes, packed our meals up, and cashed out. The bartender on duty that evening was unnecessarily rude to me. I came back inside, after leaving, to let somebody know that a vehicle in the lot had left their headlights on. Aside from the food, this single person's eye rolling, don't bother me, chip on their shoulder attitude, made me consider calling him out on it. But sadly it was clear, that they weren't mad at me, they're mad at their own life...and I had far better places to be. Our Server was a tiny, young Spanish girl, and she was a very hard worker. She was incredibly sweet, but it was sad that she seemed to know she was fighting a losing battle, and was very close to no longer caring. Andrew our Host was awesome. He greeted us warmly, seated us quickly, and even got our first round of beverages in front of us in under a minute and a half of being seated. Our Server's heart, because it was obvious that this girl was genuinely trying...and Andrew, are the sole reason for the 3 stars. Whomever this franchise belongs to, it needs some prompt attention. I'm sorry, please don't hate...

TL;DR Review: Food is okay, Service is okay, Prices are way too high.

I went to Chili's with my wife and two kids. They served the kids before we got our food. WAY before we got our food. As in, the kids were done eating all but fries when we got our food. They usually don't even eat fries. This means the kids got their food 25 minutes before we got ours. This is a problem for me, because after they eat, the kids are ready to go. So, to beat a horse that if not dead is in immediate danger of expiring; our kids were ready to go and antsy as we were taking our first bites.

My wife had the burger, which she said was dry. It had bacon on it, which was dry. How do you serve a dry burger with dry bacon on it? I had the fajitas, which were pretty decent. Is not giving you half as many tortillas as it will take to finish your food a thing? Because it happens literally everywhere we go. Anyway, my food was pretty good. One thing though: Pretty much anywhere else you choose to eat fajitas will serve you limitless chips and salsa. No chips here unless you pay for it. Lame.

For being the restaurant that invented fajitas, you'd think they'd be able to deliver a better experience. These fajitas weren't even steaming when they placed them before me. The heads of the denizens of nearby booths didn't snap up in envy. Which is really the only reason you'd order fajitas in the first place. So I was robbed. They might as well have served me a chicken burrito or chicken deconstructed tacos.

As an app we did have the awesome blossum petals, and they were fantastic. The petals themselves were milquetoast, but the sauce they had to dip them in was really strong with horseradish. We love horseradish. If you take that sauce and a bloomin' onion from Outback, it's a perfect appetizer.

We'll be back at some...