Chili's Grill & Bar — Restaurant in Plainville

I must admit to curiosity about the glowing reviews. My most recent experience at Plainville Chili's was AGAIN terrible. We had an experience very similar to this five or six months ago, but my daughter was willing to give them another chance.

Waited and waited to be seated when we were the only ones at door. There seemed to be ample waitstaff, but they were oblivious. No host or hostess in sight, anywhere. While waiting, we had time to survey the multiple uncleared tables in our line of sight . . . At 9:30 PM? Our table had to be wiped before we could be seated.

The menu was festooned inside with liberal splashes of some unknown goo, barbeque sauce, and crayon. One menu I might understand, but the one at the table was similarly "decorated." Waitress was more interested in playing with the order tablet than listening. When we replied to her that we were ready to order, she walked away! (In retrospect, I wonder if we should haven taken the hint.)

The "roasted street corn" was not roasted and wasn't really warm--I nibbled an end to be sure. After an eternity of trying to get the attention of waitstaff (who seemed intent on hanging out in the kitchen), I was able to send it back, thinking the boiled sweet corn had been ordered by mistake. I got back THE SAME PIECE of corn with one tiny roast mark added, and a deeper flood of sauce. The manager claimed no, it wasn't the same piece, but the same kernels I nibbled were missing, in the same location and pattern, on the "new" corn. Hmmm. He said they batch bake the corn in the morning and reheat it, that they aren't able to put grill marks "on the cob" due to time factors.

He comped us . . . again . . . but that doesn't cut it this time.

Again, terrible service, disgusting environment that alerted ServSafe training in both of us, and this time highly sauced food hiding dismal preparation that is misrepresented on the menu.

Two strikes and this Chili's is out. Can I...

Came here 10/6 at around 4:30-5 pm and I just want to say the two girls you had upfront hosting were the absolute rudest people I have ever met in my life. They made multiple people (including me my wife and kids) wait when there were plenty of clean tables open and plenty if wait staff. I’m pretty sure they were doing it as a joke because for most people as soon as they sat down to wait they called them back up to be seated. One older gentleman came in with his wife and was told by the girl there it would be about a 10 minute wait and when he asked her why (since there were about 10 clean tables open and plenty of wait staff) the girl who looked like she was just writing down what table was what just said “because thats how it is right now” and whispered something to the girl standing next to her and when they got called for their table I watched the girl who walked them to the table legitimately throw their menus down at them and barley mumble “your server will be right with you” while she was walking away. And when she sat us and gave us our menus we said thank you and she said “mhm” and walked away. Also a couple asked if they could just go sit at the bar and the girl who threw the menus and was walking people to their table said “its not self seating everyone behind you isn’t waiting for nothing” and the rest of the night they gave those tables dirty looks and whispered around to your other waiters and it was a very uncomfortable atmosphere in all honesty had they done much more I would have said something or left all in all you need to have a serious sit down with those two about customer service because I guarantee you they wouldn’t last a day with that nasty attitude at my restaurant. No customer service personality at all. I’ll be going to a different location from now on. Train...

I'm giving this place 5 stars, because of their staff.

The food is exactly what you would expect at a chain - nothing to write home about. But, the staff is why we would come back. We got there just after noon, and there was a 5 minute wait in what looked to be a fairly empty place. No argument here. We just assumed they were understaffed and we were right.

Shortly after being seated by the hostess (who is also doubling as a table busser) we were spoken to by a young man from behind the bar. He let us know he would be right with us. It took quite a while for him to get back to us, but as we observed the rest of the restaurant it became very apparent that he was one of 2 people actively working the floor. We kept watching. This man was serving the entire bar area, running the bar and helping to bus tables all at once. There also appeared to be only one food runner.

Then the lunch rush hit and families started to show up. Being understaffed in a pandemic is 3x as hard as normal. The folks on staff today deserve recognition, because their attitudes were amazing and they handled everything so well.

As you continue to eat out during this crazy time bring your patience with you wherever you go. The struggle is real out there right now. Tip better. Be more courteous. Say thank you. Make yourself the reason our restaurants want to stay open through...