Chili's Grill & Bar — Restaurant in Pueblo

Chili's used to be a popular restaurant choice for many including our family. Upon arrival, the hostess was disorganized and did not seat us at a table, but instead said to sit anywhere and motioned to a few empty booths and tables. We chose the clean table versus the other two dirty (like food and salt and straw wrappers still on the table) options. The waitress had a pleasant demeanor, we a party of 4, had simple orders: crispy chicken tenders, Mac n cheese with fries, a 6oz steak (medium well) with mashed potatoes and steamed broccoli, and a trio fajita plate. Our drink cups were visibly dirty (my husband had a lemonade but it had dark coke on the sides and it seemed sticky). I filled up on the chips and salsa due to the wait of approximately 45 minutes. The first dish that came was the Mac n cheese with fries. The Mac n cheese was congealed to the shape of the bottom of a sauce pan and was burned on some parts and the french fries were very salty- she did eat it because she was hungry and we were waiting a while (6 year old). Our plates came out one at a time each cold and inedible. The chicken strips appeared to be undercooked in some parts and had an unpleasant lemon flavor and the texture from going cold and salt level made it inedible. My husband's steak dinner was repulsive- the steak was raw and bloody and the expeditor was apologetic and took his steak onto another plate and left his mashed potatoes and "steamed" broccoli (which was raw, pre-salted and peppered) swimming in grease and blood. My husband did ask for a replacement plate of fajitas (same as my order) and as well examined my plate- the tortillas were hard on the edges, the food was cold yet the plate was hot, the chicken was not cut all the way through and had a weird slime on the bottom of it, the black beans were sitting in its own juice (more bean juice than beans). We could not eat the food due to temperature, bad flavor and abnormal texture due to poor cooking execution. To be fair, chili's is a chain restaurant and we weren't expecting a 5 star dinner, however, clean dishes and warm food and properly cooked food is a necessity when you are charging $13-20 a plate. The staff overall were nice, but you couldn't tell the difference between customer or staff because of phone use (at the hostess stand) and some staff wearing uniforms and others wearing hoodies and light washed jeans. The manager seemed inexperienced and dumbfounded- offered no real resolutions or fixes. This is when his lemonade was refreshed and found a black speck floating in the cup on the ice. We decided to settle the bill paid for the chips and salsa and Mac n cheese and drinks and left. I would have rather thrown $18.82 in the trash than spend it at chili's. Do yourself a favor and go...

Stopped by to dine in (2 people) on a Tuesday night at approximately 6:30 pm. The place was busy, but not exceptionally or crazy busy. We stood at the hostess station right inside the main doors for approximately 10 minutes before the hostess greeted us, or even acknowledged our presence. We asked to be seated in the bar area at a booth. She stated that we could sit anywhere in the bar area as long as the table was cleared and cleaned (as if we would be the kind of people who would sit at a dirty table, covered in the previous customer’s leavings). We pointed out a booth that was vacant and asked if it could be cleared, and the rude hostess informed us that the bartender was responsible for the entire bar, and he would take care of it whenever he had the chance. We waited… and waited… and waited… but the bartender was too busy talking to the customers at the bar, and making drinks for the servers, and never even bothered to communicate with us to let us know that he would be right with us as soon as he was able. We helped ourselves to a couple of menus at the dirty table, (standing by it, NOT sitting in the booth) thinking that we could help expedite the situation by knowing exactly what we wanted to eat and drink, when the bartender was finally able to clear the table, but he NEVER even acknowledged our presence, let alone communicated with us! And, by the way, when I asked the hostess (who was doing nothing because there was no one waiting to be seated) if she could alert someone that there were people waiting for a clean table, she spoke to us in a rude and condescending manner that we just needed to wait for the bartender because it’s his area. We waited for about another 10 minutes, ( the bartender walked RIGHT PAST US without a word) and finally decided to go somewhere else on Elizabeth where we spent over $80 and had a very good meal, and EXCELLENT service. Chili’s showcased everything that could possibly go wrong with front of the house service, and we never even got to experience the menu offerings. The woman working as the “hostess” seems more suited to a position as a prison matron than a corporate-trained greeter. I recently retired from a 40 year career in the customer service field, having worked as a waiter, bartender, FTH Manager, BTH Manager, and General Manager. I understand the restaurant industry inside and out. I give credit where credit is due, but I also know when people are in the wrong positions, and the proper systems and training aren’t being followed to provide the customer with proper service. Pueblo Chili’s is in need of a SERIOUS overhaul! If you are the General or Regional Manager, you should be ashamed and embarrassed for this...

Hasn’t improved at all. First went to this location only once when I first moved down here eight years ago. The food practically killed me and when I went to use their restroom, I realized there was someone’s blood all over the stall and quickly ran out of there in horror. I decided I wouldn’t go back after that. But my boss gave me a gift card To Chili’s and I decided I guess I better use it. Of course we only have one in town and it had been several years since my really bad experience, So I decided I would maybe give them a try again And just do a to-go order.

First of all, let me say I tried to place this order online, and their own website would not accept their own gift card. As a result, I was forced to go to the restaurant just to place the order.

When I got there and went into place the order the girl at the pick up counter didn’t even greet me. I had to ask her about What did I need to do to place a to go order? She handed me a menu and said nothing. The place was full of people doing door dash so I was just trying to stay out of the way while trying to read the menu and decide what I wanted.

When I told her i was ready, she kept saying that the things I wanted they were out of. I really wasn’t in the mood to argue with her about it, so I just decided to go with a hamburger and fries instead. I asked for medium-well. Took forever to get it, basically went in and out for 30 minutes to check on the progress and go back to my car because there was too much chaos in the pick up entrance. Finally got the food and wanted to get out of there thinking that Due to with the fact that it took so long it would’ve been done correctly, but when I got home the burger and Fries were stone cold and the burger looked more like medium rare.

Called to let them know about it and was put on hold. No one returned to the line. Called a 2nd time and was placed on indefinite hold again. Had to obtain replacement gift card as a refund through their corporate customer service. Don’t waste your time.

Everyone that I dealt with seems super annoyed that they were even there to be working. How are you going to give good customer service when the people that are providing the service don’t even want to be there? If I decide to do another order, it’ll be at a different location in Colorado Springs.

More proof of lackluster chain restaurants in Pueblo. The standards are very low down here for...