Chili's Grill & Bar — Restaurant in Rome

I will not leave the name of the server I had tonight, but for whatever reason, it was a bad experience as far as service was concerned. Tonight, I showed up to the restaurant, roughly before 10, around 9 PM. Restaurant closes at 11PM on this night. Server was somewhat attentive, but due to multiple customers, I think her focus was not equal and consistent among all customers. She did not leave me totally alone, but I did not receive as much or the same attention as her other tables. Several times, within a 19 minute period, I waited for her to come back to my table. Once she did come back, she asked me if I was cashing out or paying with a card. I said I was waiting for her to return to order another item, which was an acholic drink, and she said alcohol stops at 1145, but she didn't announce 'Last Call' time or came to ask my if I wanted another acholic drink or food before Last Call. I explained I couldn't order because I waited on her to return, to check on me. So, my issue tonight was that my order was initially incomplete, 1st brought out exceptionally first, but to fix errors for food, 2nd patty and side took sevetal minutes to be presented. This second Patty and that side came out 7 minutes later. So when I asked the server, why did the first patty come out so fast? And the second one took so long her was reply was "I don't know. I don't cook the food. I just bring it out." So I didn't say anything to her, but I took offense to her reply,, because her answer was definitely unprofessional. Her best answer would have been I don't know but if you would like I can bring you the manager for any concerns. I would have gladly accepted the recommended professional answer versus her comment, "I don't know, I don't cook the food. I bring it out." I took offense to her comment. Table and then, when she returned to table, she asked for a check or wanted me to close out when I actually wanted to order something else but I couldn't order it because she said it was time to close so she best me. Let me sit in there for a couple of minutes and then come back when she's ready to go home where she is checking on me as she did the other tables but need to hear. No there. Everything else was great for The Visit. But yes, definitely. The service was subpar and again. Not gonna name the server, but she definitely was overwhelmed tonight or heavily distracted..I don't think I should be badh for her for what happened. To note I was a server, cook, and manager so I have grand knowledge and experience in both as a server and a manager within food service. As I said I'm not knocking her she did her best. But again, there were a couple of things that could have been avoided by attentive service. I'm a loyal Chillis supporter for generations now. Not happy in posting the negative service comment because of a server. But yes, that's the only thing I can say went wrong for this location and...

Note: The star-rating for this franchise is misleadingly high as there are some obvious shill ratings from several years ago. Please read this recent review and the others for some true reviews of this restaurant.

I had not been to Chili's in Rome in some years but visited weekly some years ago. Boy, has this place gone down in every respect.

My wife and I arrived mid-afternoon and had to stand at the front for 5 minutes with no employees in sight. We later realized there were 3 employees working, including the cook. The floor was dirty and we were seated at a table with food remains on the seats and floor underneath. Chili's must be in bad shape financially, because the cost-cutting measures were glaringly obvious: 3 employees, restaurant was cold, portions cut back, alcohol content of drink not up to par (according to my wife).

The food was uninspired and portions much smaller from what they used to be. I ordered the margarita grilled Chicken dish, a spin-off of an excellent tuna steak margarita grilled dish they used to serve. What a difference in the dishes. The old dish was seated on a corn tortilla - now there are 'tortilla strips' in it. Black beans must be cheap, because this dish was heaping with them - much more than previously. The old dish had a great sauce - now it is hardly even discernible.

When I ordered, the waitress asked if I wanted the black beans and rice or two other sides. This confused me as part of the signature of this dish is that it is served on a bed of rice and black beans. Why would you offer to substitute something like that. It is the same as asking if you want to substitute that burrito for a taco, or that baked chicken with some fried chicken. Poor employee training or just desperately trying to keep your few customers happy?

We also had a potato skin appetizer. The dish was small for the price. Other local restaurants do this appetizer for lower cost and larger portions.

With only 3 employees the service was sub-standard as would be expected.

My wife and I knew after just a few minutes that this is not the Chili's we used to enjoy patronizing and that we would not be back. I wouldn't be surprised to see this franchise closing soon - it had the aura of imminent death all about it. Quite a shame as Chili's used to have some unique and...

Ok, last year, we came here and I gave the Chilis Rome location 4 stars. It was great. Service was wonderful, food was delicious. I really wish we could say the same thing tonight. Three of us came in for dinner. We waited maybe five minutes to be seated, not too bad. We had to wait about 10 minutes for a server to come and ask us about drinks. I asked how much one of the alcoholic beverages were, she didn't know but said she would ask (hint: she never did). We all got burgers, and from $9-12 a burger, we expected it to be pretty good, with a great portion of fries. Eh, wrong. We got measly little burgers, slimy, oily, greasy, and a small handful of fries... not worth the $12 my burger was. My friend got a cheaper burger, but as soon as he took a bite, he nearly broke his tooth at how burnt and hard the burger was. I looked at it, flicked it, and sure enough. Hard as a rock. He brought it up with the server, and she comes out and says that the manager is on the grill and they can't cook that well.... well, why even waste the time grilling? Well, she did replace the burger with a more expensive item and didn't charge for either one. That was the highlight of the evening, especially considering we only saw our server a total of 3 times in 45 minutes. Our cups spent more time empty or with melted ice than sweet tea, and when there was tea in it, it was watered down and bitter.

Take my advice, go to Olive Garden just...