Chili's Grill & Bar — Restaurant in San Jose

After years as the top pick for our family of 4 (2 grade school kids), our most recent trip to Chili's will probably be our last... we're sick of them squeezing customers and hoping we won't notice.

The first issues came when coupons were eliminated in favor of a points/rewards system. Within 6 months they dramatically reduced the value of existing points twice (by increasing the point cost of every reward). Then recently, they switched to a different rewards system, and simply cancelled any rewards we had saved up on the old system!

On our recent visit, we noticed the margaritas had a LOT more ice in them than usual, yet the glasses were filled to the same level... when we pointed this out to the waitress (and later a manager who dropped by the table), we were met with arguments instead of apologies: "everything is pre-measured." That may well be, but either the measurements were botched or Chili Corporate has adjusted their measurements to be smaller.

Then the kid's pizzas were brought out... we've been to Chili's dozens of times, and the pizzas are the only thing our kids order, so we were surprised to see that they've significantly reduced the size of the pizzas without changing the price... the difference was absolutely and immediately obvious. Again, complaints to the waitress and manager were met with an argument: "they seem fine to me!"

The guacamole, usually good, was flavorless until we added a ton of salt and lime. The chips, usually wonderful, were mostly small bits & crumbs (the replacement basket we requested good, thankfully). Our burger was cold, and the melted blue cheese crumbles we'd requested were not melted in the slightest... didn't mention either of these two things when the waitress came by to ask whether "everything was ok" -- given the fact she'd argued with us over the two things we'd complained about, it was clear that if it wasn't ok, she didn't want to hear about it.

Our waitress disappeared for long periods of time throughout the meal, and didn't make eye contact with her tables when she did appear... in fact, she walked right by us twice as we repeated "excuse me" in increasing volume -- the next table even tried to get her attention for us, and she still didn't stop. We tipped her on the low end of fair, but we weren't very motivated to give her the 5 star reviews she asked us to give on the table app.

We've been on the fence for a while with Chili's corporate-level moves to squeeze more profits out of customers by stiffing us on discounts, rewards and portion sizes... this last visit pushed us over the edge, and we will...

My fiance and I had an amazing evening together taking engagement pictures tonight. As we were driving home on cloud 9, we weighed our options for dinner and as we drove past Chilis we said, "We love Chilis!" So in light of other options in this shopping center, we know Chilis for its speed of service and quality food, and because it was getting late, we stopped hoping for a quick, delicious bite. Which, I think, is why this visit was so incredibly disappointing. We spent an hour in this restaurant and most of it was being disappointed or trying to figure out what to do about it. After being seated and placing our orders, we sat... and sat.... and sat waiting for his iced tea and for the chips and guac appetizer. 25 minutes passed and the minute we received our chips, our food also came out. At this point, we are tired, impatient, and hungry and we did not want to sit eating all this food at once, so we decided to just box it up and eat the chips and make our way home. So we ask for boxes... and receive the small ones. For an entire burger/fries and plate of pasta. Another 5 minutes pass while our server finds a bigger box and 5 more while we wait for a chance to talk to the manager. At no point, by the way, were we given napkins. Finally the manager explains that a March Madness coupon sold the restaurant out of chips... for hours. So we did not understand why no one informed us that there were no chips for us to eat at any point while we waited. I have had so many great times at Chilis. This is not what I've come to expect. But after this and a few other odd, poor experiences, I realize the quality is slipping here and we will no longer make Chilis our go-to stop. The server and the GM did their best, but in this case it was nevertheless...

11am, came in exactly as they opened. Jason took care of me. I see 2 people working plus a shift manager / host. Doors to the establishment have dirty windows and chipped paint. There’s also a side door to pick up to go items which could be convenient.

I asked for suggestions on a drink. He recommended tropical sunrise. It was tasty. They do have an amazing drinking menu. The prices are way better than a typical bar TBH.

The menu is overwhelming and there’s no way they can make this many items well, which I found out later. There’s an option for unlimited soup, chips and side salad. I’m intrigued but that’s for another trip. Utensils are average quality and average cleanliness.

The self pay machine is disgusting and that’s putting it lightly. Do not touch that device.

There’s a draft beer board that has a few options and I’m told it rotates. Kind of cool if you want to experiment.

Food was average, drink was weak, service was decent. 1 server for 7 tables can be stressful for them.

Overall, it’s a cheap place to get effectively fast food. Definitely a spot for drinks with the $6 monthly margaritas.

Parking: plenty b/c it’s a shopping center Time to be acknowledged: immediately Time to be seated: immediately Time to get food: quick (under 10 min) Time to get water: not offered at all Time to get bar drink: less than 4 min Time to get check once finished: 15+ min so far. Unacceptable.

Notes for the GM: Don’t let servers focus on new customers. As the time increases, the tip can go inversely proportional. I gave him 25% but others might not be so kind. Servers should not seat people. Make the host do their job properly. They need to focus on existing customers.

I’ll be back here but not for a date. Good for...