Chili's Grill & Bar — Restaurant in Waldorf

On 8/28/21 my friend & I were hungry and decided that we would go to Chili’s. Upon arrival; we waited to be seated. A lady (who appeared to be a waitress) attempted to seat us in a baby booth by the bathroom. I requested to be seated at a different booth. With a very strong attitude, and of course eye rolling relocated us to a different area and didn’t tell our waitress that she sat us down. About 15-20 minutes passed and no one came to serve us. I proceeded to the back area and asked this nice gentleman if he could send our waitress our way. I sat back down and waited. Another 10-15 minutes later; a young lady comes to our table with an attitude for NO apparent reason and asked could she take our drink order. I asked for a coke with no ice and a cup of ice & my friend ordered a drink. 15 minutes later she comes with our drink however not as ordered. I politely told her I requested a coke with no ice & a cup of ice. Her response after batting her eyes with her hello kitty eyelashes and responded, “Oh.” She then walked away. We finally placed our order and waited about 20 minutes for the order. I asked the waitress if there was a manager there and she said we don’t have a manager here. About 7 minutes later a young lady approached our table and asked us if everything was okay as she was made aware of our concerns. She then proceeded to say she was a “visiting manager” from Martinsburg, VA. She proceeded to tell us her name was Jess (absolutely wonderful) and that she would ensure that we are taken care of. Jess continued to check up on us during our visit. My friend decided she wanted some fried pickles and asked the waitress for fried pickles. That too took forever; but this time when she brought the pickles to the table, she dropped the ranch right at our table on the floor and the ranch dressing splattered everywhere. It was on our seats, my dress, my hair and the tv over my head. I stared at the waitress and she just stared back at me with this look on her face like, “yes I spilled it and what”. She never apologized and NEVER brought my friend another ranch dressing. Luckily I had two so I shared one. Jess, the manager came over and asked what happened and I explained what happened. When the waitress came back over she advised her that she must clean it up. She with an attitude said, “I am!” When the visiting manager returned, she noticed the ranch was still on the floor with the mop and bucket close by. Not only was the visiting manager, Jess checking on my friend and I regularly; she cleaned up the ranch dressing on the floor. After she cleaned up the ranch dressing; she asked us if we needed anything else. Jess also advised us that our meal would be taken care of. I want to express if I could give this restaurant a zero I would. If you are hungry DO NOT COME HERE!!!! The service is the absolute worst! However, I will say that Jess, the visiting manager from Martinsburg, VA was very responsive, personable, made my friend and I laugh because she cared. That’s the kind of manager needed at Chile’s. The waitress contributed her attitude to having a “bad day”. Your customers don’t know that all they know is the bad attitude you...

I really hate to complain because normally visits are fine when we come here but this time was so bad it was genuinely insane. When we arrived we were told there would be a 15 minute wait - no biggie, I understand. We just went and waited in the car. When we got inside, they sat us and literally forgot about us. I got the text to come inside at 5:15, we sat immediately, and I am not exaggerating when I say that we did not have someone come check on us until we went back to the hostess stand to ask if they forgot about us - which she admitted they did. We waited until 5:50 to ask (I know this time specifically because we were giving them the benefit of the doubt and decided we would ask then.) We ordered cheese fries and got drinks when the guy finally came, and we never got the cheese fries. The drinks were fine aside from the fact that one of the water cups was visibly not cleaned and still had leftover lemonade seeds stuck to it. Not a huge complaint, but the AC on the ceiling was also leaking on my partner which was more irritating than anything. The lady who dropped the drinks off made it like a hit and run. She dropped the drinks on the table, didn’t even leave us straws, and zipped out without saying anything. Less than five seconds at the table. We had to go get our own straws from the hostess stand because, if you wouldn’t believe it, the waiter had vanished again. He came to the table no more than 3 times during our visit after we ordered, and never refilled the drinks or checked to even see if they needed to be refilled. I have a 4 year old and she had no drink with her dinner because by the time we got the food (6:30 ish) we had been in the restaurant for over an hour and never had them refilled. I am so genuinely frustrated with this experience if you cannot tell. I in no way mean to be a Karen, we didn’t ask for a discount or demand to speak to a manager or anything, and I understand being a little busy but to a point it becomes ridiculous. We have a three strike rule for restaurants where we don’t go back to them if they hit three, and this was definitely a strike for us. A little bit of communication or care would have gone a long way, but the waiter genuinely could not have cared less. When my partner asked if he could check on the cheese fries, he said “sure” and then went to stand and tap on his iPad and literally never brought the fries or even check on them. Just all in all...

I am new to the area and found myself applying to this local chilis. Although onboarding is put together by corporate, I was thrown at tables at the advisement of the Manager and whom he assigned to train me. I greeted several table with no tablet (the thing to take orders with), was sent on the floor with no apron that should have been provided to me and no menu/food training. I know those who were affected by the lousy management had a bad start. I cant even tell you the tables because well... we didn't go over table numbers.

On a personal note, The General manager request my identification documents at the host stand. inspected my passport and other items as guest were passing us by. Spoke on my age "Why is everyone younger than me im tired of it" and my middle name being "Chardonnay" as interesting. My name is French with intention.

As a customer and almost employee, its really a train wreck. My spouse ordered food in anticipation of picking me up that dat. That order later that afternoon also had an issue.

Only after two days did someone call me to ask what happened when I left and what they could have done better. It was not Josh himself. I did not get any sense of ownership over the situation or really addressing the issue. I know their effort but the blind are leading the blind.

There is a clear lack of professionalism and regard for care. Lots of passing the buck, only person seemingly adequate is Phoneicia (forgive all spellings mistakes). To me, it seems they aren't interested in even protecting themselves from HR disputes and suits. I intend to go beyond the general manager as there have not been sufficient response to the incident yet.

The money lost on tables is their problem, but my identification documents and comments made on my personhood need be addressed and shouldn't have cost the position when I was...