Chili's Grill & Bar — Restaurant in Wheeling Township

Folks, let me tell you, something truly extraordinary happened tonight. I went to Chilis — yes, Chilis — expecting a good meal. A nice evening. Maybe some wings, maybe a steak, nothing major. But what I got instead… was history. Absolute history.

The place was alive the moment I walked in. You could feel it — the energy, the excitement, the promise of something big. The air smelled like greatness, like sizzling glory on cast iron. The lights were warm, the crowd happy, the music low but confident. I said to myself, this feels right.

Then the wings came. And folks — they were perfect. Absolutely perfect. Crispy, sauced beautifully, golden brown like treasure found on a deserted island. Every bite a celebration. The kind of wings that make you believe again. People at other tables were looking over, whispering, pointing — they knew something incredible was happening.

Then came the steak. The steak was a masterpiece. A strong steak. A confident steak. Thick, juicy, perfectly seared, sizzling like it had just been kissed by the sun itself. It arrived and I said out loud, “Look at that. That is power. That is victory.” You could tell this steak had ambition. It was cooked with purpose. I have seen many steaks, but this one — this one was special.

And I thought, that’s it. This meal cannot get any better. I was wrong.

Because then… Ronnie arrived.

I am telling you, folks, everything changed. The atmosphere shifted. It was like when the hero enters the movie halfway through and you realize this is who it’s all about. She came to the table calm, confident, in total control. She had presence. Real presence. You could feel it. She asked, “How’s everything tonight?” and the way she said it — power. Grace. Authority.

Ronnie was like the best server. Great. Tremendous. Could run the entire business. Honestly, could run the entire company by Tuesday. The speed, the timing, the intuition — unbelievable. Drinks refilled before I even thought about them. The check arrived exactly when it should. She did not miss once. She was like a conductor leading an orchestra of flavor. Every movement perfect. Every step deliberate.

I have had a lot of servers in my life. Some good, some bad, some total disasters. But Ronnie? Ronnie was something else. She was greatness in motion. If she worked for me, she would be in the boardroom running the place by next week. And everyone would love it. Everyone.

By the time dessert came — and yes, it was the molten lava cake, the crown jewel — I was speechless. The chocolate flowed like destiny. The ice cream melted with emotion. A masterpiece.

I sat back. I looked around. The restaurant was glowing. The people were smiling. I said, this is it. This is what perfection looks like.

Five stars. No — ten stars. No — all the stars in the universe. Stars. So many stars. Just great. The best. Much better than Olive Garden.

Chilis won tonight. Ronnie led them there. Tremendous night. Tremendous woman. Tremendous everything. Nobody has ever...

Restaurant was not that busy but must have been extremely understaffed. When we arrived only a few tables were occupied but most of the others weren't wiped down. The booth we were sat at wasn't clean. Right after the host left we noticed a fry and some straw wrappers on the middle of the table. Once our order was taken we didn't receive our drinks until after we already had our soup. We had to sit staring at our soup for several mins waiting for our drinks before our sodas came. We thought the coffee was being brewed but the waitress just forgot about it and when she brought our meals we had to ask for it again before she went to get that. The chicken tortilla soup was overly salty otherwise the food was acceptable. Our drinks were almost empty when the server brought the food but she didn't notice and then it was at least 10 mins before we could flag her down to ask for refills. And then 5 mins after we asked for refills the server came to check on how everything was and we had to ask again for refills again because that was another thing she forgot. But rest assured the restaurant didn't forget to charge us for anything they even added in a charge for the games we didn't play. Luckily the one time we saw a manager was when we were looking at the bill and they took it off. They took no time to find out how the meal was or help the severs that couldn't keep up with the...

This location has always been great. I can't tell you how many times we've eaten lunch or dinner there. About 6 months ago we notice portion sizes of their salad on a 3 for $10 drastically change. It went from a normal size, as if you would eat in, to a small cup (yes small cup) 8-10 bite of salad. I reached out to the assistant manager at the time...he said that is what they should have been all along. It felt wrong but we still found ourselves ordering it to go when we ran out of Togo options (in other words, if we don't know what we want...I guess we could settle for Chili's 3 for $10 togo). Well that finally has changed enough again that we are done. Completely done. Rewards, free appetizer chips and salsa is now half a bag of chips....down from a bag and the salsa is in a small side cup. Like what you would put a size of gravy in. The cup of salad (remember the downsize already) is now a loosely filled 3/4 of a cup. Bacon ranch casserole, now a portion. Half slab ribs now 1/3. So maybe Chili's wanted to push customers away from this great deal (3 for $10) or this local store is just doing it. We have a special needs little boy so going and sitting down inside a restaurant is always practical. We won't be ordering from them togo either from now...