Chili's Grill & Bar serves up Tex-Mex appetizers and entrées in a casual dining atmosphere.
In 1975, the very first Chili's opened for business in Texas. The initial Chili's concept,
which was created by company founder, Larry Levine, was all about offering full-service,
casual dining. In 1983, the company's founder sold off the eateries to a businessman named
Norman E. Brinker, who used to work for Pillsbury's restaurant group. These days, the restaurant
offers a host of tasty choices to patrons, but there's a lot that most people don't know
about Chili's. So let’s dive into the interesting secrets about this beloved restaurant chain
and uncover the top 10 untold truths of Chili’s.
Are the Drinks at Chili’s Watered Down?
One Chili's employee decided to anonymously spill the beans about the restaurant. They
claimed that cocktails at the eatery are routinely watered down. Anyone who has noticed weak
drink flavor while imbibing at Chili's maybe sipping a drink that just isn't as potent
as it should be. Of course, there's no outright proof that this happens. It's based on an
anonymous report, as well as reviews from some less-than-happy customers. While it is
a rumor, it's something that Chili's patrons may want to keep in mind the next time that
they visit the restaurant. So, why would drinks be watered down, anyway? Well, there are a
range of reasons why dining establishments water down cocktails. Ultimately, they do
it to boost profits. Booze is expensive and serving watery drinks means less booze per
serving. The alcohol is diluted before it's added. Cocktails that don't deliver the usual
kick may lead to more cocktails, just to get the typical sensation. This means more money
in a restaurant's coffers and (possibly) more bar tips, too. Watering down drinks is fairly
shady because most customers don't realize that it's happening. They are being hoodwinked.
When restaurants do it, they aren't honoring their customers. Customers aren't getting
what they paid for. TGIF's got busted and fined for watering down drinks. To be fair
and balanced, some people who've posted online love Chili's drinks and one raved about the
amazing taste of the Spicy Sauza Jalapeno Margarita, which was described as "boozy",
as well as spicy, sweet and salty.
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Many Chili’s Customers Don't Have Room for Dessert
Chili's staff reportedly try to push desserts on their customers, possibly to sweeten them
up before the bill comes and it's time to decide on tips for servers, but many Chili's
patrons may be too full to indulge, even though the eatery's selection of four luscious desserts
is pretty enticing. The large appetizer and portion sizes, as well as Happy Hour specials
on drinks, maybe the reason why a lot of customers can't find room for Molten Chocolate Lava
Cake, Cheesecake, S'Mores Molten Cake or Skillet Chocolate Chip Cookies. One former staff member
at the restaurant says that the desserts taste great, and sometimes trigger unwanted weight
gain among Chili's servers and other Chili's employees. The next time you're at Chili's,
you may want to order one of these desserts, which are highly-rated, even if you can only
find room for a bite or two. While they aren't diet desserts, they aren't supposed to be.
Chili's is about filling customers up with the kind of food that they crave. There are
healthy menu options at Chili's, but the desserts are meant to be a treat and this means sugar
and fat. If you usually skip desserts while chilling at Chili's, it may be time to sample
these sweet confections, although you may need to hit the gym the next day. It might
be worth it. The official Chili's website describes its desserts as "big enough to share",
so everyone at the table may want to have a taste. If info sourced online, which doesn't
come directly from the Chili's website, is accurate, the Molten Chocolate Cake has more
than a thousand calories. If you eat just a quarter of it, you'll enjoy decadent taste
without the big caloric intake.
Wait Times for Service at Chili’s Can Be an Issue
Customers who come to Chili's want prompt service, but a Chili's insider says that wait
times for service are often an issue, mostly due to under-staffing. This eatery is very
popular and brings in patrons in droves. Some have to wait before being seated or be patient
while their food and drinks are being prepared. Customers who don't mind a bit of a wait may
not have a problem with the wait times, but the various unhappy reviews on TripAdvisor
don’t look too great for the restaurant. This problem is real. However, it's hard to
say if the eatery's wait times are any longer than the wait times of its chief rivals, including
Applebee's and Ruby Tuesday. Even so, wait times may be an issue that are hurting the
restaurant's bottom line. Last year, Chili's experienced a downturn in business. The restaurant
chain earned 2.2 percent less profits, based on comparisons with the previous year. This
led to restructuring, like downsizing, which would lower the cost of operations and help
Chili's to make the most of available resources. Casual dining as a whole has taken a hit recently,
so Chili's isn't the only restaurant that's suffering. Chili's did decide to lay off thirty
field team staff members, as well as fifty members of its corporate team, in order to
trim costs. But if the wait times are already due to under-staffing, it’s hard to see
how this will help.
Microwaves are a Chili's Kitchen Staple
Some restaurant customers don't mind when their food is prepared or heated up in microwaves.
Others are looking for more from their culinary experiences at eateries. A Chili's insider
who shared anonymous information about the company's business practices reported that
microwaves are a big part of Chili's kitchen processes. They are used to cook food. This
Chili's gossip is one person's point of view, but there is a chance that the company prepares
the majority of its dishes in microwaves, instead of on stoves or inside ovens. Those
who are focused on finding the freshest food at local restaurants may want to consider
this before deciding where to grab their breakfast, lunch or dinner. Also, there are people who
think that microwaves are harmful to human beings. One famous person who is definitely
"anti-microwave" is Kourtney Kardashian. She won't use a microwave at home so she might
not want to chow down at Chili's. Some stuff at Chili's is delivered frozen solid and is
then heated up in skillets. There are people who don't want reheated frozen food at restaurants,
either. In the Internet Age, staff members at big chain restaurants are able to spill
the beans about eateries that they work for without revealing who they are.
Some of the Chili’s Food is Healthier Than You Might Imagine
Since Chili's is known for deep-fried food and massive portions, it's not the first restaurant
that most people think of when they want to eat healthy. However, a lot of people don't
realize that there are healthy items on the Chili's Grill & Bar menu. While a typical
meal or dessert is going to have a lot of calories, ordering the lower-calorie options
is always possible. To find the healthiest items on the menu, we researched calorie counts.
One entrée to consider is the Caribbean Salad, which is available with shrimp or chicken.
It reportedly has six hundred and ten calories. Chili's official website doesn't post calorie
counts. The nutritional information is available upon request only, but other websites have
posted calorie counts for an array of Chili's menu items. When you choose the Caribbean
Salad, you'll find that it's a better choice than the eatery's Quesadilla Explosion Salad,
which has double the calories. Bear in mind that menu items change from time to time.
Be sure to ask your server what's lower in calories on the current menu. A lot of servers
of big food chains are discouraged from revealing the whopping calorie counts of many of their
menu items, but don't be afraid to request nutritional information. The restaurant has
it and must share it if you ask for it.
Some of the Chili’s Food is Loaded with Calories
On the flip side, some indulgent dishes at Chili's are calorie-laden. Sometimes, that's
what people want. Chili's is delivering dishes that meet the expectations of their customers.
An article posted by a major American news network lists Chili's Big Mouth Bites as a
high-calorie option that weight-conscious and health-conscious consumers may want to
stay away from. Chili's Big Mouth Bites is a collection of four miniature burgers that
are seasoned with American cheese, the restaurant's House Ranch dressing, bacon and sautéed onions.
Each burger has under four hundred calories. When you eat all four, you take in fifteen
hundred and eighty calories, as well as twenty-eight grams of "bad fat" (the saturated kind). You're
only supposed to ingest twenty saturated fat grams each day, not to mention the fact that
1,580 calories is practically a whole day's worth of calories in one meal. Another downside
of these cute and tasty burger "sliders" is their sodium count, which is sky-high at two
thousand, nine hundred and thirty milligrams!
Dishes at Chili’s May Not Always Be Sparkling-clean
One Chili's employee who posted at Reddit (bear in mind that anyone can make up anything
online) says that the dishes used for customer's meals are just not clean. According to this
Chili's expert, particles of food and damp lettuce would cling to "washed" dishes and
knives, spoons and forks. The Chili's team would wipe off the debris before putting food
on the dishes. This employee is the same one who dished about frozen food being heated
up in pans and the common usage of microwaves. In the opinion of this alleged insider, the
dirty dishes at Chili's are really an open secret, rather than something that nobody
knows about. While it's commendable that staff take the time to wipe the plates and bowls
before loading them with Tex Mex food, they should really be clean after being washed.
Big food chains need to put quality control first and this includes making sure that dishes
for customers, along with cutlery, are sparkling-clean. One Chili's waitress who talked to a women's
magazine website said that the atmosphere at the restaurant is chaotic, but controlled.
Workers need to move fast, match their pace with other employees and generally juggle
an awful lot of stuff at one time. This may be the reason why dishes and cutlery are sometimes
less clean that they should be. Chili's probably isn't the only big restaurant chain that has
issues with keeping dishes spotless for customers.
The Chili’s Staff Up-sell Alcohol to Grab Bigger Tips
When a table orders alcohol, their bill at the end of the meal is higher. Higher bills
generally mean bigger tips for servers. Of course, bigger bills also mean bigger profits
for Chili's. This is why customers at the restaurant will probably notice that their
servers suggest boozy bevies to them. Of course, the servers are just doing their jobs. Lots
of people want cocktails, wine and beer and love hearing about which alcoholic beverages
are hot and happening. But there is a profit motive behind the up-selling of alcohol. This
is true at most big chain restaurants. It's not something that is exclusive to Chili's.
It's still something that people should be aware of when they visit the eatery or any
other. You should order exactly what you want to, without being too influenced by a server's
encouragement to sample cocktails, wine, and beer. Lots of servers rely on tips to survive,
so it's not hard to understand why they push the boozy drinks. One Chili's waitress found
herself jobless after posting online about wanting to spit in the food of low tippers
or no-tippers. She lashed out after getting around five bucks on a tab of one hundred
and thirty-eight dollars. Most Chili's servers are great people. This was definitely an isolated
incident. But it shows just how driven servers are to get tips. According to stats found
online, most servers get twelve dollars and three cents an hour for their work at the
restaurant. Always be generous with tips if you get good service.
The Chili’s Secret Baby Back Ribs Sauce Is No Longer a Secret
A major news network with a website posted the secret sauce recipe for Chili's popular
Baby Back Ribs. If you want to prepare this dish at home, you should be able to find full
sauce recipe details just by doing a simple and quick Google search. According to the
news networks, you'll need ingredients that include Apple Cider Vinegar, Liquid Hickory
Smoke, and dark brown sugar to create a perfect "dupe" for this special sauce. After you mix
up the delicious sauce, you'll need to slow-braise the baby back ribs to get the right taste.
The recipe isn't hard to follow, but has quite a few ingredients, so you may want to head
for a local Chili's instead, and enjoy being served if you don't feel like doing all of
that work. Lots of copycat recipes for popular restaurant dishes are out there online, but
there's really nothing like the real thing. Chili's became an industry powerhouse for
a good reason. They deliver the Tex-Mex taste that their customers want, plus massive portions,
reasonable prices and, most of the time, caring, and pleasant customer service.
Kids Have Accidentally Been Served Alcoholic Drinks at Chili’s
Busy restaurants don't get it right every single time, but some slip-ups are more serious
than others. For example, a Mom named Pamela Bruenning, who took her three young children
to Chili's, decided to get a non-alcoholic daiquiri that could be shared among the trio
of kids. She wanted to cool the children off, because they'd been outside in the heat, enjoying
the Fourth of July. The drink that was delivered and shared in three cups did contain alcohol.
The cops came to investigate and a prosecutor got involved. Employees at Chili's said that
the order was not communicated accurately to the bartender. In other words, it was a
big mistake. Kids can get very sick from ingesting alcohol, so servers and bartenders need to
be extremely careful when it comes to taking orders and making drinks.
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