Chili's

Chili's - Ormond Beach
190 Williamson Blvd.
Ormond Beach, FL 32174-5991
(386)672-7760
www.chilis.com

The one thing many people do not know about me is that I am a serious homebody. You can find me just about any night watching sports and having a cold beer or two. That is exactly what I had planned for last Friday. My plan included the Magic/Pistons game, Boise State/LA Tech game and the NASCAR Camping World Series truck race from Texas. I had changed into my sweats, chilled the beer and limbered up my thumb to work the remote in order to follow all the contests. Then the phone rang.

Julynn asked me if I wanted to meet her and some of her co-workers for dinner at Chili's. I explained my evening plans and bowed out. I sat there for about 15 minutes and called her back to ask if she really wanted me to go. She told me it wasn't a big deal if I didn't go, so I told her I was just going to keep it in. Another 15 minutes passes and I call her back to ask what time they are going to get to the restaurant. Still I wasn't sure since they were going to get there at 7:45. Finally, after another 15 minutes, I call her back and tell her I will be there waiting for them in the bar area. My plan was to get there early to see the start of the Magic/Pistons game and have and El Presidente margarita. I don't know why, but Chili's is the only place I drink liquor. Usually, all I drink is Budweiser, but there is just something about their El Presidentes that I have to get one every time I go there.

I get there and as it turns out the bartender is from Detroit, so he is all about putting the game on for me. I get my margarita and settle in to watch the game. The bartender and I start to talk about the Vikings and the Lions upcoming game while I wait on the group to arrive. Julynn calls me and tells me they are on the way. By this time the crowd has thinned out since I had arrived. They were very busy early that evening, but it didn't appear we would have a hard time getting a table at this point.

The crew arrived and it was Jeff, Ronda and their daughter Amanda, Darlene and her husband Tom and of course Julynn. I have been out with Jeff and Ronda before and they have read the blog, so they know a little bit about how I feel the evening should go. This will come into play a little bit later. The waitress is prompt to come to the table and get everybody's drink orders. After looking at the menu it appears the best deal is to order from their $20 menu which offers an appetizer, two entrees and a dessert. Julynn and I get the Half Order of Texas Cheese Fries for an appetizer, I get the Old Timer burger with cheese and Julynn gets the Quesadilla Explosion Salad. She also chooses the Brownie Sundae for dessert. Other orders include another Old Timer burger, Cajun Chicken Pasta, Ribs and a Wrap.

The other couples both order chips and salsa as their appetizers and the waitress brought them out immediately. I don't know why she didn't hold off and bring them with our cheese fries even though the fries were going to take a little longer, but she didn't. As it turns out, the fries took a lot longer. They were just about finished with their chips and salsa by the time the cheese fries came out. Not only that, but when they did come out it was clear they had been sitting a while. The cheese had already started to harden. This is when Jeff looked at me, saw the expression on my face and said, "Uh-oh, that's going to go in the blog." He knew I was not happy. The other funny thing is the fries come in a little cast iron skillet with a handle cover and a little mat to keep you from burning your hands. That turned out to be the biggest joke of the evening. That aside, the cheese fries were good and I can only imagine how good they would be if they were served hot. They give you a great dipping sauce along with the fries as well. We enjoy our appetizers and await our entrees. The entrees show up and everything looks great. I reach for the ketchup on the table for my fries with my burger only to find out that the bottle is empty. We are at a long table with two set-ups so I ask Julynn to pass me the other bottle of ketchup. That one too is empty. I hate the new plastic bottles that are red to make it look like all the bottles are filled. Finally, I go to another table to find a bottle of ketchup with product actually in it. When the waitress sees all of the bottles of ketchup on the table and I tell her that two of them are empty she replies, "Oh yeah, we never fill those up throughout the day." She also didn't even take them off the table and get them out of our way. Simply amazing!

All of us are pretty pleased with our meals. The burger I got was cooked just the way I asked, medium-rare and the fries were really hot and crispy. I noticed that everyone at the table seemed to be enjoying their choices, so overall it turned out to be a nice evening out with some nice people. I was really glad I decided to go out and meet everybody for this meal.

For the warm cheese fries and the lame ketchup comments from our waitress, I cannot give this visit to Chili's any more than three Stiffy's. Chili's is one of those places that I think people have an item or two that they love and they probably always get that one item. It is all right from time-to-time, but would not be my go to choice on a regular basis.

Eat, drink and be merry!

Harry