Chili’s Grill & Bar

2.5.16 marked my Chili’s inauguration. Why so late? Because I’m from restaurant deprived Maui! Do I travel? Yes, all over the place where there are lots of Chili’s restaurants. So why only now? Long story short, I was in the Pearlridge area and my good friend from Maui was also in town, well, more like temporarily living here. We haven’t seen each other in over a month, so drinks it was!
ATMOSPHERE:
They’re located on the east side of Pearlridge Center in a standalone building. It looked & felt like an older location on the inside, especially with the horrible fluorescent lighting that shined over the bar like a dreary old truck stop diner. The outside looks modern. The place was packed, but what restaurant on Oahu isn’t?
BEVERAGE:
My Bud bottle commanded a $ 4.75 price, and my friend’s Corona Light was $ 5.25, very mainstream.
FOOD:
Chips & Queso Dip — Thank you, Unilocal,for the killer freebie for checking in! I was surprised at how big the platter was. The chips were thin, a little salty, a little oily, and had good flavor on their own. The queso was in a separate little cast iron pan and had a smooth, creamy, cheesy flavor which I loved. They also threw in a cup of mild salsa.
SERVICE:
We squeezed ourselves onto 2 bar seats on a bustling Friday night at 8:30pm, and had fast and friendly service from Ty & Jonelle at the bar. I think sitting at the bar is better because you get faster service overall.
OVERALL:
Fair pricing, and a great check-​in offer. I’d definitely patronize them and try different menu items if they open up on Maui.

5 stars for our awesome server Victoria and staff!
Me and my boyfriend were greeted by three workers when we walked in… One of the workers asked how many were in our party and told us that a table was being cleared for us. In what seemed to be a minute or less, we were called by another worker and seated in a booth. Victoria introduced herself as our server and got our drink orders.
While waiting for our drinks, I showed my Unilocal coupon for chips & queso to their manager. She happily accepted the coupon and gave us our yummy appetizer!
I ALWAYS have a hard time deciding what to order… But Victoria was very sweet and came over to check if I was ready or had any questions on what to order. She suggested a few items and pointed out a few of their newer menu items… Although I didn’t pick out any of her suggested items, I went with the quesadilla explosion salad and my boyfriend went with the triple dipper combo :)
Throughout our meal, Victoria was very attentive… Asked us how we were doing, how the food was tasting and (my favorite) refilled our drinks BEFORE it went completely empty! Yay!

Once in a while I like to come to Chili’s, although I do think it’s gotten quite over priced. Nice to sit at the bar and have some drinks.

Before you dine at Chili’s, keep this in mind:
1) The menu on their menu is not accessible on a iPhone or iPad. Pretty sad for a National chain. That being said, if you’re the type that likes to peruse the menu beforehand, you’ll need to view it on a computer.
2) Allow a minimum of 30 minutes for take out orders. When we called in our order, the person who took my order promised it in 15 minutes, but when we got there 15 minutes later, we had to wait another 10 – 15 minutes for our order. And this was at 4:30 PM — way before the dinner rush.
3) The Triple Dipper 3-​choice appetizer platter is a rip-​off at $ 14.39. The portions of each choice are very small. If you have 3 or more in your party, you’re better off ordering full orders of your desired appetizers. You may end up paying a few bucks more but you’ll get more food.
4) Unless you or your kids are fans of thick crust pizza, skip the pizza on the kid’s menu.
Aside from the above, the food is decent and on par for a national chain restaurant.

It’s been YEARS since I last ate at Chili’s, and finally returned with a friend Sunday night. Chili’s is a happening place!!! Granted, the following day was a holiday, but still. There were a number of tables in the restaurant, but they were all full. Fortunately however, we were seated quickly (within 5 – 10 min) in a relatively quiet corner.
I was pleasantly surprised with my experience here. Our waitress (forgot her name :(was really sweet and constantly walked by our table to check up on us, and she was very chatty. Most waiters and waitresses aren’t as happy and friendly, so this was a new positive experience. After awhile of going through the lengthy menu, my friend chose the chicken flatbread from the appetizer page, and I went with the chicken quesadilla. The food didn’t take long to arrive, and when it did, we were quite surprised by the size of the flatbread. For an appetizer, the flatbread was HUGE. The quesadilla serving wasn’t as substantial, but it came with fries and was quite filling. Although fries and a chicken quesadilla is an unexpected pairing, they went strangely well together.
Overall good experience. The waitress noted that the restaurant is being remodeled, and now has a nice, homey interior. Would not mind returning to try the many other things on the menu. Plus, there’s a cool electronic thing on the table where you can see pics of items from the menu and play games to pass the time away (for a price). And next time I’ll take advantage of the Unilocal check-​in offer! Free chips are always a good thing!

We went for my daughter’s 21^st birthday. Keoni was our server. My daughter mentioned a dairy allergy and he was so dilligent to make sure every possible ounce of dairy was removed from her meal! He was very attentive and helped make it a great night. Thank you so much! Since we rarely eat out this was very important to us. Mahalo nui loa!

5 stars tonight!
Bomb service by JJ! She was fast but took time to listen and not make us feel rushed.
The restaurant was packed and we had to wait for our table. There was a line outside. We waited only 5 minutes. Only two of us, so we got in faster then others.
What made the dining experience excellent was the service by JJ. We also had the manager come and check on us. JJ checked on us many times and smiled and didn’t look stressed out at all. She seems to loves her job. She deserves a big tip and she got it.
We also talked with the manager, Alicia about JJ. Alicia said JJ is one of the trainers for the waiters. JJ is the best and they know it.
I’m glade we had her. It changed our night.
Oh, and the food was great and came out quickly, too. We had the fajitas. It was good! Thank again JJ!

Service is pretty good and the drinks and food were bomb. We didn’t wait too long this time but other times I’ve had to wait awhile to be seated and for food. I guess I was just spoiled by the chilis in Cali.

Love this place. Atmosphere, drink and app selection makes it a must do if you want a chill night out without lots of fuss. Their fajitas are amazing and so are the southwestern eggrollsThe wait time isn’t very long here at all even though they are always packed. Parking isn’t an issue either which is a HUGE plus

Bad:
–They have loaded baked potato soup but no bake potatoes. Why?
–There was a stack of coasters on our table that were undeserving of our drinks being placed on them, apparently.
–We told our waitress that our machine was broken, but he ignored it and continued taking our order. We grabbed another one from another table.
–Our food order came in before our utensils.
–When our utensils came in, the napkins were dirty.
–Our Steak was well-​done, but we ordered medium-​well.
–There was a puddle of oil from the steak left on the plate.
–The mashed potato was unexpectedly covered in cheese.
–The game we were playing reset after the ‘newer’ machine restarted on its own.
–While trying to the get our waiter’s attention, we made eye contact and he quickly looked away and walked right past us without looking to see our plates or drinks.
–We ordered the brownie and ice cream dessert, but with no toffee and nuts. It came out with no toffee, but also no caramel drizzle, and there were nuts INSIDE the brownie. We asked about the caramel drizzle and the waiter said they were out of caramel… Well, that would have been nice to know…
Good:
–Our waiter was very nice.
–Our dessert came back EXACTLY how we ordered it. Go figure.
Lessons Learned:
–Don’t be afraid to ask them to fix your food to your liking. If we were allergic to nuts and you bit into the brownie, you may not be seeing another Chilis for a while.
–Brownie and ice cream makes girlfriends dance.

I have to say, they have some good managers here at this Chili’s. My family and I came here recently for dinner around 5 p.m., and this location was packed. We were told it would be a 30-​minute wait for five of us, and I never had to wait that long at this Chili’s, ever. We decided to go to a different restaurant, and we were actually already in the car but one of the managers actually followed us and told us that they were cleaning a table and we would be able to be seated immediately (and this was a different manager from the hostess who told us it would be a 30-​minute wait). That never happened before and I think it showed this manager’s dedication and initiative. I was pretty impressed, so we actually ended up dining at this Chili’s instead of going somewhere else.
This had to be the fastest Chili’s service that we ever experienced, from when we actually got seated to when we left. For the restaurant being busy, we got our orders really quickly and our server was great about checking up on us and refilling our waters. They even sang «happy birthday» to my dad, since this was a celebratory dinner. I think service – other than when we first got there – really stood out to me on this visit.
Here are some of the dishes we ordered:
«Smothered Prime Rib Burrito»: Burritos just launched on the Chili’s menu, and I was genuinely excited to try them. I didn’t get any during this meal, but my uncle wanted to try the «Prime Rib Burrito» in particular. This burrito features tender pieces of prime rib, a three-​cheese blend, house-​made pico de gallo and citrus chile rice wrapped in a warm flour tortilla. It comes smothered with ancho-​chile sauce, green chile sauce and melted cheese, and it’s topped with house-​made corn and black bean salsa and chopped cilantro. It’s served with black beans on the side. My uncle really liked the taste of the prime rib and said the smoky flavor was on point. The burrito was really stuffed and it seemed fresh. My uncle said he was glad he tried this dish and he would order it again.
«OREO-​Topped Molten Cake»: We specifically came to Chili’s for this dessert, since it’s only here for a limited time. I was told this cake was only here during the holidays and is only available while supplies last, so by January, it may very well be gone. This dessert features a decadent, cream-​filled cake topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, OREO cookie pieces and a chocolate sauce drizzle. I usually get the regular «Chocolate Molten» cake available, but I wanted to try this OREO version while it was available. The OREO cake is a hybrid of chocolate and vanilla. It was still soft, luscious and moist, but I think I preferred the solidly chocolate cake. The cake itself was filled with a cream glaze (reminiscent of OREO cookie frosting) and included chunks of OREO cookies on top. While I really enjoyed the chocolate-​vanilla hybrid, I think I still prefer the straight-​up chocolate molten. Still, I was grateful for the chance to try the limited-​time dessert.
«Smothered Carnitas Burrito»: If I tried any one of these burritos, it would be this carnitas version. I love carnitas … even more that I loved grilled chicken. It features tender, slow-​cooked pork, a three-​cheese blend, housemade pico de gallo and citrus chile rice wrapped in a warm, flour tortilla. If I got this burrito, I would get it sans the pico. It’s topped with cumin-​lime sour cream and housemade corn, and it’s served with black bean salsa, chopped cilantro and black beans on the side. I would get this burrito without the salsa and see if I could sub the black beans for a different side, since I’m not too keen on beans. Based on my uncle’s experience with the prime rib burrito, I look forward to trying this burrito one day and am curious to experience those smothered carnitas.

Never had a good dining experience at this location before, but this last time restored my faith. Server was Keoni. He was friendly, on top of everything, provided just the right amount of interaction without trying too hard to make conversation.
Bottomless chips and salsa are always a must. $ 5
Boyfriend ordered the triple dipper with big mouth bites, chicken crispers, and tried the crispy cheddar bites. $ 15. He seemed to like the cheddar bites but I wasn’t sold. The batter was kind of plain and although I love cheese, maybe not in that form.
I ordered the boneless buffalo salad. $ 14. The portion was huge and there are so many ingredients. It all tasted very good together! The waiter asked me whether I also wanted the Bleu cheese, which I didn’t but I had forgotten to mention that. I appreciated that! He said that’s the feedback he was getting from customers– the salad was good without the Bleu cheese.
It’s always nice to get good service. Chilis also has the added convenience of reordering food/​drinks from the tablet on the table and you’re also able to pay the bill through this method too.

Karen was a great server!!! Better than any of the other chilis around. This the only one I go to… because it really is the best.

Service was ok kinda slow but just a reminder only 1 discount can be applied at one time! Of course I find out AFTER the fact!!! Ugh but mind you I did show the server BOTH discounts at the beginning before we ordered!!! Poor knowledge of his procedures!

Our server Dan was so nice!
My friend and i gave him a time that was 40% .
The food was good and they’re so nice because i kept drinking my water and they kept refilling. Great service!

I normally don’t Unilocal the same day as food visits but this just bothered me!
1. 25-​minute wait with lots of open booths. Not to mention the vacant patio seating outside. Yes, it was drizzling (on and off) but that’s what the table umbrellas are for. Wouldn’t your company want to utilize every open chair to be more profitable?!
2. How is it that a plate order of ribs and salmon come BEFORE a medium well burger? And then say their method of cooking the burger meat is the excuse for the delay. A simple, I’m sorry, I forgot to place your order OR my bad, I’ll get that for you as soon as possible OR my apologies, I’ll comp your burger OR I’ll give you free dessert… BUT nope. I even said forget the order to the waitress but she kept saying it was on it’s way. I guess to buy time while they were butchering the cow to make my burger patty. I don’t know. It took a whole 37 mins for my entrée to get to me. Yes, I took a photo of the appetizer, looked at the time stamp and took note of when my burger arrived. By then, my always-​slow-​eating boyfriend was done with his plate. If it weren’t for the triple dipper cheesy bites and my tall glass of Blue Moon, and my handsome date sitting in front of me, I would have lost it.
3. One star cause I couldn’t leave ZERO. (Cause that’s totally what I would have chosen)
Totally should have gone to Bravos like I had initially planned. Not going back to Prarlridge Chilis anymore. Unless I crave them thin tortilla chips and salsa, then I’ll be back. The end!

Chili’s has never failed us. The service at this particular location has always been exceptional. The drinks are perfect. The food is satisfying. The restaurant is clean. The atmosphere is lively but not overbearing. This Chili’s is conveniently located next to Pearlridge Shopping Center which is the main reason why we eat here regularly. Shopping can be exhausting. This is a great place to rest your feet and enjoy a nice cold drink.

My husband and I actually 86’d this place for a couple of years because of the bad service. But we decided to try this place again about a week ago. Surprisingly, the food was pretty good and our server was pretty attentive. I took off a star because even though the food was good, the kitchen took a bit long to get the food out and our server despite being attentive complained out loud how tired she was numerous times and even gave an explanation to another table as to why she was so tired.
It’s been a while since we’ve been here but I thought thr computer pad of sorts on the table was neat-​o. It can take your drink order, dessert, or you can even pay your bill so you don’t have to ask your server. You can even play games on it for a fee. But why play on it when you have a smartphone with the same apps.

My last two visits here have been decent enough for me to raise the star level from a two star to a four star. I had dinner with the bf here a week ago and it was quite pleasant.
We were greeted quickly and offered a pager that would go off when our table was ready. We waited about ten minutes and got a nice booth away from the bar (it’s much quieter). Our table was clean and there is a new object on the table, a tablet similar to an iPod.
A waiter still takes your dinner order. Supposedly the tablet takes desserts and drink orders but it was not communicating the message to the kitchen at the time. We found that out when our tab came and I asked what happened to the chocolate molten we ordered.
I ordered the Dr pepper ribs which was pretty good. The ribs do not have as much meat on them as they used to. I had corn on the cob as a side and that was good too. The chocolate molten dessert was very good as always. I still sadly miss the Oreo molten.
The waiter stopped by frequently to top off water and soda cups. This is much improved from my prior experiences. The tablet on the table accepts credit card payment which was cool.
Just a caution with the tablets: if you do anything on it besides order food or drinks, they will charge you $ 1.99.

Well… most of us know what Chili’s taste like and what they have… so let me do my best to put a twist on it…
My husband calls this Chili’s «our Chili’s»…mainly because its the closest one ot our house. The staff is always super friendly and prompt. I would have given them 5 stars, but honestly the best «food» to be found at Chili’s on the island is not this one, but they are close. They do make the best margaritas.
In any case, I think they have the best flatbreads… give them a try! I’ve included a pic! I also like the fact that I can order chips & salsa and take some home.
Chili’s…always apply to the thigh good and the cold quesadillas are always good for breakfast!
P. S. I only recently started checking in on Unilocal,but have been here dozens of times.