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| - I guess as I'm getting older I'm seeing the value in things a little more clearly. I used to really enjoy going out to eat and didn't ever stop to wonder if I was getting a good deal. Lately, though, I've been paying close attention to what all of the foods cost and comparing them to other eating establishments.
My daughter's school was having a fundraiser at this Chili's last night. It was the kind that they donate a certain percentage of the total bill to the school. We try to help the school whenever we can, so we decided to make it a fun night out with the kids. My daughters enjoyed themselves and saw a few friends, and we all got to relax and let other people do the work.
My issue with this restaurant, though, and why I gave it two stars, is strictly with the value of the food. I understand that the costs of everything are increasing, so business establishments have to raise their prices accordingly, but they should still be able to offer a decent value.
We ordered the Southern Smokehouse Bacon Burger for my wife and I to split, and the kids ordered a corn dog and a quesadilla. My wife and I usually split meals because they are so big and calorie-laden, and it helps to keep costs down. Most of the time we leave feeling full and happy. When they brought out our food this evening, though, my half of the burger was tiny! The burger was supposed to contain bacon and onion straws, and according to pictures, was supposed to be packed with them. There was a tiny piece of bacon on my half, and a few scattered onion straws. I looked over to my wife's plate, expecting to see the bulk of the toppings on her burger, but her toppings were as pathetic looking as mine. The size of her half of the burger was not much bigger than mine, either. She said hers was exceptionally greasy and didn't taste how she expected it to taste. This was a little burger to start out with, and splitting it only made it worse. And it was $10.99!!
The burgers are, like most places, served with french fries. When we split meals at other restaurants, they usually give us both a full portion of fries. I know it's not the healthiest thing to be chomping down, but because we go out to eat so infrequently we don't worry about it. We want to get a pile of fries with our meal. The amount of fries delivered with our meal last night was a joke! My wife had maybe fifteen fries on her plate, and I had about eight. Seriously?! I know this restaurant is in business to make money, so they don't want to give everything away, but how much does an extra handful of fries cost for the few people that are splitting meals.
The kids meals were, in their opinion, good. The corn dog and celery sticks were quickly devoured, while the quesadilla and oranges were left mostly intact. (typical kids!). I tried a few bites of the quesadilla. It was ok, but was pretty small because of the meager amount of cheese. The kids meals, with the included drink, are $4.99. Not cheap, but not outrageous either.
I like to leave every restaurant feeling that I got a good value for my money. I know that a good restaurant can give me that, while still making a decent profit off of me. When we left last night we looked at our bill and reminded ourselves why we don't go out very often. My wife said that she's going to keep the bill, so that any time she craves this type of food she can look at it and remind herself that we can eat much better and cheaper at home. Or at least at a restaurant that gives us our money's worth.
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