Chili's

My family and I drove up from San Diego for a family get together. When all was said and done, we decided to have dinner at Chili's. We'd been to this location before, and had had a positive experience. So we thought this time would be equally nice. Admittedly, we have a large family when we all get together.

We arrived at the Antelope Valley location around 4:05pm. I went in to make sure it wasn't busy and that they could accommodate our large party of 13. I stood behind another party for close to 5 mins before anyone even bothered to greet either of us. There were literally over a dozen tables that were empty. Entire sections that weren't being utilized. Several servers stood around talking but not helping anyone. Finally when someone greeted us, I explained that we had a party of 13. He seemed exceptionally befuddled. He actually had to ask another person if they could handle that many people in one party. The woman he conferred with said yes, but that it would take 15 minutes to push some tables together.

I agreed that would be fine. So I went outside and gathered the rest of our family. We have a daughter who's recently had a major hip surgery and is in a massive cast, and requires to be in her wheelchair or stroller. I also had my mother in law with us. She also is disabled, and requires a wheelchair. We got everyone together and tried to get everyone inside. The front of the store is not conducive to wheelchairs. (On a separate note, this is the only Chili's restaurant where someone wasn't eagerly waiting to hold the door open for customers.)

By this time it was about 4:25pm. We were all being very crowded and felt we were taking up valuable walking area so we tried to slide into an obviously closed section to be "out of the way". This instead seemed to bother workers. One lady (I didn't catch her name) but she was a trainer of some sort, actually huffed and rudely said, "we aren't ready for you yet. You're server doesn't even start working until 4:30." We explained that we understood, but that we were trying to stay out of the way.

The trainer and another lady that were wiping the tables down, (presumably for our party) kept looking over at us with looks of disgust. The bald man who originally greeting me, walked past us and without really looking at any of us, mentioned in passing that they were almost ready.

At this point my husband and I had had enough, and we left. It's sad, because we chose Chili's because everyone can order what they want, and it's usually very friendly and overall a nice experience. This was not the case this time. My bother in law and sister in law that live in Lancaster said they won't return to that Chili's. We obviously don't live close enough to visit often anyway, but I couldn't be compelled to visit this location again either.

Pathetic happy hour.  Poor service.  Weak management team.

We stopped going to this Chili's a long time ago.  Service is terrible and the food is expensive for what you get.