I was just at the Beaverton Chili's a few weeks ago. Glad I stopped by. This from KPTV:

http://www.kptv.com/news/16401442/detail.html

Interesting. The Wilsonville Chili's was always packed -- which is why I never ate there, not even once.

The parent company also owns Romano's Macaroni Grill. Which has been opening new locations in the Portland area.

I've eaten at Romano's Macaroni Grill a lot more, it's a great place. Hope they keep them open.

I think Chili's makes the best margaritas of any chain out there. I miss the Citrus Fire Grill entree though. I haven't been back since I discovered that they took it off the menu.

It's odd that Chili's has been OPENING new stores all over the country the past couple years. Perhaps a regional taste thing?

Chili's has always been average in my opinion, with too much salt added to their dishes. And the company's Macaroni Grill was recently noted as having THE saltiest dishes of any chain. Something like four times the RDA for some dishes.

Never cared for Chili's. Average food. Average service. Stuff on the walls. Just like TGIF, Applebee's, Ruby Tuesdays. And the champion of corporate mediocrity pretending to be the role of a restaurant- Red Robin. Blah blah blah. Where the servers wear more flair or they're fired.

Mediocre:Moderate to inferior in quality; ordinary

I gotta tell ya, these places are meaningless and dull in all their crappiness. Their food, foo-foo-drinks and meatgrinder form of service provide no redeeming social value. The pornographers of food.

For the kind of $$$ you pay for a meal at these places, there are SO many locally owned restaurants, lounges, bar & grills etc that have excellent food, excellent service, and don't have that cookie-cutter interior.

Give me a Horse Brass Pub over a Thank God It's Crappy any day of the week.

I have been eating at Macaroni Grill a lot until I read an article about the fat content in the items on there menu.
It's probably more healthy to get a Double Quarter Pounder with Cheese Meal supersized at Mcdonalds than eat most of the menu items at Macaroni grill(Im not sure about Chillis)
A Free angioplasty should come with a dinner at MacaroniGrill.
There dinner salads have more satuated fat than a Double Quarter pounder with Cheese at Mcdonalds. That place is an ARTERY CLOGGER! If you want an early death. keeping eating at that place.

I dont really understand how they can blame the economy when places like Moes are opening up around me.

Same type of food isnt it?

I have a friend who worked for a semi-popular Mexican eatery in NE Portland. It was a franchise location owned by a well known restaurant entrepreneur. From what my friend shared with me, the ownership group wasn’t all that great at running the place. Because of poor off site management and its untenable location, it went under.

Too, I worked at a popular Hawthorne Blvd. restaurant several years ago. I’d never done that sort of work and found it almost a lifestyle. For the most part, the people were great and the employer provided both medical and dental coverage (excellent coverage at that). But a couple years of it was enough for me.

Here's a strange thing. While watching a rerun of Seinfeld on KRCW 32 at 12:27am this morning, what do I see but a Chili's commercial! This seems to suggest Chili's closers were not planned in advance.

Hey Craig, I see this all the time on tv. They show fast food places that are nowhere even near portland. 6 years ago they were running Sonic Ads during the day, and I always thought to myself where the hell is a sonic at?? This was LONG before Sonic came to Hillsboro!

Yes! I remember. They were on cable networks although. Tonights was not.

Dave & Busters anyone?

The first (and last) time I went to Chili's I had indigestion so bad I didn't think I was even going to make it home. Thank the Gods there is a gas station on 4th Plain and Gher or I wouldn't have. (This was at the Chili's by Vancouver Mall about three years ago. I never went back there again.)

Remember what I mentioned in an earlier thread about "refried beans"?!?

They just opened an On The Border on 164th in Vancouver by Big Al's.

On The Border is owned by the same parent company that owns Chili's and Macaroni Grill.

I really like the Grilled chicken breast with Portobello mushrooms and smoked mozzarella at Macaroni Grill!

"I really like the Grilled chicken breast with Portobello mushrooms at Macaroni Grill"

Skybill, you survived it evidently.

"The Saltiest Dish in America"

Romano's Macaroni Grill Chicken Portobello
7,300 mg sodium
1,020 calories
66 g fat

With three items on our top 20 list, plus a slew of dishonorable mentions, Macaroni Grill earns its title as America's saltiest chain restaurant. But what makes this the saltiest dish in America? One word: demi-glace, a fancy French name for the viscous salt slick that blankets this disastrous dish. You would have to eat 32 cups of potassium-rich broccoli to compensate for this sodium avalanche.

Once in a while won't hurt anything!

Besides, you need all the salt to balance the fat and cholesterol.

Here's a theory;

You can eat all the fat and cholesterol you want as long as you balance it with enough salt.

The fat and cholesterol will restrict and close down your arteries, but the salt will keep your blood pressure high enough to force the blood thru anyway!