Chili's Restaurant in Peachtree City, Georgia -- an Eaters Review

I was given a Chili's gift certificate for Christmas and finally had a night to enjoy it. When I went online and looked for the Chili's nearest me, I found one in Peachtree City at 250 Market Place Connector. The following is my experience during my visit.

My guest and I went on a rainy Tuesday night, so it wasn't overly busy, but it was busier than we expected. While I wanted to sit in the bar area, my guest didn't, so being the good hostess, we sat far from the bar. But that didn't stop me from ordering a Chambord Margarita, my absolute favorite. As my guest was a teetotaler, I made him the designated driver and handed him my keys, remembering how large the Margaritas were, that I had not eaten lunch-and knowing I intended to have more than one.

The atmosphere was blah and my first impression was that the place was "tired." While the hostess and the server performed their work, they didn't seem enthused or happy in greeting us. They seemed to be running on auto-pilot, barely aware-tired.

As I was in the mooood for red meat, I ordered a rib eye steak, medium well. My guest ordered the grilled salmon-he's so predictable. My drink arrived and I dived into it-the glasses are almost big enough to swim in. It was excellent. (I love Chambord.) My guest sipped his soda and watched me attentively, with a small pout, because he doesn't like driving my car. I barely had half my drink down before the food arrived. Fast initial service.

My steak was cooked perfectly and my guest said his salmon was moist and tasty. He gave me a taste and I wasn't impressed. Fresh fish doesn't taste fishy and there was a very fishy taste. I'm sure it was frozen and I accept that, but sometimes the frozen fish gets partially thawed and then refrozen in transport-or in the kitchen-and that makes it taste "fishy." I don't know that any of this applied to this serving of fish, I just know I would have sent it back. (I'm picky.) We both opted for the baked potato, which didn't meet expectations seeming to have been sitting around for awhile. The side salads were very good and the dressing tasted fresh.

As the server was slow getting back to us, after the food arrived, I never ordered my second Margarita and we skipped desert, as we had other plans. Overall, my impression of the place was that it was "old." I didn't have a chance to find out when it went into operation, so I cannot confirm its age, but it didn't "sparkle" and neither did our server. While the initial service was speedy, the follow up was not there. The service was average, the ambience was average. The overall eating experience ended in the mid range. It was okay, but there was nothing that would make me want to go back.

Given the current economic environment, if I was the manager, I would be making an effort to visit the tables and find out just what people were thinking about their dining experience. We never once saw the manager touring the floor. Restaurants these days are failing right and left due to the economy, but maybe they do alright trading on the Chili's name.