ToddyHill said:
BostonAg74...
You're stirring up some memories. I used to work in the Food & Beverage Department for Chili's Corporate back in the 90's. We knew our CFS at that time was pretty crappy, so my boss directed one of the corporate Chefs to create a better CFS. The Chef's first name was Johnny, and he came us with a product that was so good, Chili's Marketing decided to call it, 'Johnny's Chicken Fried Steak.' It was fork tender, and a great product. Both Johnny and I eventually left Chili's, and their direction on food quality obviously changed...to the point that your current perspective is 100% accurate. But that said, it was a great CFS for a chain restaurant.
There was a time (in the 90's) when I thought that the best things that Chili's did was their chicken fried steak and their chips and salsa. I always ordered CFS, with fried corn on the cob, Texas Toast and mashed potatoes. That was when Chili's had franchised the New England expansion to Dunkin Donuts and they were expanding rapidly up here. Surprisingly, during my visit last week, I was pleasantly surprised that the chips and salsa were still pretty good. Surprised because everything else was so bad. If Chili's felt a need to downsize and simplify, they would have been much better served to simply revert to the prototype and menu of the very first Chili's on Greenville Ave in Dallas. It was almost like a diner with a bar in the center. One page menu which primarily consisted of different varieties of burgers, everything served in a basket, and all booth seating.
The spartan sterile look they have adopted might work in a place where food is good enough to take center stage. But that is not the case. The food as as sterile and lifeless as the decor. Big misfire. I think Chili's is in that death spiral that afflicts most of the casual theme restaurants after they've been around long enough that the bean counters have started to win the tug of war with the operations folks. The lifeless, unfocused mess that Chili's has become is the predictable byproduct of myopic leadership that cannot see beyond a spreadsheet.
By the way, If you were part of that restaurant culture in Dallas in the 90's, you should check out a book called "A Man Short" by Jeff Ryan. It's about the corporate culture of T.G.I Fridays in the 80's. You might recognize a lot of names.
