Say Olé! to Chili's in Eatontown

There’s something about a chain restaurant that I can’t get enough of. Maybe it’s the promise of a carbon copy customer experience or the flashy menu that promises a three-course meal for a mere $19.99.

My love for the  in Eatontown includes both of these reasons, along with being able to read every vintage sign hanging on the walls and ceiling at least three times. Yes, I know the signs don’t change every time I visit and I know they are mass produced, but I feel like I’m eating my quesadilla in Mexico and not next to the Monmouth Mall thanks to Chili’s décor! It is the décor alone that has made Chili’s my pick for my first Patch report on the local Eatontown restaurants.

The “usual” for me at Chili’s is the chicken and cheese quesadilla. I have a few anxieties about ordering this dish for several reasons. The first being that I always say “I’ll have the chicken and cheese quesadilla,” and I’m nervous that the servers at Chili’s are experts at Mexican cuisine and are annoyed at the fact that every quesadilla has cheese and my order is redundant and an insult to their expertise. This is the same reason why I don’t go to restaurants where the menus are written in another language because I’m what servers probably refer to as the “pointer.” I’ll have (points to menu), please.

My second anxiety about my quesadilla dish is that when they bring it out and watch me eat from their server station, are they cracking jokes like, “Wow, does she wants some quesadilla with that sour cream?” I like sour cream, I can’t help it. And it tastes so good with my chicken and cheese quesadilla. Or my chicken quesadilla. Whatever is politically correct.

The thing about Chili’s in Eatontown is that whenever I go there for lunch they are all over me like white on rice. You will, without a doubt, get at least two servers. I know Eatontown is a busy industrial area so you would think the place is hopping during lunch hour. Still, you get at least two servers and between being asked if I want more water for the eighth time and having my clearly fantastic story that I’m telling my lunch buddy be interrupted for said questions, it really throws me off. I’m already on edge with ordering my quesadilla, please don’t put two very eager servers at my table.

Besides being double teamed and unsure of my Mexican food expertise, Chili’s is always an A+ in my book when dining around Eatontown. I strongly suggest the lunch menu but be careful of those eager servers – if you don’t keep track you will suddenly figure out that you downed about five glasses of Diet Coke, and no one wants to come to that realization when driving in Route 35 traffic.