For Better or Worse.

A new chain restaurant opened this week here in Vallarta and it's called "Chili's." Those of us who have been here a long time found it a novel experience although we still prefer the smaller more authentic Mexican eateries along with the prices! (We did, however enjoy their air-conditioning!)
Chili's has all the bells and whistles of a wealthy chain similar to Outback with a plethora of helpful servers, plenty of gimmicky accoutrements including this giant "bong" of beer brought to your table (about 3 litres worth) with a pour your own spigget for about $13 US. We tried a couple of those along with some regular old one serving beer bottles and found it all decent. I gather their specialty is a variety of giant margaritas but none of us was up for a ring of salt on our forehead at 3:00 in the afternoon. The menu included lots of glossy food photos and we managed to order most of what was available between our rather large group. The portions are hefty and splitting a burger was a good idea since it is about twice the size of a regular burger. Everyone deemed the fries excellent and the chicken wings are as good as any you could get back home. The fajitas came to the table sizzling in a cast iron fry pan and there was a side dish loaded with the requisite sour cream, shredded cheddar and guacamole to add at your discretion. The pasta dishes looked good although I didn't taste them personally and the whole place was packed with satisfied looking customers. In a nut-shell, it's a good place to go if you are starving or craving American style food with an emphasis on large portions. The location is the new Penninsula development which used to be a beautiful piece of land adjacent to the Rio Pitillal full of birds and assorted land creatures, but that's another story. Oh, and just an aside: They are working on another restaurant a short walk from Chilis which should open within the next few weeks and that happens to be another "Hooters" which of course is just what we need, right?