Restaurant Review 13 - Chili's Grill & Bar

I like to get out there and explore independent restaurants, but sometimes the chains can be comforting and predictable, and offer you a good meal for a fair price.  I was thinking of this when my companion and I went to eat a late lunch on Sunday afternoon.  We decided on one restaurant but then saw Chili's Grill & Bar and decided we'd rather eat there.
For those of you have not been to Chili's or don't have one in your are, Chili's is a bar/grill which originally started as a place that would feature different types of hamburgers.  In today's time, while they still have burger options, they are more of American food establishment that has certain Tex-Mex influences.
Chili's serves burgers, salads, soups, pastas, chicken dishes, nachos, tacos, fajitas, and quesadillas among other dishes.  They have a wide range of appetizers and feature many special drinks, as well as the classics because they have a full bar.  It is a casual dining restaurant, and features a good Happy Hour.
Right now Chili's has been offering a 2 for $20 deal, that includes an appetizer (select appetizers only, make sure you check the special section on the menu) to share and then each person receives their own entree (also out of a select list).  While $10 is not a bad price for an individual meal, to add an appetizer in to share makes this a worthy deal.
We chose to sit in the bar area on our visit.  The bar area has multiple TV's in which they were playing football (perfect for my date), and you don't have to wait to be seated, if there is a table available you just sit down.  Also in the bar area all day on Sunday's you get free chips and salsa so we ordered some to munch on before we received our meals.  I love Chili's tortilla chips, they are my ideal tortilla chip.  They are super thin and super crispy and are absolute heaven when they are still warm and freshly salted.  Their salsa is very good, perhaps a tad more spicy than I prefer, but with a great flavor, and seems very fresh, which I like in a salsa.
On our visit we did go with the 2 for $20 deal and decided on the Crispy Onion & Jalapeno Stack (forgot the picutre!) as our shared appetizer.  They are thinly sliced onions which are battered and fried, and fresh jalapenos that are also batter and fried served with ranch dressing.  The onions were perfectly crispy and the batter had a nice spice blend.  The jalapenos were sometimes spicy and sometimes not (you kind of roll the dice with fresh jalapenos!), and both the onions and jalapenos tasted good dipped in the ranch.
For my companion's entree he ordered the Bacon Ranch Quesadillas, which come with with two quesadillas (quartered, so there's a total of 8 pieces), sour cream, pico de gallo, and lettuce.    I chose the fajitas for my entree and although the menu only says chicken and specifies no substitutions all three Chili's I have ordered this at have changed mine to the beef fajitas for $1 more.  Well worth it for me.  The meat comes in a cast iron pan with green peppers and onions, still sizzling.  You also get three small flour tortillas, and a side plate containing pico de gallo, sour cream, cheese, lettuce (which I asked to be omitted), and upon request, guacamole.  I always get the guacamole (and I didn't see an extra charge for it). 
It was a delicious and filling late lunch.  And very reasonably priced.  Because we sat in the bar area we didn't have a wait, and absolutely enjoyed our meal.  If you would like more information about Chili's Bar & Grill please visit them at Chili's Website.