Kayla M.
Yelp
My family and I used to love Chirico's. We visited 2 weeks ago; call ahead seating was timely and great. The hostess was friendly and professional. We were seated and it went downhill from there. Drinks arrived but were never refilled for anyone other than one guest at my table, despite requesting refills 3x. Our waitress was very obviously undertrained and young so I am not laying blame with her whatsoever.
We received the wrong appetizer but kept the one served to us so we wouldn't make it harder on the struggling kitchen, who sent word to stop allowing customers an hour before their listed closing time. About 75 minutes after ordering our entrees, they arrived at our table. Mine was incorrect, I had ordered chicken fettuccine Alfredo and it arrived without chicken. I asked our waitress to let the kitchen know I would like the chicken. She returned to our table and they had said NO -- that they would not be correcting my meal. I calmly asked for it to be removed from the bill since it was incorrect.
Everyone else's food was correct but the portions were insanely skimpy, food was lukewarm, and frankly, their sauces seem like they are store bought, and just not as appealing as it used to be in years past.
When I went to pay my bill, the hostess was informed that I was to pay $2.49 for my side salad. I suppose paying for it wasn't a huge deal, but I had not eaten it as the lettuce was wilted when it arrived to me. I was shocked at the insistence that I pay for a side salad when our dining time was nearing 2 hours AND our food was incorrect without so much as an apology. I nicely asked to speak to the guy running the place. He came out aggressively, asking if I had an issue and I tried to remain kind, explaining to him how disappointed I was in the service and food. He then shouts at me saying that he cooks all the food and that my food is the same quality that I always get. I told him that insisting I pay for an uneaten side salad was poor customer service considering he had made my food incorrectly and refused to make it right. Rather than listen, he was basically shouting at me "whatever, just go, fine" and stormed off, unwilling to communicate. I was trying to quietly engage with him and he wanted to make a scene. At that point I felt bad for the Hostess and our waitress, they seemed embarrassed, apologizing profusely. I cannot imagine what it is like working for this man.
They seem to be extremely overwhelmed, understaffed, and he is the only one doing the cooking. Business cannot sustain like this.