RESTAURANT OF THE MONTH
Chili’s in the Winter Garden Village fit the bill perfectly.
They were one of the first restaurants to open in the area,
and have a stellar reputation. I arrived right when crunch
time was happening, around noon. I was seated right
away. Jutta was right on the spot, pleasant and had an
energy that clearly relayed that lunch would take place
at my pace, not theirs. I looked at the lunch special
selections and made my choice quickly – I am not a salad
person, so I got the baked potato soup, with the double
burger and fries. Literally a “meat and potatoes” kind
of lunch in order to simulate what a typical lunch hour
kind of worker would be inclined to get. My expectations
were relatively low – I wanted my lunch to get to me
faster than I would be okay with dinner arriving in the
evening. I wanted the burger and fries to exceed what
I could get at a fast food place, and I wanted the soup
in particular to arrive quickly and be the best thing I
would eat at lunch. I have a thing for soups, and I’m
often pickier about soups and appetizers than the main
courses. The baked potato soup did, indeed, arrive mere
minutes after I ordered it. And it was good. A smooth,
creamy, satisfying soup with a generous portion of cheese,
bacon and green onions on top. I ate it all and turned
my attention to the Ziosk device on the table. If you
are unfamiliar with these things, they represent one of
those kind of things I should dislike – a screen where
you can look at food items, be tempted by drinks and
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WINTER GARDEN MAGAZINE
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OCTOBER 2016
It’s lunchtime. Perhaps you are alone, perhaps you
are with a group of people who all seem to want
very different things to eat. You know you don’t
want fast food, but you also don’t have a lot of time
to lounge around. It would be nice to be able to
see what is happening with whatever sport you are
following, and it would be nice if you could know
that you would be happy with what you were going
to order – that the food itself would exceed your
expectations instead of merely matching them,
and that you could rely on the service, know that
you are getting a good value, and that everyone in
your group would be satisfied with the selection.
desserts, play games, and even pay your bill. I gotta
say, I liked it. Maybe that attitude was helped by the
fact that I didn’t have to share it with my kids, but it
was fun looking at all of the possibilities. I suppose
for a person who is less-than-social it represents a bit
of a dream scenario. You could have the restaurant
experience without interacting directly with anyone at all.
Soon, my burger and fries arrived. Burger that arrived
faster than most restaurants would get it to me? Check.
Better burger than fast food? Check. The fries were
notably good, perfectly cooked and seasoned just
right. Do fries really warrant that kind of attention?
In my world they do, and Chili’s fries are very good.
From there, I was ready to pay, so as an experiment I
used the Ziosk machine. Very easy to use, and I was
out of there in less than 30 minutes from when I walked
in. I could have gotten out of there sooner if I wished.
I was the factor that determined how long my lunch
experience would be, not Chili’s. Jutta and the chefs there