Dinner Report: Chili's (The Ol' Standby)...

You know the drill - we use Chili's as our version of fast-food when we want to grab something quick but not necessarily take in the full fledged McPlayGround atmosphere of screaming youngsters throwing plastic balls at one another. Our Chili's isn't bad and they often provide quick service at a reasonable price.

So, I otherwise wouldn't even tell you about this but I did try a new burger they offer called the Smokehouse Bacon Triple-the-Cheese Bigmouth Burger. And with apologies to Jeff Kay, I took a picture of the menu so I could get a comparison of what they advertise on the menu and what it looks like when you get it.My wife would have ordered one, but the menu suggested that the bacon was Jalapeño Applewood, and she likes Jalapeños even less than she likes Applewood, so she went with the regular bacon cheese burger.So, here is the menu picture and I have to admit, it looks pretty darn appetizing. But I always just assume they airbrush these photos, so I was willing to just take a chance that if it wasn't good, I'd tell you about how crappy it was and surely, my input on the vast WWW would cause Chili's to go out of business.This is what I got. Holy crap! Look at the size of that Jalapeño Applewood Bacon! I felt somewhat inadequate just sharing a booth with it! My wife blushed.You can't possibly fit something that size in your mouth, so I cut it in half and here is a side view. They cooked it just right and I was pretty happy about that. I have to tell you that we routinely split a burger when we attend Chili's, but this thing was awesome. Knowing we weren't sharing, I devoured the thing and seriously, unless you are opposed to a little spice, I definitely recommend it.

As a bonus, they whipped up some Ranch dressing mixed with Jalapeños for the dipping of the fries (which I usually don't eat). I ate them.Overall, good stuff. And hence, Chili's may stay in business.