Chili's Grill and Bar Manager Interview Questions
& Process

I spoke briefly with the area manager. He seemed arrogant and acted like he already knew everything about running restaurants. I brought up the idea of ease of operation, but he misunderstood, thinking I was looking for an easy job. I tried to clarify that I meant avoiding labor-intensive food items for staff earning minimum wage. His attention had already waned by the time I finished explaining. It's interesting how quickly upper management forgets the realities of day-to-day operations. I've noticed a decline in service and food quality at the local Chili's restaurants, and I suspect their sales are also suffering.

I was called for an open house in Miami at a hotel. Then I spoke with HR for about 20 minutes. They instructed me to take an assessment via a link they provided and mentioned I would be emailed about another open house in Broward when they had a time. I then attended an open house at a Chili's in Miami. The Area Director interviewed me, and they didn't seem very personable and appeared unimpressed. They stated they would contact me if they wanted to move forward. I could tell the interview didn't go well. After a week of no contact, I emailed HR, who responded two days later with a generic email saying they felt I lacked sufficient experience. They also mentioned they would continue searching for other candidates. This was surprising given my 10 years in the industry and 4 years of management experience. It's funny because, six weeks later, they were still looking for managers; it's Beer and Burgers, not the Cheesecake Factory. The whole experience left a bad impression, making me not want to dine there as a customer. For the record, Darden hired me, and they are a more reputable company than Chili's. So, Chili's, it's your loss, their gain.

I applied twice, once via their website and once through craigslist. The craigslist one got me the interview. It was a pretty casual interview in a restaurant's dining room. Everyone was on time and professional. They talked a lot about their culture and how they really want to find the right person. They were very outgoing and chatty. The conversation just flowed from one question to the next. They really want to get to know you as a person, not just what you can do for the team, but to make sure you're a good fit.