Last week, my family of five ventured out to our nearest
Chili's Restaurant for dinner. There use to be one located less than a mile from our house, but it closed sadly. So we went to one a few towns over to try out some of their newest menu items.
I was a little nervous. I liked the old faithful . . .
Country-Fried Steak with mashed potatoes and seasoned corn on the cob. I also do not like especially strong southwestern seasonings. When we sat down and perused the menu, I was pleasantly surprised. There was quite a variety of new items, including appetizers, soup, salads, sandwiches, a burger, tacos, fried shrimp, a sundae, and an assortment of margaritas.
We started off with an old classic . . . Hot Spinach & Artichoke Dip, which was huge enough for us to have leftovers even with all five of us munching on it. My husband had a tough time deciding between the
Steakhouse Sandwich and the BBQ Pulled Pork Sandwich for his entree. He ended opting for the Steakhouse Sandwich. He found it to be excellent. The sirloin was extremely tender and he very much liked the horseradish cream. He said that the portion was perfect even though he wanted more because it was so good.
I knew what I wanted to try right away . . . the
Fried Shrimp! There was lime to squeeze onto the shrimp instead of the usual lemon. The breading was light and crispy. I had enough shrimp to give a few away and still have a good quantity leftover for myself. This dish came with my favorite fries in the whole world . . . Chili's seasoned french fries. The shrimp was also accompanied by a tangy tequila lime sauce and spicy cole slaw. I gave my cole slaw to my husband because he usually orders cole slaw every chance he gets. This version was not really sweet like regular cole slaw, but rather it was peppered. My husband thought the red onions were what made this cole slaw top notch.
Our children gobbled up their Pepper Pals Little Mouth Cheeseburger, Cheese Quesadilla, and Cheese Pizza . . . well, all except my daughter because she eats like a bird. We were all pleasantly full, but made room for the brand new
Brownie Sundae. All five of us agreed that this sundae was delicious. I think "decadent" is the word I'm looking for.
Coming soon, Chili's will be launching their
Shout Out to Eat Out Video Contest where one Chili's gift card will be given away each day. All you need to do to enter is to upload a 10 to 30 second video stating why you don't want to cook tonight. Watch for the contest to go live soon on ShoutOutToEatOut.com .
Thank you to the Chili's marketing team for sending us a gift card, which allowed us to try the new menu items reviewed in this article, and for providing a second gift card for our contest prize.
What you can win:
One lucky reader will receive a $50 gift card to Chili's.
Limitations:
This giveaway is open to U.S. entries only. You do not need to be a blogger to enter, but you must have a valid email address and be age 18 years or older. If you enter anonymously and do not include a valid email address in your comment entries, I will not be able to notify you should you win this random drawing.
How to Gain Entries:
Take a look at the current Chili's Menu. Then leave a comment telling me one menu item you've never tried before, but would like to. You MUST do this to be eligible to win this contest. Extra Entries:
1) For 5 extra entries, leave a relevant comment on one of my non-giveaway posts. Then leave FIVE separate comments with the name of the post on which you commented. You will earn 5 extra entries for each different non-contest post you comment on.
2) For 5 extra entries, enter one of my other contests. Leave FIVE separate comments here telling me which contest you entered. You will earn 5 extra entries for each contest you enter.
3) For 10 extra entries, blog about this contest linking back to this post AND Chilis.com . Then come back here and leave TEN separate comments with the link to your blog post.
4) Friend me on Facebook. Then leave a separate comment with the link to your Facebook profile.
5) For 2 extra entries, share the link to this contest post on Facebook. Then leave TWO separate comments with the link to your Facebook profile.
6) Follow me on Twitter. Then leave a separate comment with the link to your Twitter profile.
7) Tweet about this giveaway linking back to this post. Then come back here and leave the link to your tweet in a separate comment. You may do this once per day until the end of the contest.
8) Subscribe to this blog's feed. Or you can follow me through Blogger or subscribe via email (widget is on sidebar). Then leave a separate comment telling me you did so.
9) Subscribe to A Blog of Goodies' feed (the sister site to 3 Garnets & 2 Sapphires). Then leave a separate comment telling me you did so.
10) Add my button or blog link to your blog's sidebar. Then leave a separate comment with the link to your blog.
11) Add my Blogoversary Celebration tag to your blog's sidebar. Then leave a separate comment with the link to your blog.
(All entries will be verified prior to awarding this prize.)
Random Drawing:
This contest will be closed on Monday, March 29th, 2010 at 11:59pm EST. A random number drawing will be held shortly after. The winner will be announced here and will be contact via email or through their blog. If the winner does not respond within 48 hours, a new number will be drawn.
Good luck in the drawing!