Chili's -- Amherst Street, Nashua

I somehow feel dirty reviewing a national chain like Chili's. Nobody goes to Chili's because of what a reviewer says, they go there because they want a place to eat with a bunch of crap on the wall and familiar yet enticing food that makes it feel homesy.

"Real" restaurant reviewers are probably heading to the Cheateau Swanky talking about the Fois Gras and Chardonnay, not that I wouldn't mind eating that, but normally all I can afford is local eateries that also don't get enough attention.

Still, might as well mention Chili's. Plenty of people do eat there, and you deserve to know what you're getting if you go, and hopefully I can help.

The specimen you see pictured here is the Shiner Bock BBQ Burger. Complete with some story on the menu about some small town in Texas where they make the BBQ sauce for it, the picture for the burger itself on the "specials menu" was the size of a frisbee and had enough adjectives to fill a novella. And yet, it did not have the price, at least not directly, they had a price for it in the main menu.

I decided to try it to see if it was worth the hype, and I have to admit it was not bad. Then again, Chili's has probably test marketed this burger to the point where it probably couldn't have been bad or they would have pulled it from their menu. There's a reason that there are plenty of Chili chains across the U.S

Again, the service was decent, but not so good that is was unexpectedly good. You go to a medium paced, medium priced folksy chain restaurant like Chili's to disarm your expectations. The price of the burger was a little high, but not so high that those expectations were rearmed again. If they charged $6.99 for this burger, i'd be saying it was excellent, and if they charged $10.99 i'd be saying it was horrible.

In the end, I can't say anything bad about this trip or this burger. If you get it, you'll probably like it if you're a premium burger fan, but there are far better options than Chili's in the Nashua area if you're looking for more than just a standard meal.

Meal: Shiner Bock BBQ Burger

Price: $8.29

Time of Day: 12:30 PM, weekend

Speed of Service: 15 minutes (sit down)