Johnnie Does had a coupon for a free appetizer if he bought an adult entrée so he decided to visit a Chevy’s location near his office for some good ole American Tex-Mex cuisine. Chevy’s is a chain that has been in and out of bankruptcy for what seems like the last decade. They have a mix of great locations such as the one on the Sacramento River, average places like the now closed one in Gold River, and the one by my office. Here is the review.
Ambiance: It’s a chain, but in reality it has a lot going for it. The bar or “cantina” had festive decorations, a countdown clock for Cinco de Mayo next year, and lots of drink selections. The actual restaurant area also looked fast paced, and they had an area with lots of vegetables on display….I’m not sure why? Perhaps to buttress their claim of “Fresh Mex.” The servers were flying around, and it seemed like more of a fast casual place than a sit down place. I took a seat at the “Cantina” since it was just me….big mistake. 4.4/5 on the ambiance (I’ll explain more later on).
Food: I was greeted with a pile of chips, and a small bowl of salsa, which had to have been the mildest salsa since Pace Picante….no other options here. The chips were for certain Tostitos and not homemade, but oh well. The bar tender seemed friendly…however he set down a bunch of fruit in front of me and started cutting it up….then he disappeared with said fruit still in front of me. This would be a recurring theme, him disappearing, which was bizarre since the bar area was vacant sans myself. Finally at 1pm he took my order; keep in mind I have an hour for lunch and must be back at 1:30. I ordered the pick 2 chicken quesadillas and the wings as my free appetizer. Again the disappearing act ensued for 15 minutes, finally at 1:20 he emerged with my quesadillas, no wings. At 1:30 the wings were still MIA, I guess they were still trying to catch a fresh chicken near Florin Road. The bill came and well, the chicken wings showed up there! The manager said he would only remove the charge if I presented the coupon, so I did, couldn’t fight it, but he should have taken a hint since no plate other than the one holding my quesadillas was in front of me. The quesadillas…also missing chicken, but oh well. 1.1/5
Overall: This place is busted and busted badly. They appear to be trying to take a page from Dos Coyotes, but they are not fast casual, they are a chain, and a sit down one at that. Embrace what you are and stay in your lane. Your menu is way overpriced for the food to be missing ingredients, or entire items. All I want is to get what I ordered in a reasonable time and have it look like the picture when it arrives on my plate. Chevy’s need to find a happy medium between what’s on their menu and what comes out of the kitchen. Also, make the chips in house, or at least not from a crappy bag from a grocery store.
In addition, the birthday song being sung what seems like every 5 minutes is very annoying. Chevy’s is not a great place to visit on your own or with co-workers… (see Farrell’s demise and their similar birthday song charades.) Given the advanced age of many of their customers, maybe frequent birthdays, slow service, and bland food are passable but for us working stiffs, this place is not the highlight of your 9 to 5 workday existence.
Chevy’s, you are not fast casual. Lower your prices, improve quality where you can, offer add-on’s for additional $$$ and see where it takes you. Also, if you don’t want to give out the perks of a coupon, just exempt yourself from it. Nothing should be more embarrassing for a manager than the service that I received. The fact that I was never served my wings, but the manager only agreed to remove it from the bill once a coupon was produced encapsulated much of what is wrong with this dining experience. 1.3/5 overall
I would avoid this place. Seems like this location is franchisee run and the management has checkout too. I can hear the company circling the drain now. Maybe the 90-day calendar will euthanize this location soon.
Johnnie Does