Chelo’s Hometown Bar & Grille

Chelos can be really hit or miss. Sometimes the servide is great and sometimes it is slowwwww. My favorite is the buffalo mac and cheese. It is sooo unhealthy but heaven like. They serve Pepsi which is a big no no for my hubby.

Came here with the office group of 6, and we got friendly service, thank you! I had the chicken parm dinner plate which comes with chicken ceasar salad and soup and it was delicious. Don’t know how much it cost but the portion size was great.

Stopped in here on Halloween night before heading to the movies — and yes, it was a good move. All the servers were decked out in their costumes — very nice. Our waitress Nicole was dressed ghoulishly, but was anything except ghoulish to us. And there was nothing scary about the food. The red clam chowder was chock fulI of clams and potatoes in a smooth and tasty tomato-​ey broth. I barely had room enough to finish the Roast Beef Sandwich (the smaller ¹⁄₃ lb version) which I had asked for medium rare, but was served medium-​to-​medium-​well. To their credit, though, it was still delicious enough that I had eaten about ²⁄₃ of the sandwich before I even noticed! Having to choose between finishing the sandwich or the curly fries, I decided to polish off the sandwich and opted to bring the fries home — a win-​win situation.
Diane had the appetizer combo of 3 clam cakes and a bowl of red chowder as her meal, and remarked that it was every bit as good as she remembered it. While 3 clam cakes doesn’t sound very filling, all I can say is that you have to see (and taste) them to appreciate them. She couldn’t even finish her last clam cake!
The roast beef faux pas knocks this down to a 4-​star rating. Still, it was a good meal all around with great service at a reasonable price.

The thing is, the staff is really great. But even after multiple complaints, and speaking with the district manager, and actually showing up to their office (the one in Cumberland where they never answer the phone), the problems persist. They do not understand the ergomomnics of watching televisions, and they completely ignored customer feedback and turned off some wall TV’s and put large TV’s at the bar too close for watching when you are at the bar, and at a horrible angle.
So what was their solution to the customer feedback? They instructed their employees that they are not allowed to talk about it anymore.
The egos at the corporate level are astounding. They will not speak with you, and they do not answer the phone. They do not respond to online feedback. They are the smartest people in the room, in their opinion it seems.
So what you have is a friendly wait staff, and food that is good, but not up to the pricing, and a management that seems hell bent on making it as unappealing as possible to be there.

Food is always great and the service is the same. Tiffany is one of the best waitress there we always ask for her and she does a great job

Food is consistent, and the beer is cold. Bartenders are always pleasant. Plenty of TV’s.

Like most Chelo’s I always enjoy their food, but I have to say the service in the bar at this one is a bit slow. I usually go with friends for trivia, and it seems to always take a long time for the server to come to our table, take our order, etc., etc. Maybe more staff in the bar?

First and LAST time visiting this establishment! It had been a very long time since I dined at a Chelo’s restaurant and had never had a bad experience. The food is usually good and prior to visiting this restaurant, service had always been very good. I entered the restaurant with two other adults (party of 3) and we were seated immediately. Our food and drink orders were taken within a reasonable amount of time, however, the experience pretty much goes downhill from this point on.
I ordered the «all you can eat roasted chicken and ziti» which is served with a «salad». Unfortunately, their version of a «salad» is nothing more than a bowl full of iceberg lettuce and a single cherry tomato. We then waited a complete HOUR for a club sandwich, a grilled chicken entrée and the rest of my chicken dinner to be served. As the dining area was at no more than half capacity, it was explained to us that the delay was due to the fact that the club sandwich had been prepared erroneously. We then discovered that the ketchup bottle on our table was empty and had to ask TWICE before another was brought over. My dinner was served with a handful of steak fries and a large serving of pasta smothered in a tomato sauce which had a prominent metallic taste that was unappealing. Halfway through dinner, I was asked if I wanted additional pasta or fries and I requested additional fries. After waiting for ten minutes and watching our waitress enter and return from the kitchen on three separate occasions only to approach us to announce that the fries would take additional time, I was COMPLETELY DONE! Service was completely UNACCEPTABLE at this restaurant and food was only adequate. I have no interest in returning and I do NOT recommend this restaurant, based on this experience!

I will be nice its new years day… But I think there was not alot of effort put in that burger and fries I just had. Service was good though.

A group of us met here for an early dinner prior to the Paw Sox game.
I like spicy food so I ordered the SouthWest Burger (as did 1 or 2 others) and was disappointed to find that I couldn’t detect even a hint of spice in it (menu says it contains jalapeño bacon).
The service was good and the food was OK, but disappointing as noted above.

Always a good call for lunch. Stopped in over the weekend for a burger and fries. Good food and friendly service.

The service is still fine, but I have to say their macaroni and cheese is one of the most disgusting concoctions I’ve ever put in my mouth. Note to corporate chef– use actual macaroni not ziti– there is a difference. Finally the 5 cheese combo sauce is very watery and greasy. Who came up with this ‘recipe’ and decided it was good? They should be fired!

My 17 year old daughter recently went on a job interview. She was hired by the manager Jared (or Jarrod… not sure of the spelling). She was told to return a few days later to fill out paperwork. The day she went to fill out the so called paperwork, she was told there was no position for her, and they would check with the East Providence restaurant. This never happened. (keep in mind, my daughter had given her 2 week notice at her current job upon being hired by Chelos). I wrote to the general manager and told him what happened. He told me Jared had done this several times, and all hires should had gone through him. He profusely apologized non stop, and set up an appointment to meet with my daughter today.
She went, only to get the same run around from him. I would like to know what kind of operation is going on there? Is it common practice to falsely hire people?
Now my daughter is without a job thanks to Jared… the manager at the Rumford RI location. Jared, i can only hope you find yourself without a job. I feel something seriously needs to be done about this, not only with you, but with the General Manager as well. You are both have shown nothing but incompetence and lack of professionalism.
This will not end here mind you… I plan on taking this further. Neither of you have any right being in the position you are in.

Me and my two friends came here for a casual girls dinner on a Friday night. The restaurant wasn’t very busy so they gave us a nice round booth in the corner of the dining room. We knew it was going to be a long night of chatting so we warned the hostess from the beginning that they wouldn’t be getting the booth back for a while and they were perfectly fine with that.
We all had fish specials and their $ 2.99 Margarita special. I had the baked scrod and my friends had fish & chips… everything was delicious! The fish was very fresh and the portions were more than generous. The waitress had cautioned us on the margarita special («you get what you pay for with a $ 2.99 margarita», was the quote), but they were good. Of course, not top shelf, but still quite good… and only $ 2.99!
As we suspected, we stayed at the booth for hours. The waitress was very friendly and attentive throughout the night and didn’t rush us one bit. She provided great service.
Great food, great service, excellent prices.

Food and service was good. Had the Seafood and pasta. Was pretty good. Wife had the pumpkin ravioli. She also liked it. I must say the atmosphere is pretty cool. Train rolling around the top of the rest. And not to mention the marble carpet. It is a bit dated, but something about it that i personally liked and appreciated. Not sure if the out datedness is intentional or not. Regardless, i dig it. Overall good experience. Glad we finally went.

Visited my first Chelo’s to check out trivia. We decided to sit in the bar and ordered from the dinner menu while we played and grab a few drinks. The margarita’s though cheap (2.99) were pretty weak, i also tried the mango margarita as well (7.99) which was also weak. I got a burger which was pretty standard fare and the service was just ok… similar to what you’d find a Friendly’s. The trivia host was pretty chatty with the regulars over the microphone so i think that made the trivia drag a bit for the newbies. Over all the experience wasn’t terrible and i’d probably go back and keep this place in my back pocket as a stand by.

I’m sorry Chelo’s, but this has to be said. You were one of our «go to» places every once and awhile for years, but I think it’ll be an even longer stretch before we come back. Looking over the menu for «healthy» choices was extremely limited. I settled on your half roasted chicken that came with pasta and salad. The chicken was pretty good, the salad was ok (mostly the light yellow and white parts of the iceberg), and the pasta was like eating tubes of paste. Actually, it was so over cooked it was inedible. The iced tea I ordered was so strong, it was the color of cola. I drank about ¼ of it trying to wash down the pasta. On the upside, our server was friendly and polite.

We decided to stop by for Chelo’s after the Pawtucket Red Sox game today. The staff and servers were extremely friendly and courteous which was the highlight of the meal. The food on the other hand was boring and tasteless. We ordered two garden salads, a cheeseburger, and the Thai Chili Lime Salmon. The salads were fresh (enjoyed the balsamic dressing), the burger itself was fine but the bun was old/​dry, the salmon fillet (seemed to be almost fake in appearance) was completely overcooked and dry which seemed to have a sweet & sour sauce poured over it. Very disappointing! Recommend you dine elsewhere.

If I was at gunpoint and I had to chose between Chelo’s and their main competitor (which would be totally weird if that ever happened), I would chose Gregg’s. Both are Rhode Island-​based chains that offer reasonably-​priced, classic American fare in casual and comfortable settings. However, I’ve always found Chelo’s be decidedly lacking. I find their menu to be limited with less variety than I hope for, and I always seem to settle on chicken fingers (which are usually over-​fried) and a side salad (all iceberg!) with struggling veggies when I’m there. Plus, they carry Pepsi, which is a HUGE demerit in my book.
They boast the best fish n’ chips, clam cakes, chowda, and burgers in Rhode Island according to RI Monthly’s annual competition/​poll, but I have trouble believing it given my experiences with their food and all the other options in the state (I tend to blame these poll results on a RI mentality of sticking to what is known instead of venturing out and experiencing new things). I’ve had their chowda and I find it to be a thick, creamy ugh-​fest. Their beer and nightly dinner specials are priced right ($ 2 drafts and $ 10 three-​course meals), so I am not gonna hate on that for budget-​conscious and/​or family dining.

Meh.
It is what it is.
You do not walk into ANY Chelo’s expecting to be blown away.
Ever.
And this location is no different.
Adequate food, service and prices.
Plenty of parking. Easy access.
$ 1.99 domestic beer drafts. Bonus.
Better than fast food.
Chelo’s is the region’s answer to Friday’s, etc.