Chili's

History

Chili's first location, a converted postal station on Greenville Avenue in the Vickery Meadows area of Dallas, Texas, opened in 1975. The original Chili's on Greenville Avenue moved to a new building on the same site in 1981; it relocated again in 2007.

Lavine's concept was to create an informal, full-service dining restaurant with a menu featuring different types of hamburgers offered at an affordable price. The brand grew larger, and by the early 1980s, there were 28 Chili's locations in the region, all featuring similar Southwest decor.

The restaurant was named Chili's because they had chili on the menu and "figured it was something people would talk about," according to a 2022 interview with Lavine.

In 1983, Lavine sold the brand to restaurant executive Norman E. Brinker, formerly of the Pillsbury restaurant group that owned Bennigan's.

Menu

Chili's serves American food, Tex-Mex cuisine and dishes influenced by Mexican cuisine, such as shrimp tacos, quesadillas, and fajitas.

In addition to their regular menu, the company offers a nutritional menu, allergen menu, and vegetarian menu.

Advertising

"Chili's (Welcome to Chili's!)" is an advertising jingle used in Chili's Restaurant commercials to advertise the restaurant's line of baby back ribs. The song was written by Guy Bommarito and produced by Tom Faulkner Productions for GSD&M Advertising of Austin, Texas. Faulkner sings both "I want my baby back, baby back, baby back ribs..." (Which is similar to the Tommy James song "Draggin' the Line"), as well as the melodic theme. The deep "Bar-B-Q sauce" line was sung by famed New York bass vocalist Willie McCoy. A 1996 rendition of the jingle features a doo-wop quartet, Take 6, singing a cappella. Advertising Age magazine named the song first on its list of "10 songs most likely to get stuck in your head" in 2004. In October 2017, the jingle was revived to advertise Chili's new menu, where it was re-conceptualized as "Oh Baby, Chili's is Back (Baby, Back, Baby, Back)."

In 2008, the chain aired parody ads for "P. J. Bland's," a fictional restaurant chain with cardboard foods. In 2012, Chili's used Wendy Rene's Stax single, "Bar-B-Q," in their TV commercial. In September 2017, Chili's dropped about 40 percent of its menu items to focus on burgers, ribs, and fajitas.

In February 2020 Chili's announced a new marketing campaign encouraging people to "laugh so hard you pee a little." In September 2024, Chili's announced that its advertisement campaign was working, while other food chains in the USA still struggled to entice diners into their stores. Store sales increased 14.8 percent in the fiscal fourth quarter for Chili's.

In 2024, the Chili's restaurant chain obtained the license for BurgerTime to create a browser-based game called Chili’s Big Smasher BurgerTime. In this version of the game, players control the franchise mascot Joe ChiliHead in a quest to create Big Smasher Burgers across six levels of gameplay. Players who participated also had the chance to win prizes such as free burgers for life.

Locations

Chili's operates in the follow countries and territories:

• Asia/Oceania: China, Guam, India, Indonesia, Japan (only in U.S military bases), Malaysia, Pakistan, Philippines, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Taiwan

• North America/Caribbean: United States, Canada, Mexico, Dominican Republic, and Puerto Rico

• South America/Central America: Chile, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, Panama, and Peru

• Middle East: Bahrain, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates

• Europe: Germany (only in U.S military bases), Romania

• Africa: Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia |Image:Chili's Santa Clara.jpg|Chili's in Santa Clara, California |File:Chilis dallas.JPG|Chili's in Dallas, Texas |File:Chili's Brownsville - Flickr - pinemikey.jpg|Chili's in Brownsville, Texas |File:Chili's_at_Palisades_Mall,_West_Nyack,_New_York.jpg|Chili's at Palisades Center shopping mall, West Nyack, New York |File:Chili's at SM City Cebu (2025-03-16).jpg|Chili's in Cebu City, Philippines

Legal problems

In October 2008, a Chili's Australia franchise was prosecuted and fined by the NSW Office of Industrial Relations for underpaying staff, pressuring employees to sign an Australian workplace agreement, and failing to pay in owed wages by a deadline set by the Office of Industrial Relations. In the same year, Chili's announced the permanent closure of all its Australian locations due to poor sales, unprofitability, and non-compliance with the Fair Work Act 2009.

In July 2024, American rap rock group the Beastie Boys filed a lawsuit against Chili's parent company Brinker International for copyright infringement, claiming that the group's 1994 song "Sabotage" has been illegally used to promote Chili's in advertisements on social media starting around November 2022.

Controversies

• 2008: On June 5, a woman from Washington named Anne Paskett filed a class-action suit against Brinker International. Paskett and the rest of the plaintiffs claimed that the restaurant chain's so-called healthier offerings, like the Chili's "Guiltless Black Bean Burger" have nutritional values much different than the ones listed on the menu. Independent laboratory tests were conducted, discovering that the fat content of the items are sometimes double, or even triple, the amount shown on these menus.
• 2009: Brinker International fired a Chili's employee for the claim of sexual harassment, only to employ her again after the public outrage. They claimed that her termination was a computer error.
• 2018: Brinker International disclosed that its data network had been breached between March and April 2018, exposing the personally identifiable information of its customers. Subsequently, several customers of Chili's filed suit against the company, alleging that its failure to comply with industry standards for information security and implement adequate data security measures to protect its data networks from the potential danger of a data breach had caused them to incur fraudulent charges on their payment cards.
• 2019: Chili's Restaurant was fined after an employee fell into a vat of scalding water.
• 2020: Brinker International and its Chili's subsidiary paid to settle sexual harassment allegations from five female employees.

In popular culture

• Chili's was a key location in The Office season 2 episode 7 "The Client." The episode shows Michael and Jan meeting a client at a local Chili's restaurant after Michael had changed the location of the meeting from Radisson citing Chili's as "the new golf course." It was also featured in another season 2 episode, "The Dundies".
• On April 7, 2025, the chain opened "The Scranton Branch", an Office themed Chili’s based on the one featured in the show. The Scranton restaurant is the only one in the chain to feature the Awesome Blossom, which was removed from the full menu in 2008.
• The Chili's jingle was also used in Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me where Fat Bastard meets Dr. Evil with the mojo belonging to Austin Powers. When he sees Mini-Me walk out with the money, startling him, he tries to eat him, thinking he is a baby. After attempting to eat Mini-Me, Fat Bastard suggests that Dr. Evil keeps the mojo, and he gets the baby, and then sings the Chili's Babyback Ribs song.
• In Season one of That '90s Show, the recurring character, Fez, mentions Chili's is the location where he and his current lover had met, also making a reference to the Babyback Ribs jingle.
• Chili's was mentioned several times in the 2010 road comedy film Due Date, starring Robert Downey Jr. and Zach Galifianakis.
• On April 5, 2024, in Austin, Texas, the date was declared Chili's at 45th & Lamar Day.
• On July 22, 2025, Austin, Texas-based Tecovas announced a collaboration with Chili's wherein Tecovas would sell boots out of "genuine Chili’s Booths". The boots retailed for $345.

References

References

1. Brinker International, Inc.. (June 29, 2011). "FY 2011 10-K". U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
2. Brinker International, Inc.. (June 29, 2011). "2011 Annual Report to Shareholders". U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
3. "American and Mexican Food Restaurant and Bar in India - Chili's India".
4. Brinker publication. (October 2007). "Brinker 2007 Corporate report". Brinker International, Inc..
5. "Brinker International". Answers.com.
6. "It's Chili's' birthday: Here's how the popular restaurant was founded in Dallas".
7. "Chili's website".
8. (2012). "Chili's Restaurant Menu". Brinker International.
9. (December 2004). "10 Songs most likely to get stuck in your head.(The Book of Tens)". Advertising Age..
10. Pennell, Julie. (October 6, 2017). "Chili's revives famous 'baby back ribs' jingle ... but it's a little different".
11. (April 15, 2009). "Chili's Spoofs Restaurant Ads with 'P.J. Bland's' Campaign". Burger Business.
12. "Chili's $20 Dinner for Two TV Commercial, Song by Wendy Rene".
13. "Chili's just cut dozens of items from its menu — here are the beloved dishes that didn't make it". Business Insider.
14. "Chili's wants you to 'laugh so hard you pee a little' with new campaign".
15. (14 September 2024). "Here's why Americans are going back to Chili's". CNBC.
16. "Chili's® Big Smasher BurgerTime Video Game Levels Up Fast-Food Face-Off with the Chance to Win Free Burgers for Life*".
17. "Chili's (Binjiang Da Dao)".
18. "Chili’s opens first restaurant in Indonesia at West Jakarta".
19. "Chili's Srilanka".
20. (2008). "Fast food chain off the boil.". Illawarra Mercury.
21. Millman, Ethan. (2024-07-11). "Beastie Boys Sue Chili's Owner for Using 1994 Hit Song 'Sabotage' in Advertisements".
22. Wilonsky, Robert. "Folks Sue Brinker, Claiming Its Guiltless Food Is a Little Too Guilty".
23. (January 23, 2009). "Chili's Fires* Long-Time Employee After Sexual Harassment Claim [UPDATED]".
24. (August 10, 2019). "BRINKER INTERNATIONAL INVESTIGATION INITIATED By Former Louisiana Attorney General: Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC Investigates the Officers and Directors of Brinker International, Inc. - EAT".
25. (March 18, 2019). "Chili's in Florida fined over $62,000 after employee falls into vat of scalding water".
26. (April 15, 2020). "Cañon City Chili's Restaurant to Pay $150,000 to Settle EEOC Sexual Harassment and Retaliation Lawsuit".
27. . ["Chili's Reservation - Due Date"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3nTy5ZPl3g).
28. Falcon, Russell. (April 6, 2024). "Austin mayor names April 5 'Chili's at 45th and Lamar Day'".
29. (April 5, 2024). "Austin's Chili's at 45th and Lamar Day Is Real and Official".
30. https://www.kxan.com/news/local/austin/collab-we-didnt-know-we-needed-why-the-internet-is-buzzing-over-tecovas-chilis-booth-boots/