A long-time player in the chain restaurant scene throughout the late ’80s and ’90s is about to make its return following a catastrophic foodborne illness outbreak and bankruptcy nearly 20 years ago.
Restaurants Closed But Brand Remained In Stores
Full-service Mexican chain Chi-Chi’s was once a staple among chain restaurants, especially throughout the Midwest. It’s unique fried ice cream treat ranked right up there with Americanized chain delicacies like Olive Garden’s breadsticks or Applebee’s dirt-cheap margaritas.
Vacant Chi-Chi’s restaurant in Peoria shown in 2007 photo
According to CNN, Chi-Chi’s first opened in Minnesota in 1975 before quickly expanding to more than 200 restaurants scattered around the U.S. Along with the fried ice cream, the restaurant offered up your typical Mexican chain fare such as sizzling fajitas and tacos.
Then, things went terribly bad.
The Chi-Chi’s chain shuttered it’s restaurants for good (or at least we thought) after what CNN described as a “hepatitis A outbreak at a Pittsburgh-area location traced to green onions served in its complimentary salsa, sickening 650 people and resulting in four deaths and several hundred lawsuits.”
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Following its closure, the brand’s name was eventually acquired by Hormel Foods, which still makes and distributes Chi-Chi’s salsa that is widely sold at stores throughout the U.S. along with similarly branded chips and tortillas.
Hormel Foods/Canva
When Is Chi-Chi’s Coming Back?
It’s still fairly early in the process, but the first steps for an actual Chi-Chi’s restaurant revival were put into place this week.
Restaurant Business reports Michael McDermott, son of the one of the brand’s founders Marno McDermott, reached a deal with Hormel to open restaurants under the Chi-Chi’s name. The first restaurants are planned to open sometime in 2025.
“Chi-Chi’s is the latest defunct restaurant brand to attempt a comeback following similar resuscitation attempts at Steak & Ale and The Ground Round,” Restaurant Business says. “The efforts typically appeal to customers’ nostalgia while also freshening up the old brands for a new generation.”
The way it stands as we close out 2024, the next 12 months could prove to be a boom for many chain restaurants. Here is a look at 15 chains with their eyes set on widespread expansion throughout the U.S. in 2025.
