Chili's: Difference between revisions

| logo_caption = Logo used since September 24, 2011.

| type = [[Subsidiary|Wholly owned subsidiary]]

| key_people = Kevin Hochman {{small|([[Chief executive officer|CEO]])}}

'''Chili's Grill & Bar''' (stylized as '''chili's''') is an American [[casual dining]] restaurant chain.<ref name="chilisindia.com">{{cite web|url=http://www.chilisindia.com/|title=American and Mexican Food Restaurant and Bar in India - Chili's India|website=Chili's Grill & Bar Restaurant|access-date=November 26, 2016|archive-date=November 7, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161107231908/http://www.chilisindia.com/|url-status=live}}</ref> The company was founded by Larry Lavine in Texas in 1975 and is currently owned and operated by [[Brinker International]].

Chili's first location, a converted postal station on Greenville Avenue in the [[Vickery Meadow, Dallas|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; itIt relocated again in 2007.<ref name=brinker>{{cite web |url=http://www.brinker.com/company/brinker2007/01/page08.htm |title=Brinker 2007 Corporate report |author=Brinker publication |publisher=Brinker International, Inc. |date=October 2007 |access-date=December 19, 2007 |archive-date=December 18, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211218124406/https://www.brinker.com/company/brinker2007/01/page08.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 1983, Lavine sold the companybrand to restaurant executive [[Norman E. Brinker]], formerly of the [[Pillsbury Company|Pillsbury]] restaurant group that owned [[Bennigan's]].<ref name=answers/>

== Advertising ==

"Chili's (Welcome to Chili's!)" is an [[advertisement|advertising]] jingle used in Chili's Restaurant commercials to advertise the restaurant's line of [[Pork ribs#Baby back ribs|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.<ref name=stuck>{{cite news |url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_hb6398/is_200412/ai_n26182606?tag=artBody;col1 |title=10 Songs most likely to get stuck in your head.(The Book of Tens) |publisher=Advertising Age. |date=December 2004 |access-date=June 24, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090207103128/http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_hb6398/is_200412/ai_n26182606?tag=artBody;col1 |archive-date=February 7, 2009 |url-status=dead }}</ref> 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)"."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.today.com/food/chili-s-grill-bar-baby-back-ribs-jingle-returns-t117184|title=Chili's revives famous 'baby back ribs' jingle ... but it's a little different|author=Pennell, Julie|date=October 6, 2017|website=Today|access-date=August 11, 2018|archive-date=May 22, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190522035004/https://www.today.com/food/chili-s-grill-bar-baby-back-ribs-jingle-returns-t117184|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 2008, the chain aired parody ads for "P. J. Bland's"," a fictional restaurant chain with cardboard foods.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.burgerbusiness.com/?p=941|title=Chili's Spoofs Restaurant Ads with 'P.J. Bland's' Campaign|work=Burger Business|date=April 15, 2009|access-date=April 28, 2009|archive-date=April 22, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090422135014/http://www.burgerbusiness.com/?p=941|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2012, Chili's used [[Wendy Rene]]'s [[Stax Records|Stax]] single, "Bar-B-Q," in their TV commercial.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.ispot.tv/ad/7wTD/chilis-20-dinner-for-two-song-by-wendy-rene|title=Chili's $20 Dinner for Two TV Commercial, Song by Wendy Rene|website=iSpot.tv|access-date=January 22, 2018|archive-date=January 22, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180122235116/https://www.ispot.tv/ad/7wTD/chilis-20-dinner-for-two-song-by-wendy-rene|url-status=live}}</ref> In September 2017, Chili's dropped about 40 percent of its menu items to focus on burgers, ribs, and fajitas.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.marketingdive.com/news/chilis-wants-you-to-laugh-so-hard-you-pee-a-little-with-new-campaign/572527/#:~:text=Chili's%20%E2%80%8Bwants%20to%20entice,memes%20and%20make%20TikTok%20videos.|title=Chili's just cut dozens of items from its menu — here are the beloved dishes that didn't make it|work=Business Insider|access-date=October 3, 2017|language=en|archive-date=March 22, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200322145605/https://www.marketingdive.com/news/chilis-wants-you-to-laugh-so-hard-you-pee-a-little-with-new-campaign/572527/#:~:text=Chili's%20%E2%80%8Bwants%20to%20entice,memes%20and%20make%20TikTok%20videos.|url-status=live}}</ref>

| China<ref>{{cite web |title=Chili's (Binjiang Da Dao) |url=http://www.smartshanghai.com/venue/17378/chilis_binjiang_da_dao |website=Smart Shanghai |access-date=November 27, 2019 |archive-date=July 3, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190703141444/http://www.smartshanghai.com/venue/17378/chilis_binjiang_da_dao |url-status=live }}</ref> || Germany, but only in U.S military bases || Bahrain || Canada || Brazil || Egypt

| Pakistan|| || || ||Guatemala ||

* 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.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Wilonsky |first=Robert |title=Folks Sue Brinker, Claiming Its Guiltless Food Is a Little Too Guilty |url=https://www.dallasobserver.com/news/folks-sue-brinker-claiming-its-guiltless-food-is-a-little-too-guilty-7104528 |access-date=May 27, 2022 |website=Dallas Observer |language=en |archive-date=May 28, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220528045056/https://www.dallasobserver.com/news/folks-sue-brinker-claiming-its-guiltless-food-is-a-little-too-guilty-7104528 |url-status=live }}</ref>

* 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.<ref>{{Cite web |date=August 10, 2019 |title=BRINKER INTERNATIONAL INVESTIGATION INITIATED By Former Louisiana Attorney General: Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC Investigates the Officers and Directors of Brinker International, Inc. - EAT |url=https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190809005430/en/BRINKER-INTERNATIONAL-INVESTIGATION-INITIATED-By-Former-Louisiana-Attorney-General-Kahn-Swick-Foti-LLC-Investigates-the-Officers-and-Directors-of-Brinker-International-Inc.---EAT |access-date=May 27, 2022 |website=www.businesswire.com |language=en |archive-date=May 12, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220512163549/https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190809005430/en/BRINKER-INTERNATIONAL-INVESTIGATION-INITIATED-By-Former-Louisiana-Attorney-General-Kahn-Swick-Foti-LLC-Investigates-the-Officers-and-Directors-of-Brinker-International-Inc.---EAT |url-status=live }}</ref>

Chili's was a key location in ''[[The Office (American TV series)|The Office]]'' season 2 episode 7 "[[The Client (The Office)|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 Hotels|Radisson]] citing Chili's as "the new golf course"." 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 (That '70s Show)|Fez]], mentions Chili's is the location where he and his current lover had met, also making a reference to the Babyback Ribs jingle.{{Citation needed|date=January 2023}} Chili's was mentioned several times in the [[2010 in film|2010]] [[Road film|road comedy]] ''[[Due Date]]'', starring [[Robert Downey Jr.]] and [[Zach Galifianakis]].<ref name="Due Date">{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3nTy5ZPl3g |title=Chili's Reservation - Due Date |author=<!--Not stated--> |date= |website=YouTube |publisher= |access-date= |quote=}}</ref>