Chi-Chi’s is making a comeback.
The Mexican chain stated this week that it plans to open some new eating places subsequent 12 months. The places can be the primary since Chi-Chi’s filed for chapter safety in 2003.
Michael McDermott, the son of Chi-Chi’s founder, stated he struck an settlement with Hormel Foods to open the eating places. Austin, Minnesota-based Hormel owns the Chi-Chi’s trademark and produces Chi-Chi’s-branded chips and salsas.
“The Chi-Chi’s model is among the most beloved, revered, and well-known names within the Mexican meals class,” Hormel stated Thursday in an announcement. “The legacy and spirit of the model stay sturdy, and we’re excited concerning the upcoming relaunch of Chi-Chi’s restaurant places.”
McDermott, a restauranteur who additionally based Kona Grill and Rojo Mexican Grill, didn’t say what number of places he deliberate to open or the place. McDermott stated the eating places can be an up to date model of the traditional Chi-Chi’s.
“We have seen the affect our restaurant has had on people and households throughout the nation and consider there’s a sturdy alternative to carry the model again in a method that resonates with right now’s client,” McDermott stated in an announcement.
Chi-Chi’s was based in 1975 by Marno McDermott and former Green Bay Packers participant Max McGee. It grew quickly within the Nineties, reaching greater than 200 places nationwide. But by 2003 it had filed for chapter after going by a sequence of possession adjustments and fighting growing competitors.
Around the time of its chapter submitting, Chi-Chi’s status was additionally married by a hepatitis A outbreak at considered one of its eating places in Pennsylvania. The outbreak, linked to the inexperienced onions it used as a garnish and in its salsas, killed 4 folks and sickened 660.
The final Chi-Chi’s closed its doorways in 2004.
