Chi-Chi's

Last updated
Chi-Chi's
Chi-Chi's logo.svg
Product type
  • Tex-Mex restaurant chain (Europe)
  • Mexican-style grocery items (United States)
Owner
  • unclear (European restaurant chain)
  • MegaMex Foods (grocery items)
Country
  • Belgium (restaurant chain)
  • United States (grocery items)
Introduced1975;48 years ago (1975) (as Mexican-food US restaurant)
Markets
  • Europe (restaurants)
  • United States (grocery items)
Website
Chi-Chi's
(North America)
TypePrivate
Industry Restaurants
Founded1975;48 years ago (1975)
Richfield, Minnesota, U.S.
DefunctSeptember 18, 2004;18 years ago (2004-09-18) (as restaurants in the U.S. and Canada)
FateBankruptcy (as restaurants in the U.S. and Canada)
Products Mexican food
Website www.chichis.at

Chi-Chi's can either refer to a defunct Mexican food restaurant chain founded in the United States in 1975, which continued in Europe only as a single restaurant after the North American owner declared bankruptcy and folded in 2004, or to its namesake brand of Mexican food grocery products produced and marketed when the original North American restaurant chain owner sold the rights to use its name on said products in 1987.

Contents

Restaurant chain

Chi-Chi's is a single Mexican restaurant currently operating in Vienna, Austria, that is the only remnant left of a much larger chain. [1] The company was briefly owned by Tumbleweed, Inc. [2] [ failed verification ] The chain also once operated in the United States and Canada but exited those countries in 2004, and closed their Germany and Belgium locations in 2022. [1]

Founding

Chi-Chi's was founded in 1975 in Richfield, Minnesota, a suburb of Minneapolis, by restaurateur Marno McDermott (his wife's nickname was "Chi Chi" [3] ) and former Green Bay Packers player Max McGee. McDermott had previously founded the Zapata fast-food Mexican chain, which later became Zantigo. [4] From 1977 to 1986, the chain was run by former KFC executive Shelly Frank. [5] When Frank took leadership, the chain moved its headquarters to his hometown of Louisville. By March 1995, the chain had grown to 210 locations. [6]

Management and marketing

In 2001, Chi-Chi's applied for a trademark [7] on the word "salsafication" but was denied by the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board. The company's slogans were "A celebration of food" and, later, "Life always needs a little salsa." [4]

Bankruptcy, hepatitis A, and closure in United States and Canada

Chi-Chi's last owner while the company was still in business in the United States and Canada was Prandium Inc., which had filed for bankruptcy several times, including in 1993 as Restaurant Enterprises Group Inc. and again in 2002 as Prandium. [8] On October 8, 2003, Chi-Chi's and Koo Koo Roo, another Prandium subsidiary, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy themselves. [8]

In November 2003, a month after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, Chi-Chi's was hit with the largest hepatitis A outbreak in American history, with at least four deaths and 660 other victims of illness in the Pittsburgh area, [9] including high school students who caught the disease from the original victims. [10] The hepatitis was traced back to green onions at the Chi-Chi's at Beaver Valley Mall near Monaca, Pennsylvania, about 30 miles (48 km) northwest of Pittsburgh. [11] Chi-Chi's settled the hepatitis A lawsuits by July 2004. [12] At the time the suits were settled, Chi-Chi's had only 65 restaurants, fewer than half of the number of four years prior. [13]

In August 2004, Outback Steakhouse bid $42.5 million [14] for the rights to buy its choice of Chi-Chi's 76 properties, but did not purchase the Chi-Chi's name, operations, or recipes. [15] On the weekend of September 18, 2004, Chi-Chi's closed all 65 of its remaining restaurants. [13] Outback had hoped to convert many of the properties to its own restaurants, but instead eventually sold the majority of the properties to Kimco Realty Corporation, a real estate investment trust company in New Hyde Park, New York. [16]

Europe

Chi-Chi's restaurant in Brussels (2011) Chi-Chi's in Brussels - Sarah Stierch.jpg
Chi-Chi's restaurant in Brussels (2011)

In 2002, Francis Leroy of Belgium purchased the master franchise for Belgium, and later the master franchises for Europe in 2008, North Africa in 2011, and China in 2012. [17]

The European-based company tried to expand into Denmark in 2011 [18] but no reliable citation can be found when the Danish restaurants were closed.

In the first half of 2015, the chain in Belgium had to close five under-performing restaurants. [19]

Chi-Chi's expanded into Austria by opening their first restaurant in Vienna in 2018. [20]

The last snapshot of the European chain's official website in January 2022 showed that the company had three locations left, two in Liege and one in Brugge, all in Belgium. [21] There is no evidence that the website was active much beyond May 2022. [22] The Brugge location announced on Facebook that it was closing in October 2022. [23]

Grocery brand

In 1987, Hormel Foods acquired the rights to produce and market Chi-Chi's branded salsa and related products in the United States. By 1996, Hormel was making $60-million annually from this product line. [24] In 2009, Hormel formed a 50%-50% joint venture with Mexico-based food manufacturer Herdez Del Fuerte called MegaMex Foods, LLC, to manufacture and distribute Mexican food products in the United States. The Chi-Chi's brand was placed in this new company along with other related food brands such as Herdez, La Victoria and Búfalo brands. [25] Besides salsas, the Chi-Chi's brand also include dips, tortillas, tortilla chips and taco seasoning mixes. [26] [27] Chi-Chi's branded food products are usually found in major supermarkets and discount stores.

In April 2021, MegaMex hired a TikTok personality to be their Chi-Chi's brand ambassador for that year's Cinco de Mayo advertising period. [28]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tex-Mex</span> Cuisine in the Southwestern United States and Northern Mexico

Tex-Mex cuisine is an American cuisine that derives from the culinary creations of the Tejano people of Texas. It has spread from border states such as Texas and others in the Southwestern United States to the rest of the country. It is a subtype of Southwestern cuisine found in the American Southwest.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hormel Foods</span> American food processing company

Hormel Foods Corporation is an American food processing company founded in 1891 in Austin, Minnesota, by George A. Hormel as George A. Hormel & Company. The company originally focused on the packaging and selling of ham, sausage and other pork, chicken, beef and lamb products to consumers, adding Spam in 1937. By the 1980s, Hormel began offering a wider range of packaged and refrigerated foods. The company changed its name to Hormel Foods Corporation in 1993 and uses the Hormel brand on many of its products; the company's other brands include Planters, Columbus Craft Meats, Dinty Moore, Jennie-O, and Skippy. The company's products are available in 80 countries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nachos</span> Tortilla chip dish

Nachos are a Mexican culinary dish consisting of tortilla chips or totopos covered with cheese or cheese sauce, as well as a variety of other toppings and garnishes, often including meats, vegetables, and condiments such as salsa, guacamole, or sour cream. At its most basic form, nachos may consist of merely chips covered with cheese, and served as an appetizer or snack, while other versions are substantial enough as a main course. The dish was created by, and named after, Ignacio Anaya, who created them in 1941 for customers at the Victory Club restaurant in Piedras Negras, Coahuila.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Outback Steakhouse</span> American chain steakhouse

Outback Steakhouse is an American chain of Australian-themed casual dining restaurants, serving American cuisine, based in Tampa, Florida. The chain has over 1,000 locations in 23 countries throughout North and South America, Asia, and Australia. It was founded in March 1988 with its first location in Tampa by Bob Basham, Chris T. Sullivan, Trudy Cooper, and Tim Gannon. It was owned and operated in the United States by OSI Restaurant Partners until it was acquired by Bloomin' Brands, and by other franchise and venture agreements internationally.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ninfa's</span>

The Original Ninfa's on Navigation is a popular Mexican restaurant located at 2704 Navigation Boulevard in Houston, Texas. The restaurant serves both Tex-Mex and Mexican cuisine. The Original Ninfa's was started by Ninfa Rodríguez Laurenzo, a Mexican-American woman, in a tortilla factory. Ninfa Laurenzo became a full-time restaurateur and the tortilla factory closed. Mama Ninfa is widely credited with popularizing the fajita among Houstonians.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">El Torito</span> Mexican restaurant chain located in the US

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Don Pablo's</span> American Tex-Mex restaurant chain

Don Pablo's was an American chain of Tex-Mex restaurants founded in Lubbock, Texas, in 1985. The menu featured Tex-Mex items, made-from-scratch salsa, tortillas and sauces, and a range of other Mexican specialties. At one time, this chain had as many as 120 locations throughout the United States and was the second largest full-service Mexican restaurant chain within the United States during the late 1990s, second only to Chi-Chi's. The chain had 34 restaurants in 14 states when it was acquired in 2014 by Food Management Partners. By October 2016, the chain was reduced to 12 restaurants in 9 states, 6 restaurants in 4 states by July 2018, 5 restaurants in 3 states by September 2018, and later 3 restaurants in 3 states by November 2018. The remaining restaurants in the struggling chain gradually and quietly closed over the next seven months until the last restaurant in Deptford Township, New Jersey, finally closed on June 23, 2019.

Real Mex Restaurants is the parent company for several chains of full-service Mexican restaurants in the United States. The company is headquartered in Cypress, California and operates more than 120 full service Mexican restaurants under eight brand names.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rubio's Coastal Grill</span> Mexican-American fast casual restaurant chain

Rubio's Coastal Grill, formerly known as Rubio's Fresh Mexican Grill and Rubio's Baja Grill is an American fast casual "Fresh Mex" or "New Mex" restaurant chain specializing in Mexican food, with an emphasis on fish tacos. As of 2013, Rubio's operates, licenses, or franchises more than 200 restaurants in Arizona, California, Florida, Colorado, Nevada, and Utah. It is headquartered in Carlsbad, California.

Santa Barbara Restaurant Group was a restaurant holding company and was the parent company for the Green Burrito, La Salsa, JB's Restaurants, and the Timber Lodge Steakhouse restaurant chain.

Búfalo is a brand of hot sauce and other condiments produced by Herdez Group of Lomas de Chapultepec, Mexico. Búfalo sauce has been produced since 1933. The company produces Búfalo and Tampico sauces, salsas, and other condiments. In the United States, English-labeled bottles are distributed by MegaMex Foods, a joint venture between Herdez and Hormel Foods.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Casa Sanchez Foods</span> American Mexican-style food snack company

Casa Sanchez Foods is an American Mexican-style food snack company, based in the San Francisco Bay Area, best known for producing authentic salsas and tortilla chips. Beginning in the 1920s as a tortilla manufacturer in San Francisco, the company soon evolved to producing salsas, guacamoles, tamales and pupusas.

La Victoria is an American brand of Mexican food products, in particular jar and bottled salsas. They were founded in Los Angeles in 1917, and introduced the first jar salsa product in the US, Salsa Brava, a true Mexican-style salsa, still sold today. In 1941, Henry Tanklage created the La Victoria Sales Company, introducing green and red taco sauce, and enchilada sauces. They are currently a division of Hormel, one of their MegaMex Foods brands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tortilla Coast</span> Restaurant in Washington, D.C.

Tortilla Coast was a Tex-Mex restaurant located in Washington, D.C. Their Capitol Hill location was recognized as a popular watering hole for politicians and political staffers. Tortilla Coast was known for their frozen margarita pitchers and bottomless chips and salsa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">La Salsa</span> Chain of American fast-casual Tex-Mex restaurants

La Salsa is a chain of fast-casual Tex Mex restaurants founded in Los Angeles, California in 1979, headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona and is owned by Canadian franchisor MTY Food Group. The chain emphasizes fresh ingredients, and each restaurant features a self-serve salsa bar.

Koo Koo Roo was an American fast casual restaurant chain specializing in charbroiled chicken founded in 1988 by Los Angeles-based restaurateurs Mike and Ray Badalian. The name "Koo Koo Roo" was an onomatopoeic reference to the crow of a rooster. After a series of expansions and ownership changes, in which Koo Koo Roo struggled for profitability throughout the 1990s, the last location in Santa Monica, California, closed in 2014. In 2021, Luby's Restaurants, Inc. sold Koo Koo Roo to an independent third party.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">El Pollo Loco (United States)</span> Restaurant chain

El Pollo Loco, Inc., is a restaurant chain based in the United States, specializing in Mexican-style grilled chicken. Restaurant service consists of: dine-in, take-out, with some locations offering drive through options. The company is headquartered in Costa Mesa, California, and operates about 500 company-owned and franchised restaurants in the Southwestern United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mexican-American cuisine</span>

Mexican-American cuisine is the cuisine of Mexican Americans and their descendants, who have modified Mexican cuisine under the influence of American culture and immigration patterns of Mexicans to the United States.

Grupo Herdez is a family-owned Mexican food company founded in 1914. After the 1985–1986 Hormel strike, Hormel collaborated with Grupo Herdez to sell Mexican food in the United States. Grupo Herdez also sold Hormel products in Mexico. Since 1991, Grupo Herdez has been listed on the Mexican Stock Exchange.

References

  1. 1 2 "What the Hell Happened to Chi-Chi's?". The Takeout. 2022-10-12. Retrieved 2023-02-11.
  2. ↑ "Chi-Chi's Brand FAQ". Hormel Foods. Archived from the original on 2017-08-20. Retrieved 2017-11-20.
  3. ↑ "Chi-Chi's Inc. - Company Profile, Information, Business Description, History, Background Information on Chi-Chi's Inc". www.referenceforbusiness.com. Retrieved 2017-08-21.
  4. 1 2 "Chi-Chi's Inc". Funding Universe. Retrieved 2008-10-09.
  5. ↑ Schoifet, Mark (January 27, 1986). "Frank exits Chi-Chi's, plans early retirement". Nation's Restaurant News . Retrieved July 2, 2010.
  6. ↑ Benmour, Eric (June 14, 1996). "Chi-Chi's closes oldest store here as pullback continues". Business First of Louisville . Retrieved July 2, 2010.
  7. ↑ "Salsafication trademark application" (PDF). Trademark Trial and Appeal Board. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2006-10-03. Retrieved 2007-05-16.
  8. 1 2 Spector, Amy. Nation's Restaurant News.' October 20, 2003. FindArticles.com.
  9. ↑ "Hepatitis A outbreak claims its 4th victim". Deseret News (Salt Lake City). April 4, 2004. Archived from the original on August 12, 2017. Retrieved October 24, 2007.
  10. ↑ . "Hepatitis A outbreak spreads to students". Deseret News (Salt Lake City). December 14, 2003. Archived from the original on 25 December 2016. Retrieved 25 December 2016.
  11. ↑ "Business at Beaver Valley Mall Chi-Chi's nearly back - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. February 15, 2004.
  12. ↑ . Nation's Restaurant News. July 12, 2004. FindArticles.com. Accessed October 24, 2007.
  13. 1 2 Lockyer, Sarah E. (October 4, 2004). "Chi-Chi's Inc. said adios last month and shuttered till 65 of its Mexican dinnerhouses as Outback Steakhouse I". Nation's Restaurant News.
  14. ↑ "Outback to Buy 76 Chi-Chi's". The Ledger (Lakeland, Florida). 5 August 2004. Retrieved 25 December 2016.
  15. ↑ "Outback Steakhouse to rebrand Chi-Chi's". USA Today. 23 September 2004. Retrieved 25 December 2016.
  16. ↑ "Chi-Chi's plans $35.2m sale of outlets, leases". Nation's Restaurant News. 5 July 2004. Archived from the original on 29 April 2014.
  17. ↑ Anne, Masset (May 5, 2014). "Le gringo d'ici" [The gringo from here]. La Libre Belgique (in French).
  18. ↑ Vammen, Hanne. "Første Chi-Chi's i Skandinavien er åbnet i Aarhus: Jeppe Stærk og Henrik Overgaard vil åbne yderligere fem restauranter i Danmark og 40 i Skandinavien" [The first Chi-Chi's in Scandinavia has opened in Aarhus: Jeppe Stærk and Henrik Overgaard will open another five restaurants in Denmark and 40 in Scandinavia]. Lokalavisen Aarhus (in Danish). Archived from the original on 2021-02-16.
  19. ↑ Godard, Sarah (May 22, 2015). "Chi-Chi's fait le ménage en Belgique" [Chi-Chi's cleans up in Belgium] (in French).
  20. ↑ "Chi-Chi's: Tex Mex Restaurant kommt zu uns" [Chi-Chi's: Tex Mex Restaurant comes to us]. OE24 Netzwerk (in Austrian German). September 17, 2018.
  21. ↑ "Restaurants". Chi-Chi's Europe. Archived from the original on 2022-01-26.
  22. ↑ "Chi-Chi's". Chi-Chi's Europe. Archived from the original on 2022-05-20.
  23. ↑ "Misschien hadden jullie het al vernomen, maar het gaat niet zo goed met de gezondheid van Chris" [You may have already heard, but Chris's health is not doing so well.]. Chi Chi's Brugge (in Dutch). September 2, 2022.
  24. ↑ Lazarus, George (February 26, 1996). "Hormel joins forces with Mexican salsa maker". Chicago Tribune .
  25. ↑ Dorfman, Brad (June 19, 2009). "Hormel, Herdez Del Fuerte form U.S. food venture". Reuters .
  26. ↑ "Chi-Chi's". MegaMex Foods. Retrieved May 11, 2021.
  27. ↑ Caramanna, Carly (March 11, 2021). "The Untold Truth Of Chi-Chi's". Mashed.com .
  28. ↑ "The Makers of the CHI-CHI'S® Brand Announce First-Ever "Chief Tortilla Officer" in Celebration of Cinco de Mayo". WFMZ-TV . April 30, 2021.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.