Could This Mexican Restaurant Make A Comeback In Missouri?

If you're Generation X or a Boomer, there's a good chance you've eaten at Chi-Chi's Mexican Restaurant. If you're younger, Chi-Chi's may have been a place your parents or older siblings talked about, probably while buying Chi-Chi's Salsa or chips.

These days, Chi-Chi's is known for salsa in a jar and related products. Yet, back in the 1980s, it was the introduction to Tex-Mex for many. It was one of my high school girlfriend's favorite restaurants, and you couldn't get her to leave without her ordering fried ice cream—vanilla ice cream coated in cinnamon crunchies and fried until golden brown.

Chi-Chi's was probably the first place I tried Tex-Mex food, as there were locations at a couple of malls near me. And the aforementioned high school girlfriend. That said, I don't personally remember a lot about it. The restaurants had a vague adobe-like southwest motif outside and a slightly upscale Mexican restaurant look inside.

Maybe this is because I've been to a couple of Olive Garden restaurants that were initially Chi-Chi's, but the best way to explain what Chi-Chi's was in my mind is to say it was the Tex-Mex equivalent to Olive Garden in the 1980s. I can't tell you that the food was all that authentic, yet people liked it a lot.

Chi-Chi's folded twenty years ago, the victim of bankruptcy and a foodborne illness outbreak that did the chain in. There's an interesting video on YouTube that explores the rise and fall of the chain here.

Yesterday, Hormel Foods, the owner of Chi-Chi's trademarks, announced it had reached a deal with Michael McDermott, the son of the chain's founder, to allow him to open restaurants using the Chi-Chi's name starting next year, according to an article at Restaurant Business Online.

McDermott plans to open the chain's first two new American stores in Minnesota, where his father, Marno, and former Green Bay Packer Max McGee opened their first Chi-Chi's restaurants nearly 50 years ago.

In a press release quoted by Restaurant Business Online. McDermott says, “We have seen the impact our restaurant has had on individuals and families across the country and believe there is a strong opportunity to bring the brand back in a way that resonates with today's consumer."

This isn't the younger McDermott's first foray into the restaurant business; he's also the founder of Kona Grill, which has a location in Country Club Plaza in Kansas City and Rojo Mexican Grill in his native Minnesota.

Looking at Rojo Mexican Grill's website might give one a sneak peek at what Chi-Chi's will be like in the 21st Century—or maybe not. Rojo Mexican Grill seems a bit upscale for what Chi-Chi's was doing 50 years ago; then again, the new Chi-Chi's is entering a very different competitive restaurant market, and consumers today have a much better understanding of what Tex-Mex cuisine is.

Get our free mobile app

The balance between striking up those good, nostalgic feelings for the brand, what consumers want to eat today, and the environment they want to enjoy it in will have to be balanced. One thing I'd expect is fried ice cream on the menu. I don't think it'd be Chi-Chi's without it.

You can read the Chi-Chi's press release here.