Chili's
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| Chili's Grill & Bar | |
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| Type | Restaurant |
| Founded | 1975 |
| Headquarters | Dallas, Texas |
| Industry | casual dining restaurant |
| Website | www.chilis.com |
Chili's Grill & Bar is a restaurant chain founded by Larry Lavine. The chain has over 1,000 casual dining restaurants, mostly located in the United States. Chili's is currently owned by Brinker International, which also owns On the Border Mexican Grill & Cantina, Maggiano's Little Italy, and Romano's Macaroni Grill.
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[edit] History
Chili's first location, a converted postal station on Greenville Avenue in Dallas, Texas, opened on March 13, 1975, by Larry Lavine.[1] Lavine's concept was to create an informal full-service dining restaurant with a menu featuring different types of hamburgers offered at an affordable price. The brand proved successful, and by the early 1980s there were 22 more Chili's locations in the region, all featuring similar Southwest decor.[2]
In 1983, Lavine sold the company to restaurant executive Norman E. Brinker, formally of the Pillsbury restaurant group, and to his wife Nancy Brinker.[2] Chili's now has locations in all 50 U.S. states and 24 international locations, including Canada, El Salvador, Peru, Venezuela, Bahrain, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Germany, Australia, Mexico and the UK. On March 16, 2006, one location opened at Osan Air Base in South Korea, which primarily serves the military community. Chili's opened its 1,000th restaurant on August 3, 2004. Two days later, the first German location, at Ramstein AFB near Kaiserslautern, Germany, opened on August 5, 2004.
On March 7, 2008, the five restaurants in Australia closed indefinitely.[3] The website was pulled down and staff were told they had lost their jobs. The closure follows a fine of $300,000 to the restaurant chain after they were found to have underpaid staff and pressured staff into signing Australian Workplace Agreements.[citation needed]
[edit] Charitable services
During the month of September, Chili's runs the "Create a Pepper" campaign. Guests can purchase chili peppers that they can then color and will later be hung in the restaurant. All of the proceeds are donated to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. One day a year since 2006, the day's profits from all Chili's locations owned by parent company Brinker International were donated to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. In 2007, Chili's opened the Chili's Care Center at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, which focuses on brain cancer and treatments. Chili's also contributes to the Scottish Rite Hospital for Children and the Limbs For Life Foundation.
[edit] Menu
Chili's serves American food influenced by Tex-Mex cuisine. Appetizers include a boneless and bone-in Buffalo wings, Asian cuisine influenced chicken wings called "Shanghai Wings", nachos with various toppings, Southwestern eggrolls, the Triple Dipper, spinach and artichoke dip, tostada chips and salsa, and a spiced cheese dip the company calls "Skillet Queso". Entrées include hamburgers which the company calls "Big Mouth Burgers", fajitas, quesadillas, and baby back ribs. Chili's also serves a variety of alcoholic drinks and desserts, including such items as a molten chocolate cake.
[edit] Advertising
"Chili's (Welcome to Chili's!)" is an advertising jingle used in Chili's Restaurant commercials to advertise the restaurant's line of baby back ribs. The ad features a doo-wop quartet singing a cappella:
- A baritone voice, staccato: "I want my baby back, baby back, baby back, I want my baby back, baby back, baby back... "
- A tenor voice: " Chilliiiiiii's baby baaack riiibbs....Chili's baby back ribs"
- A Basso profondo voice: "Barbecue Sauce".
The song was written by Guy Bommarito and produced by Tom Faulkner for GSD&M Advertising of Austin, Texas. Subsequent versions of its catchy jingle have included *NSYNC, Evander Holyfield, Dominique Dawes, and the Old 97's.[citation needed]
Advertising Age magazine named the song first on its list of "10 songs most likely to get stuck in your head" in 2004.[citation needed]
Chili's Radio Network now streams from the main page of chilis.com
[edit] References
- ^ Brinker publication (October 2007). Brinker 2007 Corporate report. Brinker International, Inc.. Retrieved on 2007-12-19.
- ^ a b Brinker International. Answers.com. Retrieved on 2007-12-19.
- ^ Illawarra Mercury (March 2008). Fast food chain off the boil. Illawarra Mercury. Retrieved on 2008-3-24.
[edit] External links
- Chili's Grill & Bar official website
- Chili's Grill & Bar official website Australia
- Chili's Grill & Bar official website United Kingdom
- An "Imagination" themed Pepper Pals kid's menu
- A "Playground Fun" themed Pepper Pals kid's menu
- Nutritional information for Chili's menu items
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