Chi-Chi's

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Chi-Chi's was a popular Mexican restaurant chain from 1975 to 2004 when it went out of business following a hepatitis A outbreak. Chi-Chi's had a line of grocery foods (later purchased by Hormel) with an emphasis on salsa.

1 Name
2 Founder & Founding
3 Management & Marketing
- 3.1 Birthdays
- 3.2 "Ramon"
4 2003 Hepatitis A Outbreak & Closure
5 Notes
6 External links

[edit] Name

The name Chi-Chi's was said to be a Mexican slang reference to the large breasts of a woman as claimed by the owner. It was often joked that this was the real reason for the chain's popularity. (See also Hooter's)

[edit] Founder & Founding

Chi-Chi's was founded in 1975 by restaurateur Marno McDermott and investor Max McGee. ^[1]

[edit] Management & Marketing

[edit] Birthdays

Besides the food, Chi-Chi's was also known for celebrating patrons' birthdays with a special version of the Happy Birthday song (sung to the tune of the chorus of The Battle Hymn of the Republic -- "Glory, Glory, Halleluia"). If a guest dined at Chi-Chi's on their birthday they would be given a sombrero to wear while the staff sang this song to them and presented them with one serving of Mexican fried ice cream. Usually a Polaroid picture was taken of the guest during the festivities.

In the company's later years, guests were asked to purchase a cake and camera package as there was no longer a complimentary picture or dessert.

[edit] "Ramon"

Chi-Chi's employee training videos contained a recurring character named "Ramon" who explained new dishes or procedures to employees. Ramon was notorious for wearing Hawaiian style shirts and smoking large cigars in what appeared to be obvious non-smoking areas.

[edit] 2003 Hepatitis A Outbreak & Closure

Four people died, and about 660 others were sickened by Chi-Chi's food in the fall of 2003. Customers had eaten at the Beaver Valley Mall Chi-Chi's franchise, approximately 30 miles northwest of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Initially, public health authorities could not find any violations that could have caused the outbreak. Eventually, the food poisoning outbreak was linked to hepatitis A virus on green onions. The restaurant chain was faced with numerous lawsuits and have said that they paid out more than $40 million to settle hundreds of them.

Chi-Chi's was forced out of business and in 2004 Outback Steakhouse purchased the rights to the remaining 76 Chi-Chi's restaurants for $42.5 million dollars. Outback had hoped to convert many of them to their own restaurants, but instead sold the majority of the properties to Kimco Realty Corp. of New Hyde Park, New York, a real estate investment trust company.

The grocery foods are still sold under the Chi-Chi's brand name.