| Type | Wholly owned subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Industry | Casual dining restaurants |
| Founded | March 13, 1975 |
| Founder(s) | Larry Lavine |
| Headquarters | Dallas, Texas, U.S. |
| Key people | Norman E. Brinker |
| Parent | Brinker International |
| Website | www.chilis.com |
Chili's Grill & Bar is a restaurant chain founded by Larry Lavine. The chain has more than 1400 casual dining restaurants, mostly located in the United States and Canada. Chili's is currently owned by Brinker International, which also owns Maggiano's Little Italy.
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Chili's first location, a converted postal station on Greenville Avenue in Dallas, Texas, opened in 1975 (this location moved to a new building near the same site in 1981, and was shut down in 2007).[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 28 Chili's locations in the region, all featuring similar Southwest decor.[2]
In 1983, Lavine sold the company to restaurant executive Norman E. Brinker, formerly of the Pillsbury restaurant group that owned Bennigans.[2] Chili's now has locations in all 50 U.S. states, 30 international locations and two territories.
Chili's serves American food influenced by Tex-Mex cuisine. They also offer a veggie burger (non vegan) that is supplied by the Kellogg Company.
"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. The song was written by Guy Bommarito and produced by Tom Faulkner Productions for GSD&M Advertising of Austin, Texas. Faulkner sings both "I want my baby back, baby back, baby back...", as well as the melodic theme. The deep "Bar-B-Q Sauce" was sung by famed New York bass vocalist, Willie McCoy. Advertising Age magazine named the song first on its list of "10 songs most likely to get stuck in your head" in 2004.[3]
In the sitcom Scrubs, Ted Buckland's a cappella group "The Worthless Peons" sing the jingle on a number of occasions: once to celebrate Carla's pregnancy (it was the only song they knew with the word "baby" in it), and again to "torture" one of Dr. Cox's employees. In the latter instance, they repeat the bridge incessantly, never saying "ribs".
Chili's has made several appearances on the NBC series The Office. In the episode "The Client" Michael Scott switches an important business meeting from a hotel to the local Chili's, which leads to a rendition of the "Baby Back Ribs" jingle. He also hosted the "Dundie" Awards at the Chili's in the episode "The Dundies", and in the episode "Halloween" Michael attempts to give a Chili's gift certificate to a recently laid off employee, which he rips up.
In 2008, the chain aired parody ads for "P. J. Bland's", a fictional restaurant chain with cardboard foods.[4]
In October 2008, Chili's Australia was prosecuted and fined $300,000 by the NSW Office of Industrial Relations for underpaying staff, pressuring employees to sign an Australian workplace agreement and failing to pay $45,000 in owed wages by a deadline set by the Office of Industrial Relations. In the same year, Chili's announced that it would be closing all of its Australian branches.[10]
In June 2011, a branch of Chili's in Abu Dhabi was shut down by the Food Control Authority for violating hygiene standards.[11]
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