Chili's

Chili's

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	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.

History

Chili's in Santa Clara, California

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.

Menu

Chili's in Khobar, Saudi Arabia

Chili's in Lisbon, Portugal

Chili's in Makati City, Philippines

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.

Advertising

Jingle

"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]

Global locations

Contemporary design for a new Chili's restaurant built in 2009

•  Australia^[5][6][7]
•  Bangladesh
•  Bahrain
•  Brazil
•  Brunei
•  Canada
•  Dominican Republic
•  Ecuador
•  Egypt
•  El Salvador
•  Syria
•  Germany
•  Guam
•  Guatemala
•  Honduras
•  Indonesia
•  India
•  Japan
•  Jordan
•  Republic of Korea
•  Kuwait
•  Lebanon
•  Malaysia
•  Mexico
•  Oman
•  Peru
•  Philippines
•  Portugal
•  Puerto Rico
•  Qatar
•  Republic of China (Taiwan)
•  Russia
•  Saudi Arabia
•  Singapore
•  Turkey
•  United Arab Emirates
•  United Kingdom (Gone into Administration)^[8][9]
•  United States
•  Venezuela

Legal problems

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]

See also

	Dallas-Fort Worth portal
	Companies portal
	Food portal

References

1. ^ Brinker publication (October 2007). "Brinker 2007 Corporate report". Brinker International, Inc.. http://www.brinker.com/company/brinker2007/01/page08.htm. Retrieved 2007-12-19. 
2. ^ ^{a b} "Brinker International". Answers.com. https://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/Brinker-International-Inc-Company-History.html. Retrieved 2007-12-19. 
3. ^ "10 Songs most likely to get stuck in your head.(The Book of Tens)". Advertising Age.. December 2004. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_hb6398/is_200412/ai_n26182606?tag=artBody;col1. Retrieved 2008-06-24. ^{[dead link]}
4. ^ "Chili’s Spoofs Restaurant Ads with ‘P.J. Bland’s’ Campaign". Burger Business. 2009-04-15. http://www.burgerbusiness.com/?p=941. Retrieved 2009-04-28. 
5. ^ Illawarra Mercury (March 2008). "Fast food chain off the boil". Illawarra Mercury. http://illawarra.yourguide.com.au/articles/1197615.html. Retrieved 2008-03-24. 
6. ^ ABC News (2007-09-26). "Chili's staff 'underpaid' $46,000 on AWAs". http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/09/26/2043404.htm. 
7. ^ "Workplace Ombudsman Secures Second Penalty against Chili’s Restaurant". 2008-04-22. http://www.wo.gov.au/asp/index.asp?sid=7407&page=mediacentre-current-view&cid=5390&id=816. 
8. ^ "Chili's calls in the administrators - News - getreading - Reading Post". getreading. 2009-06-18. http://www.getreading.co.uk/news/s/2052766_chilis_calls_in_the_administrators. Retrieved 2011-11-14. 
9. ^ "MCR appointed Administrators of restaurant chain, Hatfield Restaurants Limited [Owners of Chilis UK"]. 2010-08-14. http://www.mcr.uk.com/mcr-appointed-administrators-of-restaurant-chain-hatfield-restaurants-limited.html. 
10. ^ "Fast food chain off the boil.". Illawarra Mercury. 2008. http://www.illawarramercury.com.au/news/local/news/general/fast-food-chain-off-the-boil/465291.aspx. Retrieved 2009-10-26. 
11. ^ "Chili's restaurant in Abu Dhabi ordered shut". Emirates 24/7. http://www.emirates247.com/news/chili-s-restaurant-in-abu-dhabi-ordered-shut-2011-06-02-1.400344. Retrieved 2011-11-14. 

External links

• Chili's Grill & Bar official website
• Chili's Grill & Bar official website United Kingdom
• Nutritional information for Chili's menu items
• Chili's Grill & Bar official website Guatemala