Chili's Grill & Bar

Food

Cheese is melting all over menus, giving sales a solid boost

It started with Chili’s and those viral cheese pulls. Now other casual-dining chains are cashing in on the allure of ooey, gooey cheese.

Financing

Chili's wants to give managers a bigger stake in their restaurants

The casual-dining chain is looking to build on its recent success by offering performance-based incentives for GMs in the coming years.

The Bottom Line: The casual-dining chain’s same-store sales have been on an unbelievable trajectory over the past two-plus years. Here are some key learnings from that performance.

The chain seems to have perfected a formula for growth in casual dining and shows no signs of letting up. Next up is a new chicken sandwich and remodeled restaurants.

FSRs had plenty to celebrate as consumers rekindled their love for sit-down dining. But there were challenges too, including a steady stream of bankruptcies.

The casual-dining chain posted another stellar quarter with 21% same-store sales growth. Traffic was up across the board, but especially with lower-income households who have been pulling back on dining elsewhere.

Fans of the casual-dining chain apparently had strong feelings about the slow-selling cheese dip, which was replaced last month by a new Southwestern Queso. Chili’s will soon serve both.

The TurboChef is enjoying a fresh wave of adoption at restaurant chains, from upstarts like Cava to stalwarts like Chili’s. The oven's speed and flexibility is in demand as operators look to streamline the back-of-house.

The casual-dining chain has now posted five straight quarters of double-digit growth fueled by value and marketing and improved operations. It is not taking its foot off the gas.

The Bottom Line: Data from Technomic’s Price Pulse shows that the average price for a medium Big Mac meal in California is about the same as the price for a Big Smasher on Chili’s 3-for-Me menu.

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