Chi-chi’s once was popular in Michigan. A new owner says the chain will come back
Posted By: Monroe News on December 5, 2024. For more information, please click here to read the source article.
The son of the founder of the Chi-Chi’s Mexican-American restaurant chain announced this week that he has purchased the brand from owner Hormel Foods and plans to open new locations in 2025.
“Nearly 20 years after closing the last Chi-Chi’s restaurant location, the popular Mexican restaurant chain is set to make a comeback thanks to a new agreement with Hormel Foods, owner of Chi-Chi’s trademarks,” Chi-Chi’s said in a Tuesday press release.
Michael McDermott, son of Chi-Chi’s founder Marno McDermott, hopes to “honor his family’s legacy by combining the classic Chi-Chi’s restaurant experience with modern influences,” the release said.
“I still have fond memories of growing up in the Chi-Chi’s restaurants that my father built throughout their time, instilling in me the passion and determination to pursue my own career in the restaurant industry,” Michael McDermott, founder of Chi-Chi’s Restaurants LLC, the new company formed to revive Chi-Chi’s Restaurants, said in the release.
Since the last Chi-Chi’s restaurant closed in 2004, southern Minnesota-based Hormel has produced Chi-Chi’s-branded salsas, dips, seasonings and tortilla chips sold in grocery stores throughout the U.S.
Here’s what you should know about Chi-Chi’s:
Who started Chi-Chi’s?
Marno McDermott and former Green Bay Packers player Max McGee founded the original company in 1975.
How many Chi Chi’s restaurants were there?
The restaurant chain, which had numerous locations throughout Michigan, had more than 200 outlets nationwide at its peak.
A series of ownership changes eventually led to the chain’s closure in 2004.
In 2004, Outback Steakhouse Inc. acquired the remaining 76 Chi-Chi’s restaurants for $42.5 million and converted most of them into its own brands, which at the time included Outback Steakhouse, Carrabba’s Italian Grills, Bonefish Grills, Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse and Wine Bars, Roy’s, and Cheeseburger in Paradise, Nation’s Restaurant News reported.
Who is Michael McDermott?
McDermott built his career in the restaurant industry with brands like Kona Grill and Rojo Mexican Grill, the release said.
Rojo Mexican Grill and Kona Grill have locations nationwide.
What else does Hormel own?
The Austin, Minnesota, company has more than $12 billion in annual revenue across more than 80 countries. Its brands include Planters, Skippy, Spam, Hormel, Natural Choice, Applegate, Justin’s, Wholly, Black Label, Columbus and Jennie-O.
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