History of Chili's Restaurant

Chili's first location, a converted postal station on Greenville Avenue in Dallas, Texas, opened on March 13, 1975, by Larry Lavine.[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 22 more 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, and to his wife Nancy Brinker.[2] Chili's now has locations in all 50 U.S. states and 24 international locations, including Canada, El Salvador, Peru, Venezuela, Bahrain, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Germany, Mexico, Guam and the UK. On March 16, 2006, one location opened at Osan Air Base in South Korea, which primarily serves the military community. Chili's opened its 1,000th restaurant on August 3, 2004. Two days later, the first German location, at Ramstein AFB near Kaiserslautern, Germany, opened on August 5, 2004.


On March 7, 2008, the five restaurants in Australia were closed. The website was pulled down and staff were told they had lost their jobs. The closure followed a fine of $300,000 to the restaurant chain after they were found to have underpaid staff and pressured staff into signing Australian Workplace Agreements.[3] There has been no indication that these stores will reopen, and staff are yet to receive any of the termination payments they are owed.[citation needed] In August of 2008, Eat This, Not That! For Kids! criticized Chili's for having Pepper Pals Country Fried Chicken Crispers with ranch dressing and homestyle fries, the worst kids meal in america.