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Chili's Grill & Bar history
Chili's Grill & Bar company history timeline
18, 1976 - Chili’s opens its second location in Houston, Texas after remodeling a flower shop on Richmond Ave.
When S & A was sold to the Pillsbury Company in 1976, Brinker became an executive at Pillsbury, in charge of that company's restaurant group, which now had four chains, including Burger King and Pillsbury's Poppin' Fresh Restaurants.
1978 - Doug, who is now the longest tenured Brinker team member, also served as the Chairman, President and CEO of Brinker International.
Another Brinker veteran succeeded Brooks as CEO. Todd Diener joined C hili's in 1981 as a manager trainee.
In 1982, the Regas family had opened the first of its Grady's Goodtimes outlets, which served primarily beef, seafood, salads, and sandwiches.
1983 - Norman Brinker, known as the father of the restaurant industry, buys Chili’s (23 restaurant across six states) and takes on the task of transforming Chili’s “Hamburger Hippies” into future restaurant industry leaders.
1984 - Chili’s hits the airwaves with its first TV commercial introducing Fajitas.
In 1984, the company hit the TV airwaves to introduce its newest menu item, fajitas.
Texas restaurateur Phil Romano had opened the prototype restaurant in 1988 in a location north of San Antonio, Texas.
22, 1989 - Chili’s, Inc. acquires Romano’s Macaroni Grill®.
Bernstein, Charles, “Brinker’s Three-Way Combination: A Bid for Full-Service Dominance,” Nation’s Restaurant News, October 29, 1990.
By the end of 1990, Chili's was operating 240 Chili 's outlets, 14 Regas Grill restaurants, and three Romano's Macaroni G rill eateries.
Despite an initially unfavorable prognosis, Brinker made a rapid recovery and returned to resume his positions of chairperson and CEO in May 1993.
Oppel, Richard A., Jr., “A Return Performance,” Dallas Morning News, May 5, 1993.
Chaudhry, Rajan, “Ron McDougall’s Winning Ways,” Restaurants & Institutions, July 1, 1993.
1994 - Chili’s introduces the President Margarita® as first top-tier margarita.
1994 - Brinker acquires On The Border Mexican Grill & Cantina®.
1994 We’re #1 in margarita sales in the United States
The success of Cozymel's in Texas led to the announcement in May 1995 of the opening of an additional 12 locations nationwide.
In July 1995 the company announced a strategic partnership with Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises, a restaurant developer in the Chicago area.
1995 - Brinker International purchases Maggiano’s Little Italy from Chicago-based Lettuce Entertain You.
The company also created an Italian Concepts Division in 1996, naming Gerard Centioli as president.
By November 1997 a second location had opened in Houston, and a third opened in Atlanta the following February.
1997 Brinker Family Fund Founded to support fellow Team Members during difficult times
The new Romano's opened in November 1998 and promptly showed increased sales.
1998 - Brinker International begins its sponsorship of The Pavilion at the HP (formerly EDS) Byron Nelson Championship golf tournament, a partnership that spanned over a decade.
In March 1999 Romano's debuted in the United Kingdom, the first of a projected 20 restaurants to be established in England through a joint venture with Queensborough Holdings PLC of London.
1999 - Chili’s Baby Back Ribs jingle is made famous in "Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me" when Mike Myers’ character Fat Bastard, adlibs the jingle, forever engraining the song as one of the most recognized jingles in history
Fox, Valerie, and Taylor, Lisa Y., “Chili’s Makes 1,000,” Dallas Business Journal, February 11, 2000.
Fairbank, Katie, "Eating Profits: Home-Style Restaurants Losing Out in the Battle for Dining Dollars," Dallas Morning News, November 5, 2000.
2000: Norman Brinker steps down as company chairman.
In 2001, Brinker bought a 40 percent stake in the seafood restaurant endeavor Rockfish Partnership.
Phil Romano's home-meal replacement concept had inspired imitato rs, but according to Restaurant Business "the brand failed to find widespread acceptance." In September 2002, just four of the stor es remained in operation.
2002 Chili’s Raises $14,000 for StJude in its first year with the Create-A-Pepper campaign
The concept created by Phil Romano, Restaurant Business recalled, was "fashioned loosely after seaside cantinas on the Yucata n." Brinker ended its fiscal year, in June 2003, with $3.3 billio n in revenue and $168.6 million in profit.
27, 2003 - Chili’s opens on Kadena Air Base in Okinawa, Japan, making it the first casual dining restaurant to open on any United States Air Force.
2004 - Wyman Roberts is named President of Maggiano’s Little Italy.
3, 2004 - Chili’s opens 1,000th restaurant in Pinnacle Park, Dallas.
Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises, its creator, had bought back Big Bowl in 2004, but did not plan on buying the fast-casual bakery-café c hain, according to Nation's Restaurant News.
June 22, 2006 - Chili’s makes 10-year, $50 million dollar commitment to St Jude that is today one of the largest single partner donations in the history of the hospital.
2006 - Maggiano’s introduces “The Maggiano’s Way”, which aligns all teammates on the brand’s Passion, Dream, Purpose and defines the unique culture.
During fiscal 2006 about 10 percent of its new units woul d be opened in international markets.
14, 2007 - The state-of-the-art Chili’s Care Center opens on the St Jude campus in Memphis, TN, making this the first patient care building on the hospital’s campus be named in honor of a corporate partner.
18, 2008 - Brinker International sold Romano’s Macaroni Grill to Golden Gate Capital.
May 9, 2009 - Chili’s celebrates 200th international restaurant with the opening of its location in Bangalore, India.
June 9, 2009 - Chairman Emeritus Norman Brinker passes away at the age of 78.
2009 - Steve Provost joins Maggiano’s as Senior Vice President, Marketing and Brand Strategy and was later promoted to President of the brand.
April 2010 - Maggiano’s unveils Ruffino Salute Amico.
June 30, 2010 - Brinker International sells On The Border Cantina Mexican Grill & Cantina to Golden Gate Capital.
11, 2011 - Maggiano's celebrates 20th anniversary at flagship Clark and Grand restaurant in Chicago
18, 2012 - Chili’s introduces a new Lighter Choices menu with 590 calories or less, but the same bold Chili’s taste guests love.
Brinker hoped to grow its inter national profits from a current 2 percent to 20 percent by 2012.
April 29, 2013 - Maggiano’s celebrates 10 years of partnership with Make-A-Wish.
October 2013 - Chili’s reaches the extraordinary commitment of raising more than $50 million for St Jude Children’s Research Hospital, three years earlier than planned.
2013 - Doug Brooks steps down as Brinker International CEO and President and remains as Chairman of the Board.
2013 Raising the Roof in Fundraising Create-A-Pepper Campaign raises $50,000 for St Jude
24, 2014 - Maggiano’s launches new “Lighter Take” menu which features 11 new preparations of classic, Italian dishes with at least one-third fewer calories than the original recipes.
6, 2014 - Chili’s flips a burger from TV to table overnight on TNT’s “On the Menu” competition.
2015 Hi, Welcome to Chili’s went viral on Vine and YouTube
April 6, 2016 - The first Chili’s restaurant in Morocco is opened.
In May of 2017, Jonathon started as a Front of House Team Member in Bellingham, Massachusetts.
2018 Brinker begins the Women Taking the Lead initiative inviting men and women to have an ongoing dialogue on the Impact of Female Leadership within the company
By March, 2019, Jonathon had moved to the Chili’s restaurant in Warwick, Rhode Island where he continued his development.
"Brinker International, Inc. ." International Directory of Company Histories. . Retrieved June 21, 2022 from Encyclopedia.com: https://www.encyclopedia.com/books/politics-and-business-magazines/brinker-international-inc-0
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Chili's Grill & Bar competitors
| Company name | Founded date | Revenue | Employee size | Job openings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Buffalo Wild Wings | 1982 | $2.0B | 44,000 | 1,571 |
| Wendy's | 1969 | $2.2B | 12,500 | 8,909 |
| Darden Restaurants | 1968 | $11.4B | 175,000 | 5,883 |
| Sonic Drive-In | 1953 | $423.6M | 5,000 | 8,388 |
| Panera Bread | 1981 | $2.8B | 140,000 | 5,317 |
| Noodles & Company | 1995 | $493.3M | 7,001 | 1,454 |
| Chipotle Mexican Grill | 1993 | $11.3B | 64,570 | 5,424 |
| Luby's | 1947 | $323.5M | 6,133 | 109 |
| TGI Fridays | 1965 | $630,000 | 5,000 | 2 |
| Firehouse Subs | 1994 | $695.0M | 2,000 | 2,231 |
Chili's Grill & Bar history FAQs
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Chili's Grill & Bar may also be known as or be related to Chili's, Chili's Grill & Bar, Chili's Inc and Chilis 1188.