Restaurants

Fast Casual

12 Chili's Menu Items To Avoid, According To Customer Reviews By Anita Surewicz Sept. 3, 2025 2:40 pm EST

Chili's Grill & Bar got its start in 1975 as a small Dallas eatery that served burgers and chili dishes. The restaurant's expansion moved at a steady pace, with the chain growing to 23 locations by 1983. That same year, the business was purchased by Norman Brinker, who gradually transformed Chili's into a national casual-dining powerhouse . One of Brinker's first moves was to diversify the restaurant's menu, adding classic Tex-Mex favorites to the mix.

Brinker's strategy worked, and by the time he stepped down in 2001, Chili's boasted hundreds of locations across the United States. Today, Chili's operates around 1,200 restaurants across the count

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