(NEXSTAR) — Fans of a long-closed Mexican restaurant chain received some potentially unexpected news earlier this month: After a 20-year absence, Chi-Chi’s is gearing up for a comeback.
Michael McDermott, the son of Chi-Chi’s co-founder Marno McDermott, confirmed in a press release that he planned to honor his family’s legacy with the return of the restaurant. McDermott, who built his career with other restaurant brands like Kona Grill and Rojo Mexican Grill, has founded CHI-CHI’S Restaurants, LLC, which has reached an agreement with Hormel Foods to revive the chain.
Hormel Foods bought the Chi-Chi’s trademark after the company’s 2004 closure and has produced Mexican foods under the brand. “Physical restaurant locations” will open in 2025, and products produced under the Chi-Chi’s name will still be available, the company confirmed.
“We have seen the impact our restaurant has had on individuals and families across the country and believe there is a strong opportunity to bring the brand back in a way that resonates with today’s consumer — an updated dining experience with the same great taste and Mexican flavor,” Michael McDermott said in a press release earlier this month.
What that will look like, and where the new restaurants will be, has not yet been revealed.
In a statement to Nexstar, however, the company confirmed that while it is “in the early stages of planning by securing funding, we can say the first two stores will be opened in Minnesota in 2025.”
“Our goal is to explore the original development path Chi Chi’s took, through both company and franchised opportunities within the Midwest and East Coast,” the statement added.
Archived web pages for Chi-Chi’s show that, in 2001, the restaurants had locations in 19 states: Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wisconsin. A snapshot from 1999 shows locations were also in Colorado, Florida, Missouri, Nebraska, North Carolina, and North Dakota.
Chi-Chi’s was started in the 1970s by McDermott’s father and Max McGee, a former Green Bay Packers player. The brand, and its more than 200 locations, would change ownership several times through the next decades, culminating with a bankruptcy filing in late 2003.
A short time later, hepatitis A cases reported in the Pittsburgh area were traced back to green onions served at a Chi-Chi’s in a nearby Monaca, Pennsylvania, mall. More than 600 people were sickened and four died, according to reports at the time, and roughly half of those who became ill sought damages against Chi-Chi’s.
More details on Chi-Chi’s return aren’t expected until after the start of 2025.
