Chili's is America's hottest restaurant
Chili's is on fire.
Chili's sales at restaurants open for at least a year increased a whopping 31% last quarter. It was Chili's third-straight quarter of double-digit sales growth, and the results drove parent company Brinker International's (EAT) stock up 16% on Wednesday.
The restaurant chain's growth was fueled by more customers visiting restaurants — not Chili's raising prices. Foot traffic to Chili's increased 20% last quarter, the company said.
Analysts gushed over Chili's results on an earnings call, offering congratulations to the company 11 times. One analyst said the company's turnaround was 'the best one of all time' in the restaurant industry, and another said CEO Kevin Hochman was 'going to write a great book on this some day.'
Once falling behind flashier restaurants, Chili's is pulling off its comeback thanks to upgraded French fry and chicken tender recipes, fast food-like deals and viral TikTok videos of customers pulling apart its gooey mozzarella sticks.
Chili's has blown up on TikTok with its 'Triple Dipper' platter, which lets customers choose from three appetizers — mozzarella sticks, southwestern egg rolls and chicken wings — for under $20. The platter had been around for decades, but Chili's started advertising it prominently on social media last spring.
The deal went viral on social media. One video of a customer dipping mozzarella sticks in sauce and eating the stringy cheese has more than 16 million views. 'Never in my whole life would I have thought Chili's has the best, dare I say, mozzarella stick,' another customer said in a video with 1.4 million views.
The viral success is helping the chain draw younger customers who had never visited a Chili's before and previously associated the brand with their parents.
Chili's is also winning customers hunting for deals with $6 margaritas and a new $10.99 meal that includes the 'Big Smasher' burger, which it advertises as 'twice the beef of a Big Mac.'
This combination has helped Chili's buck the recent restaurant slowdown. Institutions like Red Lobster and TGI Fridays filed for bankruptcy last year; Denny's and Applebee's announced major store closings; and customers reached their breaking point with McDonald's, Burger King and KFC's prices.
Competition has increased, however.
Applebee's recently launched a $9.99 'Really Big Meal Deal' and implied that its deal was better than Chili's 'Big Smasher' value meal because it's $1 cheaper. Applebee's version also includes either a fried chicken sandwich or bacon cheeseburger, endless fries and a soda.
Additionally, Chili's has been advertising its prices against McDonald's and other fast-food chains, but McDonald's is adapting.
McDonald's recently unveiled the 'McValue' menu, a new budget-friendly category that is rolling out at US restaurants this month. The popular $5 meal deal, unveiled earlier last year, is the centerpiece. Burger King and Wendy's have stepped up their own value meals as well.
But Chili's expects to be able to sustain its hot streak.
'Our sales have increased and they're staying at those levels and that momentum has continued,' Hochman said Wednesday.
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