Chi-Chi's Mexican restaurants to return with first location in Minnesota this year
Chi-Chi's, a Mexican restaurant chain with Minnesota roots, will be making its return with a location west of the Twin Cities this year.
On Tuesday, the restaurant founder's son, Michael McDermott, announced plans to offer the public a stake in the brand's relaunch through a crowdfunding initiative.
As part of those plans, Michael McDermott revealed the first location is scheduled for St. Louis Park this year, though no opening date was mentioned. A Rojo Mexican Grill will be converted into Chi-Chi's.
The restaurant chain, which ended its initial run about 20 years ago, announced late last year its plans for a revival. It happened with a new agreement with Minnesota's Hormel Foods, which has owned the restaurant's trademarks since 1987. That agreement allowed Michael McDermott to use the Chi-Chi's name for physical locations.
Chi-Chi's was founded in 1975 by Marno McDermott and former Green Bay Packer Max McGee, with its first location opening in Richfield in 1976. At one point, there were more than 200 locations across the nation.
Ownership changed hands several times over the next three decades, with the franchise's demise arriving in 2004 with the one-two punch of bankruptcy and a hepatitis A outbreak at one of its locations near Pittsburgh, which killed four people and sickened over 600 more.
NOTE: Video is from Dec. 4, 2024.
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