Chili’s is back, thanks to its viral mozzarella sticks: Once-flailing chain is building new restaurants again

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Chili’s is good now, apparently!

Not that Chili’s was ever bad. The restaurant enjoyed — or perhaps was burdened with — the image of a reliable, though not remarkable, casual dining spot. Good in a pinch, but not necessarily an outing you’d mark on a calendar.

Now, the restaurant chain is reportedly on the rise, thanks largely due to huge dollars poured into its marketing budget, viral sucess and the simplification of its menu.

It topped its revenue and profit estimates for its fiscal fourth quarter, according to Kevin Hochman, the CEO of its parent company, Brinker. He made the comments during an earnings call on Wednesday, Business Insider reports.

“Chili’s is officially back, baby back,” Hochman said, throwing back to the ever-present “baby back ribs” commercials of the mid-to-late 1990’s.

A Chili’s restaurant. The company has enjoyed a surge of popularity in 2025 thanks in part to viral marketing successes and the streamlining of its menu (Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

Hochman said the chain’s recent successes — its comparable restaurant sales grew by 24 percent, which was two percent over analyst’s expectations, and Brinker’s overall revenue hit $1.46 billion — are thanks in part to a revamped menu that focuses on fewer, better offerings that still keep in line with the brand’s imaging.

He noted that the return of the chain’s famous ribs was a win with customers.

“Customers are raving about the look, the size, and the taste of the ribs,” Hochman said. “It’s clear we have a winning product with our new ribs, and our intent now is to use them to drive traffic.”

Brinker has only been steering the Chili’s ship for three years, and it appears its marketing strategies are paying off. The restaurant went viral on TikTok thanks to videos showing off the stretchiness of its new mozzarella sticks. The videos pulled in more than 200 million views on the platform. The restaurants’ “Triple Dipper” appetizer platter — which includes the cheese sticks — has become the hot item to have for the Chili’s converts and faithful.

Chili’s recent successes are such that the chain is looking to open new locations and revamp old ones — starting with a quartet of Dallas storefronts — to align with its new image, according to Bloomberg.

“I can’t tell you how much of a surprise Chili’s performance has been within the industry,” Jonathan Maze, the editor-in-chief of Restaurant Magazine, told Slate. He said the chain’s turnaround was “shocking.”

Hochman isn’t necessarily surprised as he knows how much money went into the marketing revamp; according to the CEO, Chili’s marketing budget was boosted from $32 million in FY 2022 to $137 million in 2025.

“We are a much different Chili’s today than we were three years ago,” Hochman said.