Tag Archives: Tim Virgin

Popular Mexican restaurant, Chi-Chi’s, set to return, 20 years after closing all US locations

Twenty years after closing all of its locations due to bankruptcy and a foodborne illness outbreak, a popular Mexican restaurant is looking to make a comeback.

Hormel Foods, who owns the trademark, worked out a deal to bring Chi-Chi’s back to life after every location closed in 2004.

The son of the founder of Chi-Chi’s, Michael McDermott, said in a press release that he hopes to honor his family’s legacy by combining the classic Mexican restaurant with modern influence.

The Chi-Chi’s brand was established in the 1970s by Marno McDermott 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, Restaurant Business explains.

In late 2003, the brand filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. A short time later, according to Restaurant Business, 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.

Overall, 660 people were sickened by the outbreak. Four people died, according to NBC. Roughly half of those who became ill sought damages against the company.

In 2004, Chi-Chi’s officially closed. Hormel Foods bought the trademark and produces Mexican foods under the brand.

Tuesday’s press release did not provide any additional information on exactly when or where Chi-Chi’s restaurants will open in 2025.