Chili's parent company Brinker International is raising its expectations for the year and focusing on core menu items as it changes the look of its properties after spiking sales by bringing back its skillet queso.
"The Chili's turnaround is real," said Kevin Hochman, president and CEO of Brinker, on an earnings call this week. Hochman said the company decided to put the skillet queso back on its menu after listening to guests, and "that reintroduction has been successful."
Brinker has completed four of its so-called reimagination projects — taking existing Chili's restaurants and renovating them into eateries that Hochman said will "look like completely different restaurants."
Hochman said one of the renovated eateries "had a little too much done on the inside," and it was "a little too busy," and that led the executive team to believe less is more when it comes to interior upgrades.
"We're going to be focused on the things that make the biggest impact for the lowest cost," he added. "Lastly, we're learning a lot about the operational opportunities with rolling them out."
Brinker expects to complete the renovation of another eight to 10 restaurants by the end of the company's fiscal year before ramping up to 60 to 80 reimagined eateries in 2027. Chili's plans to roll out both reimagined and new unit stores in 2028. Executives declined to offer details on the company's plans for new Chili's restaurants during the earnings call.
Brinker also owns the Maggiano's Italian restaurant brand. For Maggiano's, Brinker executives said they will focus on "guest-facing repairs and maintenance" and "a smaller scope" renovation program. The Italian eatery did not perform as well in the second quarter, with sales taking a negative 2.4% hit.
Chili's has also been focused on its core menu options and upgrading them for customers. For example, Chili's upgraded its bacon strips in both thickness and in quantity, adding three times the amount of bacon to its bacon cheeseburger, spurring a 43% growth in sales. And the eatery's relaunched nachos featuring its chicken bacon and house-made ranch are now a 170% bigger business compared to its prior nachos, Hochman said on the call.
Next up is the super-premium chicken sandwich that will launch across all restaurants in April after testing the concept at 200 chains. The sandwich "has the potential to drive customer traffic both with new and existing guests," Hochman said.
Chili's stronger sales helped boost Brinker's expected revenue for the year to between $5.76 billion and $5.83 billion from the previous estimates of $5.6 billion to $5.7 billion. Brinker, based in the Dallas area, owns, operates or franchises more than 1,600 Chili's locations in 29 countries and two U.S. territories.
"With 19 consecutive quarters of same-store sales growth, Chili's turnaround, led by guest experience improvements, is sustaining over the long term," he added.