Are there any Chi Chis restaurants still around?

[ADisneyQueen]

Ours In Erie closed a few years ago. We thought there was one in Lancaster but we could never find it. I loved that restaurant. What happened to it?

 

[chisnpeke]

I think they all went bankrupt. But they still have some of the salsa in the grocery store!

 

[Cool-Beans]

I think they are all gone. If there were one open, I'd get on a plane and stay overnight just to get one more Chi-Chis meal.

It was always my favorite.

I'd sometimes order just the rice and corn stuff and mix it up together at home. They'd give you enough for 2-3 adult meals. I could feed myself and three boys on one order of each. And it was cheap!!

Of all the places that have closed, I miss Chi-Chis the most.

 

[buzzlady]

Yes, I believe they went bankrupt. The two by us closed a few years ago too.

 

[RobInBigKC]

Ours In Erie closed a few years ago. We thought there was one in Lancaster but we could never find it. I loved that restaurant. What happened to it?

Ok, I don't necessarily trust Wikipedia as a source but here's what it says:

Bankruptcy, Hepatitis A, and closure in North America
Chi-Chi's last owner while still in business was Prandium Inc., which had filed for bankruptcy several times, including in 1993 as Restaurant Enterprises Group Inc. and in 2002 as Prandium.[4] On October 8, 2003, Chi-Chi's and Koo Koo Roo, another Prandium subsidiary, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy themselves.[4]

In November 2003, a month after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, Chi-Chi's was hit with the largest hepatitis A outbreak in U.S. history, with at least 4 deaths (all elderly[citation needed]) and 660 other victims of illness in the Pittsburgh area,[5] including high school students who caught the disease from the original victims.[6] The hepatitis was traced back to green onions at the Chi-Chi's at Beaver Valley Mall in Monaca, Pennsylvania, about 30 miles (48 km) northwest of Pittsburgh. Chi-Chi's took a hit from the outbreak: by mid-2004, Chi-Chi's only had 65 restaurants, less than half of the number from only four years before.[7] Although Chi-Chi's settled the hepatitis A lawsuits by July 2004,[8] the outbreak sealed the fate of the already-bankrupt company.

In August 2004, Outback Steakhouse bid $42.5 million[citation needed] for the rights to buy its choice of Chi-Chi's 76 properties, but did not purchase the Chi-Chi's name, operations, or recipes. On the weekend of September 18, 2004, Chi-Chi's closed all 65 of its remaining restaurants.[7]

Outback had hoped to convert many of the properties to their own restaurants, but instead eventually sold the majority of the properties to Kimco Realty Corporation, a real estate investment trust company in New Hyde Park, New York. Many of the former Chi-Chi's properties still sit unused as of 2007.

Hormel Foods, who had bought the rights to use the Chi-Chi's brand on grocery products years ago, still produces Chi-Chi's salsa and related products as of 2007, separate from any restaurants.

-- Rob

 

[Shutterbug]

There was a Chi Chi's up at the local mall that closed with the rest of them.

I too also loved them. Chi Chi's is where I had my first date with which then became my very first serious gf. So they always had a sentimental meaning to me as well as liking their food.

Someone bought it and tried to turn it into a Chinese buffet place but it shut down about a month after it opened. I never saw anyone there.

 

[mickeylove2]

There's a Chi Chi's near me! If it's the same chain you guys are talking about, we still have 1. I checked my local phone book and it's still listed. I think there is another 1 about 30 minutes away, but I'm not sure.

 

[MAKmom]

Chi-chi was so popular 20 years ago....but it started to smell funny towards the end. It had an old wet rag smell.

 

[Kycha]

Ours In Erie closed a few years ago. We thought there was one in Lancaster but we could never find it. I loved that restaurant. What happened to it?

They have all closed due to the tainted onions(hep c outbreak). The one in Lancaster has now been turned into a large Walgreens.

 

[grinningghost]

I used to work for Chi-Chi's - great place to work, great food - I still miss it.

But yes, the tainted onion thing really killed what was left of Chi-Chi's. They began closing stores before that to tighten up their finances, but the onion thing did them in completely.

But I used to cook there, I know some of their secrets. And since they no longer exist for the most part, I don't think the "I promise not to tell" disclaimer I signed matters anymore.

 

[kerrynic78]

I had never heard of Chi-Chi's until I met my DH. He used to live in Michigan and would tell me how great it was.

 

[Linus Van Pelt]

A part of me does sort of miss Chi Chi's every now and again, although we had stopped dining there several years before they all closed down. The reason? The service, at every single local location (there were four of them around here) had consistently become almost comically poor. And nowadays, with all of the independent Mexican restaurants popping up everywhere around here, I really don't miss it all that much. I mean, for instance, Chi Chi's never had carnitas de puerco, and that stuff is truly the food of the gods!

 

[powellrj]

A part of me does sort of miss Chi Chi's every now and again, although we had stopped dining there several years before they all closed down. The reason? The service, at every single local location (there were four of them around here) had consistently become almost comically poor. And nowadays, with all of the independent Mexican restaurants popping up everywhere around here, I really don't miss it all that much. I mean, for instance, Chi Chi's never had carnitas de puerco, and that stuff is truly the food of the gods!

I know around here its the independent Mexican restuarnts that killed them. Once we started going to the smaller local places. Chi Chis just always seemed too expensive. Our family could eat for not much more than one of us could eat at Chi Chi's.

 

[Towncrier]

I used to work for Chi-Chi's - great place to work, great food - I still miss it.

But yes, the tainted onion thing really killed what was left of Chi-Chi's. They began closing stores before that to tighten up their finances, but the onion thing did them in completely.

But I used to cook there, I know some of their secrets. And since they no longer exist for the most part, I don't think the "I promise not to tell" disclaimer I signed matters anymore.

You mean you ran the microwave??? I had heard that all of Chi-Chi's meals were simply arranged on a plate and microwaved. That took some of the mystery out of eating there for me. We are fortunate to have many excellent family run tex-mex restaurants in the area. I guess I am in the minority here, but I don't miss Chi-Chi's at all.

 

[jfulcer]

I used to work for Chi-Chi's - great place to work, great food - I still miss it.

But yes, the tainted onion thing really killed what was left of Chi-Chi's. They began closing stores before that to tighten up their finances, but the onion thing did them in completely.

But I used to cook there, I know some of their secrets. And since they no longer exist for the most part, I don't think the "I promise not to tell" disclaimer I signed matters anymore.

So you going to post the salsa recipe?

 

[Lowillian]

Our Chi-Chis is now a Carrabbas. I love that place!! We were just there Friday night.

 

[kimluvswdw]

Here in Virginia Beach they are gone. It is a shame, I liked eating there.

 

[Pembo]

Nachos with cheese with the plate on the candle...that delicious mexican fried ice cream with chocolate sauce......I miss Chi-chi's! It was "our" place for my high school sweetheart and I.

I do buy the salsa and the corn cake mix. mmm, mmm..............

 

[Micca]

We had a couple of Chi Chi's locations that opened in the early 80s (??). Those restaurants were PACKED for years and years. You couldn't get in there without waiting forever. Those locations closed quite a few years ago, but the quality of the food had declined quite a bit before they finally shut down. The food was good and the Margarita's were great. You can still buy pre-mixed Chi-Chi's brand maragaritas with the tequila already in it.

 

[gardenhoe]

Time to pack up the suitcases.
http://www.chichis.be/fr/home.php?lang=FR