Chi-Chi's - Various MI

Address: Various
City: Various
State: MI
Zip: Various
County: Various
Number of visits to this page: 1491
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Please note that location entries may feature older photos or post card views that may not represent the current appearance, features, addresses, phone numbers, or contact names of the attraction. This site is intended to be a historical as well as current record of various attractions but it is not always possible to have up-to-date information due to the vast number of locations featured here. We ask you consult the propietor for current information.

General Information:

There were a few Chi-Chi's I used to frequent back in the old days. The one on Telegraph in Bloomfield Hills was my favorite. I have taken a list by Bobby Peacock and checked all of the street views of the former Chi-Chi's Restaurants. This post will serve as a compendium of information Michigan-based Chi-Chi's. Photos of this chain when they were in their prime are pretty hard to come by. The vast majority of photos out there are either from after they were closed, or in ruins.

From Wikipedia:

Chi-Chi's can either refer to a Mexican food restaurant chain founded in the United States in 1975, which continued in Europe only (as a Tex-Mex restaurant, under different ownership) after the North American owner declared bankruptcy and folded in 2004, or to its namesake brand of Mexican food grocery products produced and marketed when the original North American restaurant chain owner sold the rights to use its name on said products in 1987.

Chi-Chi's is a Mexican-restaurant chain operating in Belgium and Austria. The company was briefly owned by Tumbleweed, Inc. The chain also once operated in the United States and Canada but exited those countries in 2004.

Chi-Chi's was founded in 1975 in Richfield, Minnesota, a suburb of Minneapolis, by restaurateur Marno McDermott (his wife's nickname was "Chi Chi") and former Green Bay Packers player Max McGee. McDermott had previously founded the Zapata fast-food Mexican chain, which later became Zantigo. From 1977 to 1986, the chain was run by former KFC executive Shelly Frank. When Frank took leadership, the chain moved its headquarters to his hometown of Louisville. By March 1995, the chain had grown to 210 locations. Management and marketing

In 2001, Chi-Chi's applied for a trademark on the word "salsafication" but was denied by the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board. The company's slogans were "A celebration of food" and, later, "Life always needs a little salsa." Bankruptcy, hepatitis A, and closure in United States and Canada

Chi-Chi's last owner while the company was still in business in the U.S. and Canada was Prandium Inc., which had filed for bankruptcy several times, including in 1993 as Restaurant Enterprises Group Inc. and again in 2002 as Prandium. On October 8, 2003, Chi-Chi's and Koo Koo Roo, another Prandium subsidiary, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy themselves.

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 four deaths and 660 other victims of illness in the Pittsburgh area, including high school students who caught the disease from the original victims. The hepatitis was traced back to green onions at the Chi-Chi's at Beaver Valley Mall near Monaca, Pennsylvania, about 30 miles (48 km) northwest of Pittsburgh. Chi-Chi's settled the hepatitis A lawsuits by July 2004. At the time the suits were settled, Chi-Chi's had only 65 restaurants, fewer than half of the number of four years prior.

In August 2004, Outback Steakhouse bid $42.5 million 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. Outback had hoped to convert many of the properties to its 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.

Info Updates:
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 Photos:20
Chi-Chis - Ann Arbor - 3776 State St
Ann Arbor - 3776 State St
Chi-Chis - Dearborn - 240 Town Center Dr
Dearborn - 240 Town Center Dr
Chi-Chis - Fort Gratiot - 4495 24Th Ave
Fort Gratiot - 4495 24Th Ave
Chi-Chis - Grand Rapids - 3321 28Th St Se
Grand Rapids - 3321 28Th St Se
Chi-Chis - Kalamazoo - 5609 W Main St
Kalamazoo - 5609 W Main St
Chi-Chis - Lansing - 5824 W Saginaw Hwy
Lansing - 5824 W Saginaw Hwy
Chi-Chis - Livonia - 29330 Schoolcraft Rd
Livonia - 29330 Schoolcraft Rd
Chi-Chis - Madison Heights - 32585 Concord Dr
Madison Heights - 32585 Concord Dr
Chi-Chis - Midland - 6640 Eastman Rd
Midland - 6640 Eastman Rd
Chi-Chis - Norton Shores - 153 Seaway Dr
Norton Shores - 153 Seaway Dr
Chi-Chis - Norton Shores - 153 Seaway Drive
Norton Shores - 153 Seaway Drive
Chi-Chis - Okemos - 4880 Marsh St
Okemos - 4880 Marsh St
Chi-Chis - Saginaw - 4837 Bay Rd
Saginaw - 4837 Bay Rd
Chi-Chis - Southgate - 14980 Dix-Toledo Hwy
Southgate - 14980 Dix-Toledo Hwy
Chi-Chis - Sterling Heights - 13905 Lakeside Circle
Sterling Heights - 13905 Lakeside Circle
Chi-Chis - Warren - 11570 E 11 Mile
Warren - 11570 E 11 Mile
Chi-Chis - Bobby Peacock List Of Michigan Locations
Bobby Peacock List Of Michigan Locations
Chi-Chis - Jan 1983 Ad
Jan 1983 Ad
Chi-Chis - Mar 1988 Article
Mar 1988 Article
Chi-Chis - Nov 6 1981 Article
Nov 6 1981 Article
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