Chili’s CEO: The ‘secret sauce’ to the chain’s huge comeback was this

Chili’s has had a major comeback in recent years. The casual dining chain turned 50 last year, and recently reported 20 consecutive quarters of growth.

Chili’s CEO Kevin Hochman told Business Insider that the success of the chain boils down to two things: marketing and operations. 

“We have a saying here: Marketing brings them in, and ops brings them back,” Hochman told BI.

Hochman shared this sentiment with analysts and investors during an earnings call last year. It’s clear that the Tex-Mex chain has continued to lean in on that strategy.

“The marketing has to be exciting,” Hochman said. “And then the operators are in charge of creating that experience.”

Chili’s growth also has something to do with the chain’s Triple Dipper, the pick-three appetizer combo, which accounted for 14% of Chili’s total sales last year.

Last year, the impressive cheese pull of Chili’s deep-fried mozzarella sticks—one of the Triple Dipper appetizer options—went viral on social media. NPR reported that the company sold 41 million Triple Dippers in fiscal year 2025. Once the mozzarella sticks skyrocketed in popularity, the chain introduced new flavors to add to the hype.

“Essentially, 100% of that can be attributed to social media,” Chili’s CMO George Felix told NPR. 

Aside from the Triple Dipper breaking the internet, Hochman said that Chili’s is focused on making the restaurant experience the best it can be, including food quality, cleanliness, and quick service. 

“These are the things nobody talks about,” he told BI. “But the everyday stuff—that makes us better and better. That’s kind of been our secret sauce.”

Earlier this year, Hochman said that upgrading existing menu items—such as tripling the amount of bacon in Chili’s bacon cheeseburger—and offering different portion sizes helped boost sales.

Hochman joined the company in 2022, and under his leadership, Chili’s had a comparable restaurant sales growth of 8.6% during the second quarter of 2026, and 4% growth in the third quarter. The chain holds the No. 2 spot in the U.S. for casual dining, second only to Texas Roadhouse.

“If you go to a competitor and the same burger is a dollar less than ours, but it doesn’t look like it did in the ad, it doesn’t matter whether it was a dollar less,” Hochman told BI. “In my mind, that’s money I should have spent somewhere else.”

Chili’s has challenged its competitors in the past. In 2024, the restaurant launched a campaign for its “Big Smasher” burger that promised “twice the beef as a Big Mac.” The restaurant’s most recent marketing strategy also took a dig at competitors when it asked customers to compare its newly released crispy chicken sandwich to other contenders in the market.

With a few more viral cheese pulls and jabs at competitors, Hochman’s strategy could continue carrying Chili’s through its turnaround.