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ChilisFajita.gif Chili’s Grill & Bar
Chili's "full-on" fajita.

How Chili’s slashed nearly half its menu

Grill and bar brand focuses on core categories of burgers, ribs and fajitas

Chili’s Grill & Bar on Monday slashed 40 percent of its menu to focus on the core areas of burgers, ribs and fajitas -- a move that comes with acknowledged risks, brand executives said.

“This has been a journey of self-awareness,” said Steve Provost, chief marketing officer for the grill and bar division of Dallas-based Brinker International Inc., in a conference call.  “The only way to cut a menu from 125 items to 75 items, is to say goodbye to some menu items that we know people loved,” he said.

The company announced the menu move Sept. 8.

With the systemwide introduction of the pared-down menu on Monday, Chili’s provided “In Memoriam” videos for 14 of the departing dishes, such as mango-chile tilapia, chipotle flatbread, and smothered, smoked chicken burritos, on social-media sites Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

The company also provided actual recipes for the deep-sixed items on its Pinterest pages so that casual-dining fans could recreate the dishes at home.

“We think we are at a moment in this category — with the tremendous headwinds that it is facing — where less is truly more,” Provost said. “And the idea of focusing on our core menu is necessary to get back to the growth and prosperity that Chili’s enjoyed for almost two decades.”

Kelli Valade, Chili’s president, said the move to slash the menu would come with increased sizes of the protein servings.

“This is a going-back-to-our-roots strategy,” Valade said.  When it was founded in 1975 Chili’s had less than 25 items on its menu, and 11 of those were burgers, she said.  

“This is something that obviously has done well, and our Big Mouth Burgers are our signature,” she said. The Big Mouth Burger was introduced in 1995. Chili’s is increasing the size of the burger patty to eight ounces from seven and serving it on a brioche bun. The portions of meat in the ribs will be larger as well, and the fajitas will offer 40 percent more meat.

“It’s a substantial investment in establishing leadership in these categories of burgers, ribs and fajitas,” Valade added.

Provost said the brand is not taking any price increases with the larger protein portions.

Valade said the new menu will be highlighted in an advertising campaign that launches Oct. 2. That campaign, she added, will sound familiar to fans of Chili’s signature “Baby-Baby-Baby-Back Ribs” jingle, but it will offer a twist, which Valade declined to identify.

Fresh-Mex trimmed

The majority of the departing dishes are in what Chili’s has called its “Fresh-Mex” menu category, including enchiladas, burritos and tacos, which was introduced in January 2014.

“As we were chasing new platforms, we were losing our credibility on what built us, specifically, we were losing share in burgers, ribs and fajitas,” Provost said, adding that those categories have been core to Chili’s differentiation.

While the mango-chile tilapia is leaving the menu, Valade said, the flavor profile of the sauce will be retained in the mango-chile chicken. Four enchiladas are being removed, but one stays.

“These are low-preference items compared to these other three categories,” said Valade, who had said earlier that the smaller menu should increase speed of service.

Both Provost and Valade said the menu move was not made to alter the brand’s demographic appeal.

“We are going after the core of what we are and, frankly, the core of what the next generation of consumers likes. They love burgers, ribs and fajitas,” Provost said. “They love washing them down with a margarita, which is sort of the fourth core platform we have.”

In the fourth quarter ended June 28, Brinker reported that net income fell 18.7 percent, to $50.6 million, or $1.02 per share, from $62.2 million, or $1.12 per share, the previous year, which included one less operating week. Revenue fell 8.1 percent, to $810.7 million, from $881.7 million the previous year.

Brinker’s same-store sales systemwide declined 1.8 percent in the quarter. Chili’s same-store sales dropped 2.2 percent at company-owned restaurants and fell 1.7 percent at franchised units. Same-store sales rose 0.5 percent at Brinker’s other brand, Maggiano’s Little Italy.

As of June 28, Brinker owned, operated or franchised 1,674 restaurants, including 1,622 Chili’s locations and 52 Maggiano’s units.

Contact Ron Ruggless at [email protected]

Follow him on Twitter: @RonRuggless

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TAGS: Operations
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