Chili's CEO Reveals the Two Key Strategies Behind the Chain's Remarkable Comeback

Chili's has staged a remarkable comeback in recent years, marked by 20 consecutive quarters of growth and the celebration of its 50th anniversary in 2025. During a recent earnings call, CEO Kevin Hochman attributed the casual dining chain's success to two fundamental strategies: marketing and operations.

"We have a saying here: marketing brings them in, and ops brings them back," Hochman told Business Insider.

This philosophy has guided Chili's approach to both customer acquisition and retention. Hochman emphasized the importance of creating an engaging marketing strategy while ensuring operational excellence to deliver a consistent dining experience.

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

One of Chili's most significant growth drivers has been its Triple Dipper, a pick-three appetizer combo that accounted for 14% of the chain's total sales in 2025. The viral popularity of the chain's deep-fried mozzarella sticks—one of the Triple Dipper options—further fueled this success. According to NPR, Chili's sold 41 million Triple Dippers in fiscal year 2025.

"Essentially 100% of that can be attributed to social media," Chili's Chief Marketing Officer George Felix told NPR.

Following the mozzarella sticks' social media frenzy, Chili's introduced new flavors to capitalize on the trend. Beyond viral appetizers, Hochman highlighted the chain's focus on food quality, cleanliness, and quick service as critical factors in its ongoing success.

"These are the things nobody talks about," Hochman told Business Insider. "But the everyday stuff, that makes us better and better, that’s kind of been our secret sauce."

Under Hochman's leadership since 2022, Chili's has achieved impressive sales growth, including an 8.6% increase in comparable restaurant sales during the second quarter of 2026 and a 4% growth in the third quarter. The chain ranks as the second-largest casual dining brand in the U.S., trailing only Texas Roadhouse.

Hochman also underscored the importance of menu innovation and portion control in driving sales. Upgrades to existing menu items, such as tripling the bacon in the bacon cheeseburger and offering varied portion sizes, have contributed to the chain's momentum.

"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 said. "In my mind, that’s money I should have spent somewhere else."

Chili's has not shied away from competitive marketing tactics. In 2024, the chain launched a campaign for its "Big Smasher" burger, which promised "twice the beef as a Big Mac." More recently, Chili's compared its crispy chicken sandwich to competitors' offerings, further solidifying its aggressive marketing strategy.

With continued viral successes like the cheese pull trend and strategic jabs at competitors, Hochman's approach appears poised to sustain Chili's turnaround and growth trajectory.