Chi-Chi’s traces its history to the 1970s and eventually grew into a major American restaurant chain with more than 200 locations.
For many former customers, however, its appeal wasn’t simply its size.
Chi-Chi’s became associated with a particular style of casual dining: generous portions, complimentary chips and salsa, chimichangas, fried ice cream and an atmosphere designed to make an ordinary dinner feel a little more festive.
That nostalgia played a major role when the new St. Louis Park restaurant opened.
Early demand was substantial, with diners eager to find out whether the revived restaurant could recreate what they remembered.
But the new Chi-Chi’s isn’t entirely frozen in the past.
The menu combines returning favorites with newer dishes designed for modern diners, while the restaurant itself has a refreshed look compared with the locations longtime customers may remember.
More Classic Dishes Are Returning
Nearly a year after reopening, Chi-Chi’s is still leaning into requests from longtime fans.
In August 2026, the restaurant announced the return of three heavily requested items: the Twice Grilled BBQ Burrito, Seafood Nachos and Margarita Chicken Tacos.
According to Michael McDermott, customers had been requesting those dishes since the restaurant reopened.
Chi-Chi’s also introduced weekday lunch specials priced from $10 to $15, including options such as a mini chimichanga and soup-and-salad combinations.
Those changes suggest the restaurant is still adjusting its formula rather than relying entirely on its famous name.
The Original Chain Had a Difficult Ending
The nostalgia surrounding Chi-Chi’s also comes with a complicated history.
After years of expansion, the U.S. restaurant business ran into serious financial problems and ultimately disappeared in the early 2000s. Its final years were also overshadowed by a major hepatitis A outbreak linked to contaminated green onions served at a Pennsylvania Chi-Chi’s restaurant.
The U.S. restaurants were gone by 2004, leaving the brand absent from American dining for roughly two decades.
That history makes the current revival unusual.
Rather than simply reopening an old chain, McDermott is attempting to take a restaurant name strongly associated with another era and make it viable in a very different dining market.
Nostalgia Gets Customers Through the Door — But Then Comes the Food
That may be the biggest challenge facing the new Chi-Chi’s.
Former customers might visit once because they remember eating there as children or taking their own families there decades ago. But nostalgia alone doesn’t guarantee repeat customers.
Today’s diners have countless Mexican and Tex-Mex options, from independent restaurants to major chains. They can also compare menus, prices and reviews within seconds.
The revived Chi-Chi’s therefore has to work as a restaurant in 2026, not merely as a recreation of one from 1986.
So far, the St. Louis Park restaurant remains open at 1602 West End Boulevard and continues evolving its menu. Officially, it describes the concept as a modernized version of the original that still pays tribute to its roots.
Whether that eventually leads to a much larger national revival remains to be seen.
But one important question has already been answered.
Chi-Chi’s isn’t merely planning a comeback anymore.
It already made one.
And for former customers who spent 20 years wondering whether they’d ever sit down with a basket of chips, a chimichanga and Chi-Chi’s fried ice cream again, the restaurant is officially serving them once more.