Anyone remember Chi Chi’s

You haven't been there since 1980 because they went bankrupt after serving poison green onions.

R1 who do fuck do you think you are talking 2? They went out of business in 2007.

R1 gets all of his information from deep deep inside his ass

I enjoyed Chi Chi’s

As a teen, I'd go there with my mother about once a month. The seafood nachos were my favorite, and of course the fried ice cream. It was always fun to watch other customers being humiliated by the waitstaff singing, "Happy Birthday (To you, To you, To you, OLÉ!)"

I had a chihuahua named Chi Chi. He was the sweetest little dog

I got my fill of them in Hawaii. They don’t even have any alcohol!

I used to love their seafood salad back in the day.

We are there fairly often when I was in college. I think they had a lunch buffet. Loved it at the time. It wasn’t until years later that I had authentic Mexican food.

Houstonians are so lucky to have Ninfa's!

Loved it back in the '80s when I was a kid. There weren't exactly a ton of Mexican restaurants in the heartland then, and it beat the hell out of Taco Bell.

I remember their jingle: "Chi Chi's: a celebration of food!"

Is this the one with the "I want my baby back" ribs commercial? Or is that Chili's? Is there much of a difference?

Yes!

She's conducting writing workshops in Albuquerque tomorrow !

Yup. Bloomington, IN late 80s/early 90s margarita happy hour with limitless appetizer buffet on Tuesdays I believe it was.

Hey, turns out R1 wasn't stuffed completely full of hepatitis-laden green onions! He just was off by 23 years.

Wasn't Chi Chi's was really big in Houston?

R10 And what does that have to do with Chi Chi’s?

I spent many happy hours there in the 80s as there was one right next to my office building. How I never got a DUI driving 40 miles home I will never know.

[quote]Is this the one with the "I want my baby back" ribs commercial? Or is that Chili's? Is there much of a difference?

That was Chili’s

R22 You dumb cunt. I thought like most Gen Zers you grew up on fast casuals?

No, I grew up on shows that are much funnier than SNL, R23.

My family at there few times a year on the 80s — a 40 minute drive from home. I loved their chicken chimichangas.

I learned in college that chichis in Mexican Spanish means “titties.”

Loved their seafood enchiladas. Their salsa is still available. Max McGee (former GB Packer, RIP) was a one of the owners.

You can buy the mudslide premixed in the liquor aisle. Not sure if it’s exactly what they served but it might feel nostalgic.

I was implying the OP was a gaming long ago in 1980, not that's when they closed down. Sorry, I should've made myself clear.

GAYLING^

What kind of person goes to Chi Chi's and says, "I'd like to take my chances with some seafood!"?? That's like going to the Olive Garden and ordering Ceviche Marinara or something else that shouldn't exist. 🤮

I'm another who confuses it with Chili's. I've been to each only once.

Chili’s, years ago, had chicken nachos that I loved. Recently I was driving cross country and stayed at a hotel that was next to a Chili’s. I looked at their menu online and they were gone. Alas.

My sister-in-law worked as a waitress there for a short spell, serving up chimichangas. Cute peasant dresses as server outfits in the late 1970s.

I remember the SHITS that place gave me.

💩💩💩💩💩💩💩💩💩💩💩SHITS FIRED!

Speaking of mudslides.....

💩💩💩💩💩💩💩💩💩

My grandmother LOVED Chi Chi’s and took me there a lot as a kid. She always got the taco salad with salsa as her dressing. She also would get the fried ice cream and feed the whipped cream to my baby sister. have absolutely no memory of what I used to eat.

We had one at the mall but it was gone around the time they put an Applebees in the late 90s or 00’s.

I remember in our little podunk town it was always an hour wait on a Friday or Saturday night to get a table.

Hepatitis A

This seafood enchilada recipe is from a 16-year veteran employee of Chi Chi's.

Was this restaurant an enterprise of porn maven Chi Chi LaRue? I was told there was a Mildred Pierce like story involving her and the establishment, so steer away from Chi-Chi’s, which was a shame because I wanted to try their famous blooming onion.

I moved from Southern CA (where I grew up) and all the Mexican food joints like Roberto's, Rolberto's, Alberto's, Adalberto's, Juan Berto's, Filiberto's, Jilberto's, Broberto's, Humberto's, Royberto's to the vast wasteland of non-existent Mexican food in Western NY when I was 18. They had Taco Hell and some local monstrosity called "Mighty Taco" that I believe still exists today. That was it. It was soul crushing to not have the favorite food of my youth available to me, and for people to not really even know, in general, what a taco or burrito was.

Until I was about 21, I suffered in silence, then Chi Chi's opened a place near to me and my depressive food-fog lifted. They weren't like all the taco places in SoCal, but they were *somewhat* like it. We weren't rich, so couldn't go there that often, but we went as often as we could. I liked them. Eventually other local places opened up (independently owned and chains as well - Don Pablo's, anyone?) and Chi Chi's went on the decline until they ultimately died off. I had already moved back California by that time, so they were kind of a fond memory at that point anyways.

That's my Chi Chi's story.

Everybody rejoice!!!

R43 Get out of town.

It's coming back

I remember Don Pablo’s, r42! They had great queso!

My parents would take us there after shopping at the mall and we loved it. THEY loved it - they always seemed happy there. I bought my first legal drink the day I turned 21 at a Chi Chi's in suburban Minneapolis.

I grew up in MN and ate there, but didn't know it was actually a Minnesota-based (or at least Minnesota-born, per R45) chain.

Didn't they kill people with the green onions?

Fat whores rejoice!

When I was in college they had a free little buffet during Happy Hour. I would order one cheap drink and then pound down the free food. Fun times.

It wasn’t my favorite Mexican restaurant but I liked it and was sorry when it disappeared.

I’ll say I make fun of Mexican food but sometimes a delicious well seasoned Tex Mex dish with ground beef is nostalgic and filling.

I actually created this thread under one of my previous Teacake monikers. lol Chi-chi’s tortilla chips and nacho supreme were the best.

R10, when I lived in Houston, Ninfa's delivered. It was a godsend.

Why do moronic cunts like R1 exist?

I don't know but r1 is full of it because the Chi Chi's here was open until the late 90's

r57 We addressed this moron when I first created the thread. I wasn't even born in 1980. I grew up with chi-chis in the late 90s, early aughts.

The last time I was at Chi Chi's my mother had taken me there for my 16th birthday, I remember taking notice of a man who looked like Andre Agassi going into the men's room. I wondered so many things that day, if I had followed him would he have let me give him a handjob? Then my fried ice cream came so fuck him!

R59 That's the most authentic 80s sentence I've ever read on DL, thank you.

And about the most 90s link.

The 2003 Hepatitis A outbreak at the Beaver Valley Mall Chi Chi’s in Western Pennsylvania resulted in more than 650 cases of the disease. At least 4 people died and some required liver transplants.

My first serving job was a Chi-Chi's in Reading, PA in the late 90's. I was a horrible server.

But the perk of eating free fried ice cream whenever I wanted was worth it!

This was a favorite place to go while in high school. I remember the fire hot dinner plates that would be plopped on the table with the server's serious warning: "Be very careful the plates are hot." Yes, they were. The chimichanga there was on point.

Chi-Chi's never made it out to California. But we had plenty of other chain Mexican places like El Torito, Tia/Casa Maria, Garcia's, Acapulco, Chevy's, et al.