Is a Once Popular Mexican Food Chain Returning to New York State?

It's become quite common to read about national chains that are either cutting back, or going bankrupt all together. Increased competition from online ordering, inflation, and mismanagement have forced a number of once giant companies to shut down underperforoing locations across New York and the rest of the country.

But a once well-known Tex-Mex food chain, which has been gone now for 20 years, is looking to make a big comeback. The franchise, that has roots in Minnesota, once operated 210 restaurants across the nation, including ones in New York state.

However, the company would later file for bankruptcy on more than one occasion, as it went through different ownerships. But it was the largest Hepatitis A outbreak in American history, which was traced back to a restaurant in Pennsylvania, that ultimately did the company in.

Is a Once Popular Mexican Food Chain Returning to New York State? 

Chi-Chi's is coming back for the first time since 2004. PIX11 reports that Hormel Foods, which bought the trademark after the company’s closure, has confirmed that "physical restaurant locations” will open once again in 2025.

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Michael McDermott, the son of Chi-Chi’s co-founder Marno McDermott, confirmed in a press release that "the early stages of planning by securing funding, we can say the first two stores will be opened in Minnesota in 2025."

Could Chi-Chi's return to New York? The Empire State was one of the states listed in old archived web pages posted at ABC. McDermott told Nester that the plan is to "explore the original development path Chi Chi’s took, through both company and franchised opportunities within the Midwest and East Coast."

Chance are looking good that New York will see Chi-Chi's again within the coming years.

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