Chi-Chi’s Mexican Restaurant Returns After Two Decades
Chi-Chi’s Mexican Restaurant is officially returning and opened its doors on October 6, 2024 at 1602 West End Blvd. in St Louis Park, Minneapolis, Minnesota. As of September 30, the restaurant permits have been filed, and construction of the first location is already underway. The revival comes courtesy of Michael McDermott, grandson of Chi-Chi’s co-founder, who struck a deal with Hormel Foods to bring back the beloved chain.
Nearly fifty years after the first Chi-Chi’s started service near Minneapolis in 1975, McDermott opened a new Chi-Chi’s nearby in 2024. A second Chi-Chi’s in Maple Grove, Minnesota, is set to debut in fall 2025. The timing couldn’t be better, with Mexican restaurant revenue forecast to reach nearly one hundred billion dollars by this year. This comeback is particularly sweet considering the chain’s troubled past, which included a major health crisis that shut down all locations in the early 2000s.
Golden Corral Dominates the Buffet Revival
In 2025, Golden Corral operates around 400 locations in 40 states and has bounced back from 2020 COVID as strong as ever. The company says its locations recently earned $102,000 in average weekly sales, a new record for the restaurant chain. The buffet giant’s remarkable recovery story includes strategic improvements to sanitary policies and employee relations while maintaining affordable prices for customers.
That effort was not in vain, as it was named Newsweek’s number one buffet chain in America in 2025 and recognized as one of Yelp’s 50 Most Loved Brands of 2023. The chain’s success stems from reducing competition during the 2020 pandemic and positioning itself perfectly for the post-COVID dining environment. Their determination to innovate while staying true to their buffet roots has created what many consider a classic American comeback story.
Sweet Tomatoes Sprouts Back to Life
The buffet salad-bar chain – known as Souplantation in California – that once boasted close to 100 units, was one of the more comprehensive casualties of the 2020 Covid shutdown. Then-parent Garden Fresh Restaurants filed Chapter 7 bankruptcy and the dual-named chain was shuttered entirely in 2020, much to the dismay of many who loved the brand’s array of food and variety, particularly families with picky children. But now, it’s back…