This story is the third in a series exploring how brands craft standout social media strategies. If you’d like to chat about how your brand is approaching social, Katie Hicks wants to hear about it. Reach out to her at [email protected].
“Hi, welcome to Chili’s” is more than just a Vine reference. It’s also the greeting that an increasing number of people might hear as the chain restaurant draws record numbers.
Brinker International, which owns the fast-casual chains Chili’s and Maggiano’s Little Italy, reported better-than-expected earnings last week, bolstered by a 24% increase in sales at Chili’s in the quarter. For 17 consecutive quarters, Chili’s has defied the odds, finding a way to draw customers in at a time when many sit-down chain restaurants are struggling to compete.
The secret, at least on the social side, just might be memes—combined with a few deals here and there. According to Brinker International’s earnings report, Chili’s latest sales growth is a direct result of advertising highlighting the brand’s “industry-leading value” and “[encouraging] guest trial.”
CMO George Felix, who joined Chili’s three years ago, credits much of the brand’s recent success to being very online.
“In the last year to year and a half, we’ve really seen social media being a real driver of our business, and to tangible traffic into our restaurants and sales,” Felix told Marketing Brew.
We spoke with Felix about how the brand is balancing fun and deal-driven content, and drawing in guests of all ages as a result.
“The perfect place to experiment”
Felix, who previously led marketing for brands like Tinder, Pizza Hut, and KFC, said his mission when he joined the company was to “make Chili’s a relevant brand again in pop culture and in the zeitgeist.”
To do it, he turned to social media, and especially TikTok, giving his social team the “green light to move and move quickly.”
He believes that strategy has paid off for the restaurant chain.
“I’m a big believer that as a brand, you’ve got to take a lot of swings,” Felix said. “It’s just like baseball. Every swing you have isn’t going to be a home run, but the more you take, you’re going to get some singles, you’re going to get some doubles; the more [swings] you take, you’re going to hit a few more home runs.”
So long as brand guardrails are in place, he said, social is “the perfect place to experiment” with marketing ideas, something that Chili’s does regularly, whether that’s clapping back at TGI Fridays in a comment on X in May, or joking about smuggling ranch over international borders, which the brand did in a TikTok video from February.
Felix said he thinks that brands that post less frequently inevitably put more pressure on themselves to bat a thousand while also lessening their chances of actually going viral.
“The worst that can happen is you have something that really doesn’t go anywhere, and then you’ve got another shot the next day,” he said.
Beyond spontaneous social posts, Felix said Chili’s plans “culture pops,” which are “meant to keep Chili’s in the cultural conversation.” The brand’s nostalgia-driven Office-themed campaign at its new Scranton, Pennsylvania, location, which took off earlier this year, and its collab with Western apparel brand Tecovas on “Booth Boots,” which dropped in late July, are recent examples; posts about both saw millions of views on TikTok.
Triple dippin’
Sometimes, a viral opportunity presents itself organically, Felix said—in which case it’s equally important to move fast. Last year, Chili’s Triple Dipper meal deal that offers customers a choice of three types of appetizer took off on TikTok around the same time that Felix said the chain was promoting a new menu item, the Big Smasher Burger. Rather than continue with its regularly scheduled programming, he said, the team decided to pivot and “put gas on the fire” around the Triple Dipper, and the mozzarella sticks in particular.
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“When we saw people doing cheese pulls and really jumping on that, it was something we couldn’t ignore,” Felix said.
Chili’s asked creators who were previously tasked with posting about burgers to post about triple dipping instead, and the Chili’s culinary team whipped up secret menu items like Nashville hot and honey-chipotle mozzarella sticks. Those efforts, Felix said, led to hundreds of millions of views and engagements on TikTok. Sales of the Triple Dipper, which costs just under $18, have grown 70% year over year and now account for 14% of Chili’s total sales, he said.
“The lesson for me was you have to be willing to let your fans have some control on the things that they love about your brand, and meet them where they are, and then have fun with it,” he said.
More for your money?
For Chili’s, it’s not all cheese pulls and memes. The brand has considerably upped its marketing budget, raising it from $32 million in 2022 to $137 million in 2025, while doubling down on the message that it’s a place where customers can save a few bucks.
Earlier this year, Chili’s hosted a “fast-food financing” pop-up next to a Manhattan McDonald’s location, emphasizing rising prices at fast-food chains and the $10.99 price tag on the Chili’s 3 for Me combo meal option. (The restaurant brand also rolled out The Big QP, a menu item designed to compete directly with the McDonald’s Quarter Pounder.) Felix said the decision to message around prices came from social listening and seeing videos from frustrated drive-thru customers, which led the marketing team to realize Chili’s had an opportunity to showcase itself as a lower-cost, higher-quality dining experience.
But social posts can only go so far, and the strength of that argument only comes through if diners do have a higher-quality experience. Chili’s has invested in making improvements to its food and restaurant interiors, with Felix acknowledging the importance of presentation. If all goes well, he said, an order from the kitchen could be seen by millions of people online.
“Virality led people to be curious enough to come into Chili’s, and our team members are doing an amazing job delivering a great experience,” he said. “When they have a great experience, they’re more likely to come back and tell all their friends about it.”
As for what the brand’s next viral moment could be? Felix said the culinary and beverage teams are watching social trends and have new items coming in October geared towards fans. He said he’s watching how Gen Z guests seem to love different sauce options and is experimenting with showcasing Triple Dipper “hacks” online, like putting mozzarella sticks on burger bites.
“Fried cheese,” he said, “knows no bounds.”