Chili’s skillet queso fans are nacho happy about the chain’s new menu mixup
Chili’s announced that it’s doing away with its White Queso and Beef Skillet Queso options. The dips will be replaced with a new vegetarian alternative.
Chili’s enthusiasts, you might want to sit down for this one. The chain restaurant, which was founded in Dallas, announced that it’s officially doing away with its skillet quesos in favor of a Southwestern inspired alternative. Both the White Queso and the Beef Skillet Queso will be taken off menus after October 7. So, if those quesos are some of your favorite items, make sure you get down to your local Chili’s on or before October 6 to get them before they’re gone.
According to the company, the skillet quesos only accounted for about 1% of its total sales. The chief marketing officer for the restaurant chain, George Felix, said, “Low sales numbers told us that our guests were clearly looking for a better queso from Chili’s, so we set out to develop an improved option.”
That improved option will officially be billed as Southwestern Queso, which is a vegetarian item featuring cheddar cheese, American cheese, onions, lime, and green chiles. It’ll be served alongside Chili’s popular tortilla chips. The company spent around two years working on the new queso and said that 70% of people who were served both the skillet quesos and the Southwestern Queso said they preferred the new option.
Despite the low sales numbers, many Chili’s fans were fond of the skillet quesos and have been expressing their displeasure at the menu change on social media.
Some diehard Chili’s fans are taking the news pretty hard
After the decision to pull the skillet queso options from the menu on October 6 was announced, some diehard Chili’s fans took to social media to mourn the loss. George Felix expected this to happen, and told The Dallas Morning News, “We understand that some guests have a lot of love for our Skillet Beef and White Skillet Queso, but we also recognized that there was room for improvement from both a flavor and quality standpoint.”
The Skillet Beef Queso has been on the menu for about 35 years, which is likely where most of the customer dissatisfaction is stemming from. If you find yourself on that side of the battle line, don’t worry, Chili’s is giving you an opportunity to try the new Southwestern Queso for free. My Chili’s members can try a free order of chips and Southwestern Queso between October 7 and October 21.
The new Southwestern Queso was developed in Dallas
Dallas-founded Chili’s used a hometown team to whip up the recipe for the new Southwestern Queso. The culinary professionals worked on the dip for about two years before testing it on a few hundred consumers at Atlanta’s Curion Insights. 70% of those people said they liked the Southwestern Queso over the Skillet Beef Queso, which ultimately led to the change in menu offerings.
In addition to getting the improved option as a side with tortilla chips, the Southwestern Queso will also be served as a side for the Chili’s fajitas, on top of new Chicken Bacon Ranch Nachos, and as part of the restaurant’s Dip Trio.
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