Chili's is having a moment.
Following the viral smash of Chili's Triple Dipper and the release of its first new burger in three years, the Big Smasher, we decided to put the other burgers on Chili's menu to the test and see if the chain is worthy of all this attention.
When Business Insider visited the chain's headquarters in April, executives told us Chili's was leaning into advertising campaigns and new menu initiatives in order to improve brand awareness and traffic — a strategy that appears to be working.
In April, Kevin Hochman, the CEO of Brinker International, which owns Chili's, said in an earnings call that same-store sales rose 3.5% in the third quarter.
Hochman added that Chili's outperformed competitors in the casual dining industry on sales by over 7% and on traffic by nearly 4% during the third quarter, despite traffic being down overall.
The chain attributed the positive momentum to a return to television advertising, as well as the release of its new Big Smasher burger, a dupe for McDonald's Big Mac and the centerpiece of the chain's value-focused marketing initiative.
Burgers are a huge area of opportunity for casual-dining chains.
Restaurant Business reported that limited-service chains where burgers are a core menu item generated $110 billion in total sales in 2023, more than double the sales generated by limited-service chicken chains like Popeyes and Chick-fil-A.
While this data was limited to fast-food chains, the trend extends to casual-dining burger chains like Chili's and Applebee's. Chili's is also attempting to prove it has the best-value burger.
Executives at the chain previously told BI they are focusing on the Chili's "core four" menu items, which include burgers, fajitas, Chicken Crispers, and margaritas, in future initiatives, with an increased focus on value.
We've already tried the Big Smasher, but we wanted to see how the other burgers on Chili's menu fared in terms of taste and value. We only tried the full-sized burgers and ordered them as-is. The prices included below reflect how much the burgers cost including fries as a side.
Business Insider coordinated with Chili's Grill & Bar to organize this taste test at our local restaurant, but BI paid for the meal, and the chain had no influence on our ranking.
Here's every Chili's burger, ranked from worst to best.