The Chili From Tex-Mex

Recently, Food & Beverage Business Review had an interaction with Ashish Saxena, CEO — Chili's India (South & West). Chili’s India is within the ambit of Chili’s American Grill & Bar, which is a leading American casual dining restaurant chain, with presence across more than 1600 restaurants in 33 countries worldwide including Canada, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Venezuela, Egypt, Kuwait, Russia, UAE, Germany, India, Japan, Singapore and South Korea amongst several others.

Tex-Mex Cuisine, a private limited company headquartered in Chennai and having its corporate office in Mumbai, holds development rights for Chili’s American Grill & Bar in West & South India. The southern & western markets for Chili's in the country are spread across Mumbai, Pune, Chennai, Hyderabad and Bangalore. The interaction with the corporate honcho provided useful perspective about the evolution of the Chili’s brand in India. The excerpts of the interview follow:

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In how many cities of India do Chili’s American Grill & Bar have its brand presence? How many of these outlets are company owned and how many are franchised operations?

Chili’s has 18 operating restaurants in India, spread across eight cities. We at Tex-Mex Cuisine own and operate 10 of these Chili’s outlets in South and West India, across five cities. All these restaurants are fully owned and operated by us.

When did the chain enter India and till now how has been it faring in terms of footfalls, revenues, and profits?

Chili’s brand began its journey in India in 2009, from Powai in Mumbai. We have had a tremendous response as is evident from the growth of the brand. We are today the single largest international casual dining chain in India.

What is the culinary focus of Chili’s American Grill & Bar outlets?Has the chain tailored its offerings to suit the Indian palates? If yes, kindly elaborate in this regard