Dive Brief:
- Chili’s updated chicken sandwich platform, which rolled out April 14, is selling 161% more sandwiches compared to pre-launch, Brinker CEO and President Kevin Hochman said during a Wednesday earnings call.
- The platform’s growth is outpacing Brinker’s expectations, he added.
- Chili’s posted 4% same-store sales growth for its fiscal Q3 2026, marking its 20th consecutive quarter of same-store sales increases, Hochman said.
Dive Insight:
To prepare for its updated chicken sandwich platform, Brinker retrained existing teams to handbread Chicken Crispers and chicken sandwiches, which helped “ensure those items are freshly cooked, hot and crispy,” Hochman said.
“We believe a freshly breaded filet tastes better than chicken that has been breaded and fried by machines in a factory, frozen and shipped hundreds of miles, and then refried in a restaurant,” he said.
In anticipation of higher traffic following the chicken sandwich launch, teams also reinforced their daily procedures to ensure restaurants are clean and delivering strong customer service, he said.
“While our competitors ramp up limited-time offers, we spend the quarter investing time in operations, training and culinary resources into everyday capability that more closely correlates with long-term, sustainable traffic growth,” Hochman said. “We believe doing fewer things that are bigger and better is a more sustainable way to build traffic and grow our business over time.”
The new chicken sandwich is about 80% bigger than similar products at leading fast food chains, Chili’s claims, emphasizing the chain’s value proposition and larger portions than competitors, Hochman said. Two of the six sandwiches, the Big Crispy and Spicy Big Crispy, are also part of the $10.99 3 for Me deal, making the sandwich platform price competitive against fast food chains.
From a total business standpoint, the chain is comping in the mid-single digits for sales in April with positive traffic, which is up 0.9% for April, driven by the quarter-pounder launch in the prior year.
“While still early, the initial results on both the platform and the total business are both encouraging,” Hochman said.
CFO Mika Ware said the company plans to be on the lower end of its stated price range increases to protect its value proposition, while also investing in foodservice and atmosphere. It will “protect that $10.99 industry-leading value [and] have it there for those that need it,” she said.
“We also want to make sure we have value across the entire menu forever for everyone,” Ware said.
