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Chili’s
Video still: Fast Company
7 DFW Companies Land on Fast Company’s 2026 Most Innovative List as Texas Scores 26 Honorees
by Quincy Preston | Mar 26, 2026
HKS made the top 50 from Dallas, while North Texas companies from Coppell to Frisco showed up across architecture, AI, healthcare, restaurants, media, and travel. Statewide, Austin led the way, with Houston, Midland, San Antonio, and others also earning spots.
by David Seeley |
Mar 4, 2026
During his four years as SVP and CMO of Chili's, George Felix has helped return the brand to category leadership in both sales and traffic growth, Brinker said—resulting in Brinker International's market cap increasing from $1.3 billion at the start of his tenure to $6.25 billion as of March 2, 2026. He'll now try to bring some of that magic to Maggiano's Little Italy, too.
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by David Seeley |
Aug 14, 2025
In June, Dallas Innovates wrote about how Chili's went viral on TikTok this year, snagging “over 200 million views" for videos about the chain's Triple Dipper menu offerings and stretched-out mozzarella sticks. Now Slate has taken a deeper dive into why the Dallas-based brand has become "the hottest restaurant chain in the country."
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by David Seeley |
Feb 5, 2025
Dallas-based Brinker International saw its stock (NYSE: EAT) jump 16% last Wednesday. One big reason: Its Chili's Grill & Bar casual dining chain posted a Q4 sales jump of 31% for restaurants open at least a year. That marked the brand's third straight quarter of double-digit sales growth—with a 20% boost in foot traffic, not higher prices, contributed to the Q4 leap.
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Chili's calls its Bear Robotics devices "Rita robots." [Photos: Brinker International]
‘The Future of Dining’: Chili’s Expands Robot Servers to 61 Total Restaurants
by David Seeley | Apr 27, 2022
Rita—a robot that seats guests, runs food to tables, and even sings "Happy Birthday"—has been tested in 10 Chili's restaurants in the Dallas area, California, and Florida. After performing correctly 99% of the time, she's now being expanded to 51 additional Chili's locations nationwide.
"To know Rita is to love her," says the SVP of Innovation for Chili's parent company, Brinker International. "Team members have realized she really is there to make their jobs easier."
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by David Seeley |
Mar 29, 2022
Yariv Bash, co-founder of Israel's SpaceIL, was part of the team behind the 2019 Beresheet moon mission. Now, as co-founder and CEO of Flytrex, he's partnering with Dallas-based Brinker International on drone deliveries of chicken wings to Dallas-Fort Worth back yards and businesses.
The launch begins today in Granbury, 30 miles southwest of Fort Worth, with potential plans to expand to "a suburb east of Dallas" as Flytrex' footprint grows.
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by Nicholas Sakelaris |
Jun 18, 2018
The Chili’s Stadium app breaks new ground because it allows iOS and Android users to play each other seamlessly using their own phones.
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by Dan Koller |
Jan 8, 2016
The devices are now in wide use in Chili’s, Olive Garden, and Red Robin.
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