for most of the past three years, doing things like allowing managers to add labor back into restaurants to ensure customers are served the right way. If four bussers are needed on a Friday, rather than three, so be it. When the social media campaign caught fire, the people in the restaurants, those folks Hochman spent so long listening to, were ready for the rush. So, the customers coming in just to pull some cheese would get a good experience, making them more likely to re- turn. “There was some opportunity there with the cheese pull,” Hochman said. “But we were prepared for the volume.” He also has “Kevinisms,” metaphors or sayings to help describe strategies. There’s “Mama Hochman simple,” or making some- thing simple enough that his mother could understand it. That’s one of Hochman’s key strengths. As Doug Brooks noted, Hochman has a way of making complicated ideas simple, so every - body can understand them, which helps get everybody behind the ideas. “It’s not an easy business we’re in,” said Aaron White, Brinker’s chief people officer. “He has really helped us simplify that.” Another Kevinism: Big dogs have big pup - pies. Little tweaks and changes don’t move the needle. Companies should spend more time innovating and developing, which yields bigger results. “That’s where you want to spend your time, because that big dog’s prob- ably going to have a big puppy,” Felix said. Chili’s isn’t done, of course. In February, the company behind Felix created a Lifetime movie, “I’ll be Home for National Margarita Day,” featuring Maria Menounos and Taye Diggs. And Chili’s sister chain, the Italian con - cept Maggiano’s Little Italy, is now adopting many of the same strategies as Chili’s did as it works on a comeback of its own. And it’s not just Chili’s. Other brands are taking pages from the brand’s playbook, such as BJ’s Restaurants, and are having some suc - cess in helping the U.S. consumer rediscover casual dining. Hochman is now tapping into Brinker’s history. Doug Brooks is again a fixture in the office and holds court during company events. In 2019, Brinker moved its headquarters to a new, 200,000-square-foot facility, leaving behind the offices it had called home since the 1980s. When it made the move, only a few pieces of memorabilia from Chili’s early days were brought along. They all occupy a wall in a meeting room, including early drink coast- ers, buttons, old uniforms and photos. The rest was given away. Hochman said the company is trying to recover the rest of it. There is nothing wrong, after all, with a little pride in the history of Chili’s. Especially now.
“It was always obvious to me he was the smartest guy in the room.” -Ann Hochman, Kevin’s wife
Wonka costume at Brinker’s offices. Felix and Chief Legal Officer Dan Fuller wore Oompa Loompa costumes and they walked around handing Brinker-branded M&Ms to employ- ees. “He’ll put on a NASCAR fire suit in a moment’s notice,” Felix said. “He loves doing that. Kevin does not take himself too serious - ly. I think that’s one of the reasons people love him.” Much in the way that Hochman said he would prefer KFC to Taco Bell, he saw poten- tial in Chili’s. During his KFC years, the Hoch - man family frequented Texas Roadhouse locations. He knew that people would visit casual-dining restaurants, if they could just get what they wanted out of the experience. Yet it also required work, even if it meant destroying sacred cows. So, under Hochman, the company has focused on those big dogs to get people back to the brand. The company has cut much of the menu, including 13 items in the first half of the current fiscal year alone. Among the menu cuts: Chili. That’s right: Chi- li’s doesn’t serve chili. Chili’s has centered its menu on a small handful of items, including burgers, fajitas, margaritas and chicken tenders. The chain removed repetitive ingredients and is focused on improving its core items. The company has upgraded its burgers, margaritas and chicken. Fajitas are next on the list for improvement. Next comes a fifth core item, ribs. But the company also focused on the con- dition of its restaurants. Hochman visited 20 markets his first year on the job, listening to employees and taking stock of the way the business was operated. These days, he does about 15 visits a year. On the second day of each visit is a listening session featuring about 15 to 20 local area managers, who bring him complaints and suggestions. In one recent session, for instance, the managers noted that, when an order for a side of broccoli comes in, it appears on every screen in the kitchen, a legacy of changes made during the pandemic. So, the order for broccoli will come to the screen for the fry station, which doesn’t make the broccoli, and which can make life confusing for kitchen workers. Now it just appears on the screen in the kitchen zone responsible for broccoli. “It
just saves a ton of time and energy on these managers,” Hochman said. The big difference between Chili’s and KFC, besides the service format and the menu, is the ownership structure. All but about 100 of Chili’s 1,200 restaurants are company-op- erated, which enables Brinker to deploy changes more quickly. But Hochman was also surprised at just how little operations played a role in the company’s decision-making. “I thought operations would have a big seat at the table,” he said. “They’re closest to the customer, and if we don’t listen to them, how are we going to design plans that work?” Hochman may be a marketing guy. But he understands one of the most important ideas in the restaurant business: It’s one thing to get customers to your restaurant. It’s another thing to keep them there. That focus on oper- ations would prove vital in 2024, when Chili’s would get the benefit of a remarkable social media campaign. It started in the spring, when many cus- tomers started looking at Chili’s 3 for Me promotion, which includes a main such as a burger, a starter such as chips and a drink. The lowest price was $10.99. And some on social media began comparing it positively to prices at McDonald’s, which had soared coming out of the pandemic. Chili’s doubled down on the idea with a Big Mac-like Big Smasher Burger, featuring Thousand Island dressing, red on- ions, pickles and lettuce. In April, another viral moment, the “cheese pull,” led to surging sales of fried moz- zarella sticks, part of the chain’s Triple Dip - per appetizer, as customers showed videos of themselves pulling the cheese as they took a bite. The company backed it with a social media campaign and television ads. The social media moment only built as the year pro- gressed. By the end of 2024, the Triple Dipper represented 14% of Chili’s total sales. Hochman is realistic about the role of so- cial media. “There’s obviously some luck in - volved,” he said. But he also points out that most viral restaurant trends last a few weeks. This one has lasted months, and the compa- ny’s performance has only improved. The whole point of the thing, then, is preparation. Chili’s has focused on operations
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