Chi-Chi's
- Made by
- Prandium Inc.
A hepatitis A outbreak traced to imported green onions served at its Monaca, Pennsylvania restaurant killed four people and finished a chain already in Chapter 11.
Chi-Chi's had already filed for Chapter 11 when one of its restaurants outside Pittsburgh produced the largest hepatitis A outbreak in American history: 650 cases and four deaths, traced by state investigators to imported green onions served raw. The remaining 65 restaurants closed over a single weekend in September 2004. The name came back in October 2025, twenty-one years later, in a Minneapolis suburb, run by the founder's son.
Standing in the archive
Rank 51 of 127 by lifespan. Chi-Chi's outlasted 60% of everything else on file.
Cite this entry
"Chi-Chi's." How Long It Lasted, https://www.howlongitlasted.com/thing/chi-chis.
Died nearby
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- Blockbusterabout 28 years · killed by a successor
- Bordersabout 40 years · killed by a successor
Sources
- Chi-Chi's — Wikipedia (archived)
- Chi-Chi's Restaurant To Reopen 20 Years After Fatal Hepatitis Outbreak Scandal — Newsweek (archived)
- Chi-Chi's may reopen, but let's not forget the over 500 with Hepatitis A, 4 deaths and a liver transplant — Marler Blog (archived)
- Chi-Chi's Mexican Restaurant Chain Returns After 20 Years. See New Location and Menu — TODAY (archived)
Last checked by a human on 24 July 2026