Reborn Chi-Chi’s opens in St. Louis Park, with nary a reservation available

Chi-Chi’s, the Minnesota-born Mexican restaurant chain that served up its last chips and salsa about 20 years ago, made its return on Monday with a new Twin Cities location.

The reborn Chi-Chi’s opened in St. Louis Park, Minnesota, at 11 a.m. Reservations for opening day were fully booked.

One of the first customers through the door on Monday morning was Debbie Kruppa, who drove in from Ohio.

“My sister, when she was younger, I would take her to Chi-Chi’s every Friday night,” Kruppa said. “That was our thing. And we would eat so much that we were so full afterwards, but we had to get [the fried ice cream]. And then when I met my husband, he loved Chi-Chi’s too so we would come here all the time.”

Marno McDermott and former Green Bay Packer Max McGee founded the chain in 1975, and the first location opened in Richfield, Minnesota, in 1976. At its height, Chi-Chi’s boasted more than 200 locations across the U.S.

Over the ensuing decades, the chain changed ownership several times before bankruptcy and a hepatitis A outbreak at a location near Pittsburgh sounded its death knell in 2004.

The restaurant announced a comeback last year, thanks to an agreement with Minnesota-based Hormel Foods, which has owned the Chi-Chi’s trademark since 1987. The deal allowed Michael McDermott, Marno McDermott’s son, to use the name for physical locations. Michael McDermott announced the St. Louis Park spot earlier this year. It’s located at 1602 West End Blvd.

Cole Premo

contributed to this report.