Chili’s CEO bought grills that can cook a medium steak in under 3 minutes — and says they could shave more than $5 million in losses from unhappy customers

Brinker

In May, Brinker International said 17-year company veteran Wyman Roberts would retire as CEO effective June 5, 2022.

Kevin Hochman, who led two major turnarounds at Pizza Hut and KFC, was named his successor. 

Hochman was part of the marketing team that revived KFC back in 2015 by leaning into the brand’s most powerful weapon: its heritage. The 2015 “re-colonelization” strategy centered on bringing back Colonel Sanders as the brand’s leading pitchman. 

He used the same playbook to revive sales at Pizza Hut. 

Chili’s

When Hochman took over, Chili’s was using robot food runners in 61 restaurants.

They bused tables, acted as hosts, and sang birthday songs to guests. The company was also working with Flytrex to test drone deliveries out of two Chili’s restaurants in North Carolina and Texas. Through a partnership with Serve Robotics, the company was also poised to launch fully autonomous sidewalk robots for delivery. 

But during an August 24 earnings call, Hochman told investors that Chili’s was pausing all of its robot testing.  

“It doesn’t have operational wins. It doesn’t have traffic wins,” Hochman said of the robots. 

Chili’s

The company quickly turned its attention to areas that can strengthen the overall business. 

Hochman said he’d rather invest capital in improving “heart of the house” technologies that speed up cook times, reduce kitchen complexities for employees, and improve overall service and food quality for customers. 

The project is called Kitchen of the Future, and it includes installing grills that have a clamshell-style griddle that can simultaneously cook proteins on both sides.

Nancy Luna

The high-tech grills are programmed to cook burgers, steaks, chicken, and salmon with one-touch of a button. 

The two-sided cooking features means no flipping is required. 

A well-done burger patty used to take 5 minutes to flip and cook manually. The new Garland grill cooks that same burger in about 2 minutes. A  “pink” in the center burger takes even less time – about 50 seconds.

Nancy Luna

This pink-centered burger took 50 seconds to cook.

Tommy Foss, director of culinary operations at Chili’s, said the new programmable grill takes all the “guesswork out” of cooking, which is crucial for training and retention in the kitchen.

“This is a big, big win here,” Foss said. “If I’m a brand new team member and I have limited experience in working in a kitchen, [the old] equipment is probably the most intimidating we had before. Now it’s the easiest.” 

Nancy Luna

Cooks would normally have to stand over a hot grill to cook a burger or steak, which requires flipping every 3 or so minutes, depending on how the guest wants the meat prepared, Foss said.

“Now we push the button. It’s done,” he said. 

While the food is being cooked, employees can prep plates to help get dishes out faster to customers. 

Nancy Luna

Steaks cook about three times faster with the new equipment.

The new cook time for a well-done steak is 4 minutes and 15 seconds, compared to 13 minutes. Medium steaks went from a sear and cook time of 9.5 minutes to just under 3 minutes. 

The grills are not only cooking steaks faster but they are also saving Chili’s millions each year.

Hochman said Chili’s loses about $5 to $6 million a year comping steaks that are sent back by diners who complain their meat is not cooked correctly.

“Those numbers are getting close to zero” at restaurants with the new kitchen equipment, Hochman said.

Not only is Chili’s saving money, but guests are more satisfied as getting food cooked incorrectly is “a really bad experience for the guests,” Hochman said.

At the Chili’s in Manhattan Beach, California, guests are noticing a difference in food quality. 

“Have you changed chefs?” one customer asked a general manager. 

Nancy Luna

The chain’s other fast-cooking kitchen equipment is a TurboChef triple-deck oven.

It replaces a conveyor belt oven. The TurboChef oven is programmed to cook multiple food items such as quesadillas, pizzas, and ribs. 

It cooks most of those items about 50% faster than previously.

Wade Allen/Chili’s

Chili’s test comes at a challenging time for the restaurant industry: 50% of operators across the US expect to be less profitable in 2023, according to a survey released January 5 by the National Restaurant Association.

Hochman said economic conditions, including commodity and labor costs, and inflation are forcing chains like Chili’s to focus first on improving what’s inside “their four walls.” 

That’s why he’s innovating in the kitchen, where modern equipment is improving multiple aspects of the business – from food delivery to employee retention.

What’s one way to keep workers happy? 

Tips are higher, and the new equipment means less time hovering over a hot grill. 

“We simplify their lives,” Hochman said. 

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