The Triple Dipper allows customers to choose three apps and three dips. | Photo courtesy of Chili’s Grill & Bar

Chili’s wildly popular Triple Dipper appetizer has taken a starring role in the chain’s turnaround plans.

Sales of the appetizer – which allows customers to mix and match three apps and three dips – have increased by 70% in the past year after the dish went viral on TikTok.

It played a key role in Chile’s 14.1% same-store sales growth in the quarter ended September 25, including a 6% increase in traffic.

The Triple Dipper now accounts for 11% of Chile’s total sales, CEO Kevin Hochman told analysts on Wednesday. It has resonated with younger customers, who love the variety of flavors and dips and are therefore visiting the brand for the first time. The app also offers Chili’s the opportunity to boost its average check.

This achievement has earned the Triple Dipper a spot among the “Core Four” – Chili’s staple menu items that have been central to its comeback under Hochman. With the addition of the Triple Dipper, the Core Four – burgers, margaritas, fajitas and Chicken Crispers – are now called the 5 to Drive.

Together, these items account for 58% of Chile’s sales. And they have ensured that the 1,116-unit casual dining chain has experienced spectacular growth over the past two years. Since the start of 2023, the chain has achieved quarterly same-store sales growth of 9.6%, 6.3%, 6.1%, 5%, 3.5%, 14.8% and now 14.1%.

This achievement is all the more impressive considering that it occurred at a difficult time for casual dining chains, as consumers changed their spending habits in response to inflation.

(Read more: How a summer of bold marketing sparked a comeback at Chili’s.)

It has been driven by operational simplifications that have improved service, along with a marketing engine that has produced a string of hits, including the $10.99 “3 for Me” meal, the Big Smasher burger and now the Triple Dipper.

The latter two items played the biggest role in the chain’s 6% traffic increase in the third quarter, executives said.

The chain promoted the Big Smasher with an aggressive TV ad campaign that highlighted fast-food prices. That message has gotten through to consumers who are tired of rising prices and see the $10.99 burger (plus chips and salsa, fries and a drink) as better value.

The Triple Dipper, meanwhile, has spread on social media, both organically and thanks to a push from the chain’s digital marketing team. That effort dovetailed with the popularity of Chili’s Fried Mozzarella, which has had its own string of viral moments in recent months. Fried Mozz and the recently launched Nashville Hot Mozz are both options for the Triple Dipper.

The increase in traffic from these products prompted Chili’s to increase its labor investments over the summer to ensure its restaurants could keep up. Now the chain is considering purchasing more or larger fryers to meet the demand for Triple Dippers and Chicken Crispers at high-volume locations.

If Chili’s can maintain this recent success, it could have even bigger implications for the brand’s future, including the ability to open new restaurants. That would indeed be big news for a chain that has shrunk in size over the past decade.

Hochman said the company is having conversations about how it might allocate capital differently, including accelerating new construction or renovating existing stores.

For now, “there is no change in the guidance we have given you on net new units,” he noted. But “the success we’ve had in the industry has certainly created additional opportunities to deploy capital.”

The chain has, however, increased its turnover forecast for this year. It now expects total revenue of $4.7 billion to $4.75 billion, up from the previous estimate of $4.55 billion to $4.62 billion.

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