Tony Talks Business
How Chilis Makes Money
A half pound burger, fries, bottomless chips and a bottomless drink cost less at Chili's than a Big Mac meal. Fewer than one in ten guests actually pays that price. And the chain selling it became the hottest restaurant stock in America.
This is how Chili's actually makes money, and why the $10.99 deal is the cheapest advert it ever bought.
The numbers in this video
$10.99The cheapest 3 for Me meal. About 1 in 5 guests order 3 for Me and about 40% of those pick this tier, so fewer than 1 in 10 guests pay it.Source: Brinker Q4 FY26 earnings call
$23.12What the average guest spent, year to June 2026.Source: Brinker International, FY26 annual report
18.5%Chili's restaurant margin: 18.5 cents kept from every dollar of sales.Source: Brinker Q4 FY26 earnings release, 12 August 2026
$5.37BChili's revenue for the year.Source: Brinker Q4 FY26 earnings release, 12 August 2026
30MMargaritas sold in 2025, roughly.Source: Nation's Restaurant News
25%The share of sales that leaves in a bag, roughly.Source: Brinker International, FY25 annual report
Every number has a source
Chapters
- 0:00The Meal
- 2:35The Chain
- 3:15The Slide
- 4:54The Cut
- 6:05The Kitchen
- 7:05The Bait
- 8:13The Maths
- 9:17The Seat
- 11:26The Upgrade
- 12:51The Bar
- 13:59The Dipper
- 15:15The Bag
- 16:50The Tablet
- 17:45The Squeeze
- 18:47The Rivals
- 19:46The Verdict
What we left out
Claims we found and could not stand behind, so they are not in the video.
What a basket of chips or a fountain drink costs Chili's to make. No item-level cost could be verified, so none is stated.
How much of Chili's sales come from the bar. The company does not disclose it, and the video says exactly that.
One article's claim that 99% of restaurants are company-owned. The filings show 1,110 of 1,209 in the US.
Sources
38 pages the figures in this video were read from.
- sec.gov
- sec.gov
- investing.com
- tradingkey.com
- s21.q4cdn.com
- s21.q4cdn.com
- sec.gov
- sec.gov
- s21.q4cdn.com
- sec.gov
- prnewswire.com
- sec.gov
- sec.gov
- s21.q4cdn.com
- restaurantdive.com
- restaurantdive.com
- fsrmagazine.com
- restaurantbusinessonline.com
- sec.gov
- texasmonthly.com
- en.wikipedia.org
- mentalfloss.com
- s21.q4cdn.com
- restaurantbusinessonline.com
- chilis.com
- stocktitan.net
- marketingdive.com
- fastcompany.com
- slate.com
- nrn.com
- nrn.com
- restaurantbusinessonline.com
- s21.q4cdn.com
- bisnow.com
- ca.investing.com
- investors.dinebrands.com
- fsrmagazine.com
- stocktitan.net
