Chili’s opens fourth restaurant in Costa Rica

Casual Tex-Mex restaurant Chili’s Grill & Bar on Monday opened a new location at Mall Paseo de las Flores in Heredia province, the chain’s fourth in the country and the first outside the capital, San José.

Local franchisee CRB Restaurants invested $1 million in the new location that has a capacity for 220 people, Costa Rica GM Andrés Gómez said.

The company chose Heredia because research found good potential for customers in that province who frequently visit Chili’s restaurants at malls Multiplaza and Lincoln Plaza in San José. Gómez also said that customers at these restaurants constantly were asking them when Chili’s would open in Heredia.

“Overall our experience in Costa Rica in these three years has been very positive despite the strong competition in the restaurant sector. Ticos love our food and highly appreciate our good customer service,” he stated on Monday.

Last April CRB confirmed that in the previous year the company saw 42 percent growth in revenue and an 8 percent increase in visits at its three restaurants at malls Multiplaza Escazú, Multiplaza Curridabat and Lincoln Plaza.

The company currently is evaluating locations for a fifth restaurant, likely in Alajuela province next year.

Franchisor Brinker International this year declared Costa Rica the best franchise operator in Latin America, based on the results of a business evaluation.