American casual dining chain Chili's makes foray into Vietnam

Chili’s Grill & Bar has unveiled its first Vietnam store in Saigon. With this launch, the American casual dining chain is aiming to tap the country’s growing middle-class market.

Situated at SV VivoCity mall, the new restaurant has been opened in Vietnam as a part of the Golden Gate Restaurant Group, an operator of more than 20 restaurant chains in the country.

Ha Thuc Tu, CEO of Golden Gate Red Hots, a unit of Golden Gate Restaurant Group, said, “The chain targets middle-income customers, especially office workers and families.”

“These customers have high standard demands in food and entertainment and prefer a multi-functional location which suits the needs of all family members,” he added.

Chili’s Footprint

Chili’s is operated by Texas-based hospitality company Brinker International. Founded in 1975, the restaurant chain specializes in Texas and Mexican food, with steaks, ribs and burgers among its signature dish.

Chili’s has more than 1,670 restaurants and serves over one million customers a day in 29 countries and territories.

David Weston, a representative of Chili’s, stated, “Vietnam was an important part of its business in Asia, where over 60 Chili’s outlets have been opened in eight countries.”

Vietnam: A lucrative market for global brands

Euromonitor, the market research firm, stated that an increasing number of international chains are foraying into Vietnam, seeing it as a lucrative market.

Popular American brands like McDonald’s, KFC and Starbucks have already established their presence in the country.

According to Dcorp R- Keeper, a global company that provides technological solutions to food and beverage businesses, Vietnam had around 540,000 food and beverage businesses as of last year, 80% of them were street vendors.