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Chevys Fresh Mex

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Chevys Inc.
Company typeSubsidiary
IndustryCasual dining restaurant
Founded1986; 38 years ago (1986), in Alameda, California, U.S.[1]
FounderWarren Simmons[1]
Headquarters
Cypress, California[1]
,
U.S.
Key people
ProductsMexican-style cuisine
Number of employees
1,000 (2022)
ParentXperience Restaurant Group
Websitewww.chevys.com

Chevys Fresh Mex is an American chain of Mexican-style casual dining restaurants located in the United States. The chain was founded in 1986 by Warren Simmons in Alameda, California.[1] The chain's headquarters are currently located in Cypress, California.[2][1] The chain is owned by Xperience Restaurant Group.

History

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Chevys Fresh Mex
A Chevys Fresh Mex restaurant in January 2020.

The chain was founded in 1981 by Warren Simmons,[3] with his first restaurant in Alameda, California.[4] It grew to 37 restaurants across California by August 1993, when it was acquired by PepsiCo subsidiary Taco Bell. When PepsiCo exited the restaurant business in 1997, Chevys was sold to the investment group J.W. Childs Associates.[5] In 1999, Chevys purchased Rio Bravo Cantina, a poorly-performing chain of Tex-Mex restaurants with 66 locations across the United States, from Applebee's International for $59 million.[6]

Business was poor at the Rio Bravo locations, and in 2003 Chevys' executives filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.[3] For the next year and a half, Chevys operated as debtor in possession under Chapter Eleven. In January 2005, Chevys and Fuzio Universal Pasta were acquired by Real Mex Restaurants, Inc., the Long Beach, California-based parent company of El Torito Restaurants and Acapulco Mexican Restaurants.[7] The acquisitions gave Real Mex Restaurants claim as the largest operator of full-service Mexican restaurants in the United States. Real Mex subsequently passed through bankruptcy in 2011–2012, and was acquired by Xperience Restaurant Group in 2018.

14 more underperforming Chevys Fresh Mex restaurants, mostly in northern California, were closed on December 26, 2016.[8] Among these were the Redding, Chico, South Lake Tahoe, Modesto, and Fresno locations in California.[9][10][11]

In 2021, Xperience Restaurant Group began the expansion of the Chevys Fresh Mex restaurants with a new location in Orlando, FL near the Mall at Millenia and plans to open a flagship location on the Las Vegas strip, near the T-Mobile arena across from Park MGM,[12] that will hold seating for 400 guests.

Restaurants

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As of April 2024, the company operates 18 locations in California, Maryland, Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, South Dakota, and Virginia. Many of these locations are owned by the company; however, some are franchisee-owned.[4][13][14][15][16] Franchised Chevys locations, a handful of restaurants in California, and a single unit in Orlando, Florida remain after the October, 2018 bankruptcy and asset sale.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d e ">Chevys Fresh Mex". Chevys Fresh Mex. Archived from the original on October 30, 2015. Retrieved April 16, 2017.
  2. ^ "Contact Us Archived 2010-02-09 at the Wayback Machine." Chevys Fresh Mex. Retrieved on June 6, 2010.
  3. ^ a b Yulico, Nicholas (2004-09-25). "Chevy's may be auctioned off". Oakland Tribune. BNET. Retrieved 2008-09-25. [dead link‍]
  4. ^ a b "Chevys". Real Mex Restaurants. 2008. Archived from the original on 2008-07-06. Retrieved 2008-09-23.
  5. ^ Howe, Kenneth (May 1, 1997). "Pepsi Decides to Sell Chevys Restaurants". SFGate. Retrieved June 25, 2019.
  6. ^ Liddle, Alan (1999-02-22). "Chevys prescribes Fresh Mex as Rx". Nation's Restaurant News. BNET. Retrieved 2008-09-25.
  7. ^ "Real Mex Restaurants, Inc. Acquires Chevys Inc.'s Chevys Fresh Mex Restaurants and Fuzio Universal Pasta Restaurants". Business Wire. BNET. 2005-01-19. Retrieved 2008-09-25.
  8. ^ Cloughbclough, Bethany. "Chevys at River Park in Fresno closes, 13 other restaurants close". The Fresno Bee. Retrieved 2017-11-18.
  9. ^ Claire Cudahy / Tahoe Daily Tribune. "South Lake Tahoe Chevys closes, employees shocked". TahoeDailyTribune.com. Retrieved 2017-11-18.
  10. ^ "South Lake Tahoe Chevys closes doors on Christmas Eve | South Lake Tahoe". SouthTahoeNow.com. 2016-12-26. Retrieved 2017-11-18.
  11. ^ Valinekvaline, Kevin. "Modesto's Chevys Fresh Mex restaurant closes its doors | The Modesto Bee". Modbee.com. Retrieved 2017-11-18.
  12. ^ Browne, Amber D. (2022-02-22). "Chevys Fresh Mex Flagship Restaurant Planned for Vegas; WhatNow Las Vegas". whatnowvegas.com. Retrieved 2022-09-28.[permanent dead link‍]
  13. ^ "Chevys Fresh Mex". Archived from the original on 2012-01-07. Retrieved 2011-12-31.
  14. ^ "Real Mex set for Ch. 11 auction".
  15. ^ "Location Map". Archived from the original on 2014-07-15. Retrieved 2014-07-14.
  16. ^ "Chevys Restaurant Locations". Locations.chevys.com. Archived from the original on 2017-03-14. Retrieved 2021-04-17.
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