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 Alameda ( ; ; Spanish for "Avenue (landscape), tree-lined path") is a city in Alameda County, California, located in the East Bay (San Francisco Bay Area), East Bay region of the Bay Area. The city is primarily located on Alameda (island), Alam ...

. The chain's headquarters are currently located in

Cypress, California Cypress is a city in northwestern Orange County within Southern California. Its population was 50,151 at the 2020 census. History The first people living in the area now known as Cypress were the Gabrieleno, a Native American tribe of the Ton ...

. The chain is owned by Xperience Restaurant Group.

History

The chain was founded in 1981 by Warren Simmons, with his first restaurant in

. It grew to 37 restaurants across California by August 1993, when it was acquired by

PepsiCo PepsiCo, Inc. is an American multinational food, snack, and beverage corporation headquartered in Harrison, New York, in the hamlet of Purchase. PepsiCo's business encompasses all aspects of the food and beverage market. It oversees the manuf ...

subsidiary

Taco Bell Taco Bell is an American-based chain of fast food restaurants founded in 1962 by Glen Bell (1923–2010) in Downey, California. Taco Bell is a subsidiary of Yum! Brands, Inc. The restaurants serve a variety of Mexican-inspired foods, includi ...

. When PepsiCo exited the restaurant business in 1997, Chevys was sold to the investment group

J.W. Childs Associates J. W. Childs Associates limited partnership, L.P. (JWC) is an American private equity firm focused on leveraged buyout and recapitalization transactions for Middle-Market Companies, middle-market growth companies. JWC places particular emphasis ...

. In 1999, Chevys purchased

Rio Bravo Cantina Rio Bravo Cantina was a Tex-Mex style Mexican restaurant serving the southern United States and Michigan from its opening in 1985 until its closure in 2004. The company relaunched in August 2015, only to close again 18 months later. The Rio Bra ...

, a poorly-performing chain of Tex-Mex restaurants with 66 locations across the United States, from Applebee's International for $59 million. Business was poor at the Rio Bravo locations, and in 2003 Chevys' executives filed for

Chapter 11 Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code (Title 11 of the United States Code) permits reorganization under the bankruptcy laws of the United States. Such reorganization, known as Chapter 11 bankruptcy, is available to every business, wheth ...

bankruptcy protection. 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 Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California. Incorporate ...

-based parent company of

El Torito El Torito (Spanish for "the little bull") is an American chain that serves Mexican food. El Torito operates 69 restaurants primarily in California. 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 finally in 2018 when Real Mex Restaurants, Inc. was acquired by Xperience Restaurant Group. 14 more underperforming Chevys Fresh Mex restaurants, mostly in northern California, were closed on December 26, 2016. Among these were the Redding, Chico, South Lake Tahoe, Modesto, and Fresno locations in California. In 2021, Xperience Restaurant Group began the expansion of the Chevys Fresh Mex restaurants with a new location in Orlando, FL near the Millenia Mall and plans to open a flagship location on the Las Vegas strip that will hold seating for 400 guests and located near the T-Mobile arena across from Park MGM.

Restaurants

As of April 2021, there were 22 Chevys Fresh Mex restaurants located throughout the United States, mostly in northern California (9 locations). Many of these locations are owned by the company; however, some are

franchisee Franchising is based on a marketing concept which can be adopted by an organization as a strategy for business expansion. Where implemented, a franchisor licenses some or all of its know-how, procedures, intellectual property, use of its busine ...

-owned. 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.

References

{{Reflist Mexican restaurants in the United States Companies based in Alameda, California Companies based in Orange County, California Restaurants established in 1981 Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2003 Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2011 Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2018 Taco Bell Former PepsiCo subsidiaries

History

Restaurants

See also

References