Chili’s is having a second … and making an attempt to show it has the best-value burger.
The chain simply launched its latest burger, the Large QP, which bears hanging similarities to McDonald’s Quarter Pounder burger. It is obtainable by itself or a part of the chain’s 3-For-Me deal, which Chili’s is hoping will carry extra value-conscious clients by means of its doorways.
When Enterprise Insider visited the chain’s headquarters in April 2024, executives advised us Chili’s was leaning into promoting campaigns and new menu initiatives in an effort to enhance model consciousness and visitors, a method that seems to be working.
The Texas chain has seen gross sales progress whereas different chains are struggling to win over value-conscious clients and Gen Z. In January, Chili’s reported a 31.4% improve in comparable restaurant gross sales and a virtually 20% spike in foot visitors between Q2 2024 and Q2 2025, which ended December 25, 2024.
Enterprise Insider coordinated with Chili’s Grill & Bar to arrange this style check at our native restaurant, however BI paid for all the meals.
The one exception was the Large QP, which Enterprise Insider tried at a media occasion hosted by the chain. Chili’s had no affect over the outcomes of our rating.
This is each Chili’s burger, ranked from worst to greatest.
Our least favourite burger was additionally essentially the most decadent: the Bacon Rancher.
Erin McDowell/Enterprise Insider
The Bacon Rancher burger price $19.49, excluding tax, at our native Chili’s in Glendale, New York.
The Bacon Rancher comes with two beef patties, six slices of bacon, ranch dressing, American cheese, sautéed onions, and pickles on a buttered brioche bun.
Erin McDowell/Enterprise Insider
The bacon was organized in a crisscross design on high of the burger patties and cheese. Two slices of cheese had been on the burger patties, which had been smashed and had a crispy texture.
This was the Mount Everest of Chili’s burgers.
Erin McDowell/Enterprise Insider
The ranch dressing labored nicely with the opposite substances within the burger and added a creamy, tangy taste that offset the savoriness of the 2 burger patties and bacon.
Nevertheless, we thought this burger bordered on an excessive amount of meat. We could not clearly style the bacon over the juicy, meaty taste of the patties, and the moisture from the 2 burgers affected the feel of the bun, which struggled to carry its form.
We additionally missed a few of the more energizing substances, like lettuce or tomato, that we loved within the different burgers we tried.
Total, this burger simply wasn’t to our private style.
We skilled comparable points with the Double Oldtimer, however appreciated the toppings higher.
Erin McDowell/Enterprise Insider
The Double Oldtimer with cheese price $17.79, excluding tax, at our native Chili’s in Glendale, New York.
The Double Oldtimer with cheese comes with two beef patties, cheddar cheese, pickles, lettuce, tomato, purple onion, and mustard.
Erin McDowell/Enterprise Insider
The burgers had been stacked neatly on high of each other, with the toppings underneath the meat. We thought this was fascinating — we normally place burger toppings on high of the patties to stop the underside bun from getting soggy.
This burger tasted strongly of mustard, however we loved the basic toppings.
Erin McDowell/Enterprise Insider
A skinny slice of cheese separated the 2 burger patties, and we thought the lettuce and tomato tasted contemporary. Nevertheless, we had blended emotions in regards to the mustard.
The mustard virtually overpowered the opposite substances, and the extra patty made the burger so juicy that the bread was practically flattened. Nonetheless, we thought the burger patties had been cooked completely and had a superb texture.
It was an awesome basic burger, just like one we’d make at a cookout. Nevertheless, all of us agreed that when eating out, we choose to decide on extra inventive choices.
We additionally tried the single-patty Oldtimer burger with out cheese.
Erin McDowell/Enterprise Insider
The Oldtimer price $13.29, excluding tax, at our native Chili’s in Glendale, New York.
The Oldtimer comes with one burger patty, lettuce, tomato, purple onion, and mustard.
Erin McDowell/Enterprise Insider
We had been to see how this burger in comparison with the others, which had been all topped with cheese.
This was the only and most conventional burger we tried.
Erin McDowell/Enterprise Insider
In contrast to with the double, we may distinctly style all of the substances since there was no second patty to overpower the flavour of the toppings. We additionally surprisingly did not miss the cheese — the burger was so juicy and moist, it did not want it.
Nevertheless, the mustard was nonetheless a little bit sturdy. Considered one of us thought the addition of ketchup would have balanced out the burger extra, however one other reporter thought it was wonderful with out it.
The Mushroom Swiss burger was divisive.
Erin McDowell/Enterprise Insider
The Mushroom Swiss Burger price $14.79, excluding tax, at our native Chili’s in Glendale, New York.
The Mushroom Swiss burger comes with sautéed onions, mushrooms, Swiss cheese, lettuce, tomato, and mayonnaise.
Erin McDowell/Enterprise Insider
This burger was stacked excessive, with mushrooms falling out of the bun. Considered one of our reporters, particularly, is an enormous fan of mushrooms, and these ones seemed completely cooked and got here in a hearty serving. We had been excited to attempt it.
The sautéed onions had been crunchy and balanced out the moist texture of the mushrooms.
Erin McDowell/Enterprise Insider
This burger tasted earthy however not overpowering, due to the beneficiant serving of mushrooms, however the onions had been the key star.
The burger patty, which was cooked medium, saved its form whereas including moisture, as did the mushrooms. The lettuce, onions, and tomato balanced out the burger by including crunch, and the creamy mayonnaise pulled all of it collectively.
Considered one of our reporters truly deemed this burger as their second favourite, nevertheless it was crushed within the general rating.
The BBQ Brisket Burger was our subsequent favourite.
Erin McDowell/Enterprise Insider
The BBQ Brisket Burger price $17.59, excluding tax.
The BBQ Brisket Burger has one beef patty and is topped with pulled brisket, the chain’s new housemade barbecue sauce, cheddar cheese, and pickles.
Erin McDowell/Enterprise Insider
The meat patty was topped with a slice of cheddar cheese, pickles, and a mound of pulled brisket slathered in Chili’s candy barbecue sauce.
The meat was by far the star of this burger.
Erin McDowell/Enterprise Insider
The mix of the mushy and moist pulled brisket and the crispy but juicy patty labored nicely for this burger, particularly when mixed with the barbecue sauce that we caught a noticeable whiff of even earlier than tucking in to eat.
The sweetness of the sauce additionally supplied a stable steadiness to the tartness of the pickles.
Considered one of our reporters, who normally reaches for ketchup when consuming burgers, observed she did not really feel the necessity with this burger.
Since we had been splitting the burger, we did not really feel it was overwhelmingly meaty. Nevertheless, as a lot as we loved our smaller parts, we may think about that consuming the entire burger by ourselves may end in meat overload.
The Simply Bacon Burger was harking back to a BLT sandwich.
Erin McDowell/Enterprise Insider
The Simply Bacon Burger price $14.99, excluding tax.
The Simply Bacon Burger has one beef patty topped with bacon, cheddar cheese, pickles, lettuce, purple onion, tomato, and mayonnaise.
Erin McDowell/Enterprise Insider
Regardless of its measurement and plentiful substances, this burger holding up decently inside its bun. We had been curious to see if that might be the case after we portioned it out. After slicing it into 4 items, every part held up.
The tomato was thick, and the bacon was glazed properly.
Erin McDowell/Enterprise Insider
The substances on this burger, moreover the patty, reminded us of a well-known favourite: a BLT. However what labored so nicely was that we may style every part, as none overpowered the opposite.
There was a beneficiant quantity of crispy bacon, the slice of tomato was thick and juicy, and the mayo-covered lettuce added a contact of freshness to every chunk.
As a lot as we loved it, we ended up inserting two burgers forward that had been simply as scrumptious however extra distinctive.
We tried Chili’s latest burger, the Large QP, at a media occasion in New York Metropolis.
Erin McDowell/Enterprise Insider
The burger prices $14.39, excluding tax, at my closest Chili’s in Glendale, New York.
The Large QP comes with two slices of cheese, diced purple onions, pickles, ketchup, and mustard.
Erin McDowell/Enterprise Insider
Just like the McDonald’s Quarter Pounder, Chili’s Large QP burger comes with a single burger patty. Nevertheless, Chili’s mentioned its patty has 85% extra meat than the McDonald’s model.
Chili’s culinary director Brian Paquette additionally advised Enterprise Insider that that is the primary time the chain has launched a burger with ketchup already added to it.
The burger patty was thick, juicy, and well-seasoned, whereas the condiments added loads of taste.
Erin McDowell/Enterprise Insider
The pickles and diced purple onions additionally added sharpness and crunch to the burger.
The “Large QP” identify would not lie — it was an enormous burger and it tasted very just like a Quarter Pounder, only a bit extra elevated by way of high quality and portion measurement. Our solely grievance was with the cheese.
The slices may have been melted only a bit extra, however this might have been as a result of we tried the burger at a media occasion and never an precise Chili’s restaurant.
The Large Smasher was coated in a refreshing sauce.
Erin McDowell/Enterprise Insider
The Large Smasher Burger price $14.39, excluding tax.
The Large Smasher comes topped with shredded lettuce, diced purple onions, pickles, American cheese, and Thousand Island dressing.
Erin McDowell/Enterprise Insider
The Thousand Island dressing was dripping from all sides of the burger. One reporter remarked that we must always’ve worn bibs.
It seemed just like the Large Smasher Burger was going to be a saucy mess, however the dressing turned out to be one in all our favourite points.
The saucy burger was tangy, juicy, and supreme for the summer season.
Erin McDowell/Enterprise Insider
The Large Smasher Burger wasn’t the simplest to deal with, because it left our fingers slick with sauce, nevertheless it made up for the mess with taste.
The Thousand Island dressing was creamy and thick, but refreshing and tangy, helped by an assortment of purple onions and pickles. It fully coated the juicy patty. Regardless of the heavy quantity of dressing and juices, the bun remained intact, not like another burgers on the menu.
It had a tasty zing that we felt made it a perfect burger to eat in the summertime.
Our favourite burger was impressed by the Southwest.
Erin McDowell/Enterprise Insider
The Alex’s Santa Fe Burger price $16.29, excluding tax, at our native Chili’s in Glendale, New York.
Alex’s Santa Fe Burger had essentially the most distinctive toppings.
Erin McDowell/Enterprise Insider
It got here with one beef patty, avocado, pepper jack cheese, purple onion, jalapeños, tomato, pickles, cilantro, and the chain’s spicy Santa Fe sauce.
The burger — named for Chili’s sous chef Alex Gomez, who created it — is as flavorful as it’s colourful.
Erin McDowell/Enterprise Insider
We reached a fast consensus that Alex’s Santa Fe Burger was our favourite burger, because it was by far essentially the most inventive.
Created by Chili’s sous chef Alex Gomez in 2018, the burger is jam-packed with as many flavors because it has colourful substances.
The jalapeños and barely smoky Santa Fe sauce gave every chunk a kick, however the slices of avocado and tomato, the juicy patty, and the cheese balanced it out. As one reporter famous, it was spicy however to not the extent that had us instantly reaching for a glass of water.
The burger’s brightness and freshness helped it stay as much as its Southwestern-inspired identify and made it our best choice on the menu.
This undoubtedly wasn’t your common chain-restaurant burger — and it cemented Chili’s as the casual-dining chain to observe, in our humble opinion.
