Founder Warren Simmons Area served United States Parent organization Real Mex Restaurants | Number of locations About 50 Number of employees 3,000 | |
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Type Wholly owned subsidiary Industry Casual dining restaurant Key people Charles Rinker, President
Nick Mayer, SVP Operations
Steven Tanner, CFO Headquarters Cypress, California, United States Founded 1986, Alameda, California, United States Profiles | ||
Chevys fresh mex just how fresh are we
Chevys Fresh Mex is an American chain of Mexican-style casual dining restaurants located in the United States. The chain was founded in 1981 by Warren Simmons in Alameda, California. The chain's headquarters are currently located in Cypress, California. The chain is owned by Real Mex Restaurants, Inc.
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History
The chain was founded in 1981 by Warren Simmons, when he opened the first restaurant in Alameda, California. It grew to 37 restaurants across California by August 1993, when it was acquired by PepsiCo subsidiary Taco Bell. When PepsiCo decided to exit the restaurant business in 1997, Chevys was sold to the investment group J.W. Childs Associates. 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.
However, business was poor at the Rio Bravo locations, and in 2003 Chevys' executives filed for Chapter Eleven 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-based parent company of El Torito Restaurants and Acapulco Mexican Restaurants. 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.
Restaurants
As of July 2014, there were 49 Chevys Fresh Mex restaurants located throughout the United States, mostly in Northern California (24 locations). Many of these locations are owned by the company; however, some are franchisee-owned.,
Products
The chain sells a variety of Mexican-style foods, including tortilla chips, salsa, guacamole, fruit-flavored margaritas, alcoholic beverages, fajitas, tortillas, enchiladas, and burritos. Approximately 70 percent of Chevys revenue comes from dinner sales, while lunch accounts for roughly 30 percent of sales.