NSYNC tours are long over, Blockbuster stores are gone, and that AOL Instant Messenger chime is a distant memory. But at least one beloved aspect of the 1990s is back: Chi-Chi’s.
After closing the last of its locations in 2004 due to bankruptcy and a Hepatitis A outbreak, the Mexican restaurant chain has returned. In its mid-90s heyday, Chi-Chi’s boasted 210 locations. Now, as the company launches one flagship location in St. Louis Park, Minnesota this month, it appears to be riding a wave of millennial nostalgia.
“For anyone who’s ever said, ‘I miss CHI-CHI’s,’ this one’s for you,” the company wrote in a recent news release. The 2025 menu will blend classic items, like Chi-Chi’s original chimichanga and nachos grande, with fresh offerings like seafood enchiladas and a Manchego burger.
The restaurant chain’s comeback is remarkable in any circumstances, but especially in a time of such economic turbulence.
With inflation, job insecurity, and market fluctuations that have followed President Donald Trump’s tariffs, American consumers have been cutting back on dining out. Restaurant visits have dipped 1 percent compared to last year, according to research by analysts Black Box Intelligence. More than half of U.S. consumers — 57 percent — say they are dining out less often compared to 12 months ago, a May survey by Attest, a consumer insights platform, also found.
Millennials, aged 29 to 44, have already endured several bouts of economic instability including the 2008 financial crisis and the pandemic-driven downturn. At the height of Covid, in 2020, the group became the largest generation in the country, according to Pew Research Center.
With that newfound power, lived experience, and a desire for comfort, the generation once lambasted for buying too much avocado toast now seems to be driving a new food trend: reviving affordable eats from the 1990s.
Chi-Chi’s isn’t alone. Other brands also seem to be catering those nostalgic taste buds.
KFC has reintroduced some popular menu items from back in the day. In August, the fried chicken chain announced it was bringing back potato wedges, which were introduced three decades ago and later rose to “cult status” before being discontinued in 2020. This month marked the return of the 1990s-era Original Honey BBQ sauce after pleas from “desperate fans,” the company said.
Taco Bell has reintroduced some 90s delicacies. The Double Decker Taco, first offered in 1995, and the Chili Cheese Burrito, which debuted in 1990, are both back on the menu, the fast food chain announced in August.
In 2023, Chili’s revived the “Baby Back” jingle from its 90s ads. The brand’s chief marketing officer told Slate in August that he had wondered how to make Chili’s relevant again.
“How do we remind people why they loved this brand in the first place?” said George Felix. Winding back the clock to the catchy tune seems to have worked. Sales have soared, seeing double-digit, same-store growth for the past five quarters, Restaurant Business reported.
“Nostalgia can be kind of part of the psychological immune system, where, when something negative or threatening occurs, it can actually activate nostalgia, which then helps you cope with that negative experience,” Chelsea Reid, an associate professor of psychology at the College of Charleston, told The Independent.
Food can serve as a “social surrogate,” Reid said. “When we experience food nostalgia, it arouses feelings of social connection, which then makes us feel comforted.”
A 2019 survey found that nearly one-third of millennials said they often or always felt lonely. More recently, a 2025 poll found 26 percent of millennials felt lonely all or most of the time — a figure only surpassed by Gen Z, the age group below them.
Maybe harking back to a simpler time is what’s needed. Nostalgia “can help us fill in some of that space when we are trying to come to terms with the uncertain times that we’re in right now,” Lindiwe Davis, a creative strategist, told The Independent.
In the 90s, there was no doom-scrolling or 24/7 news cycle, so there were more opportunities to zone out. “There was a simpler way of thinking and being. And I think nostalgia kind of brings back a bit of a stabilizer,” Davis said. “There’s something about returning to a place that felt very familiar.”
Fast food can be a source of comfort. It’s not only a way to treat yourself but also a way to fill yourself up during times of economic hardship, she said. “There is definitely a longing for that emotional safety and community,” she said.
Consumers can easily pick-up fast food, making it an achievable option for nearly everyone. Fast food is “a way to still be sociable with this really tight budget and still having a level of indulgence that feels accessible,” Davis added.
Many millennials are now parents, and there’s also a desire to share beloved brands of their childhood with their kids. Some research suggests that people tend to become more nostalgic during transitional periods, Reid said.
It’s not just fast-food chains that are making a return to the 90s. Retail trends like low-cut jeans, leopard print, and mules have resurfaced and the fashion of 90s style icons Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy, Jennifer Aniston and Aaliyah, to name a few.
Both Adam Sandler’s 1996 comedy Happy Gilmore and Julia Roberts’ 1997 flick My Best Friend’s Wedding are getting sequels; Leslie Nielsen’s Naked Gun franchise recently saw a 2025 reboot starring Liam Neeson and Pamela Anderson.
Popular 90s TV shows, like Frasier and Full House, have already gotten the reboot treatment and a Family Matters comeback is reportedly in development.
Back in the day, before Tivo emerged, live TV was the only option; there was no streaming. There were no cellphones pinging with news updates or the draw of social media. Things felt simpler and cultural moments were more widely shared. A whopping 95 million people watched the 1994 O.J. Simpson car chase live.
A 2023 YouGov poll found that half of all Americans watch reruns at least once a week. Asked for the “major reason” why, 51 percent said they found them funny, while 44 percent said it brought them comfort.
Sitcoms, in particular, evoke “something that feels very familiar to so many of us, no matter your party line, no matter where you stand, no matter what socioeconomic group you belong to, you know, these were shows that were widely across the board,” Davis said.
Whether it’s food, retail trends, or entertainment, she said, nostalgia can “create a level of understanding what stability might have looked like for you at that time when things weren’t what they are right now, which is in such an extreme place and culturally.”
For those who have already slipped back into their baggy pants and are watching Friends reruns, Chi-Chi’s can now provide that long-craved taste from the past.
For many online, that warm sense of nostalgia meant only one thing. As Reddit user put it: “If they have the same fried ice cream as the old days, that’s all I need.”
If Chi-Chi’s can come back after 20 years, millennials can only hope that maybe NSYNC is next.
