Dallas-based Chili’s Bar and Grill is removing its longtime Skillet Beef Queso and White Skillet Queso in favor of a new cheese dip called Southwest Queso.
Skillet Beef Queso had been on Chili’s menu for 35 years. We can practically hear millennials gasping over the news.
But George Felix, chief marketing officer for Chili’s, said customers expressed “dissatisfaction with Chili’s queso lineup for the last few years.” The two skillet quesos will be served until Oct. 6, 2025, then replaced by Southwest Queso on Oct. 7, 2025.
Skillet Quesos accounted for 1% of total sales, the company said. The Skillet Beef Queso recipe had changed over the years, but it didn’t improve customer satisfaction, the company said.
This new appetizer “finally gives guests the queso they deserve,” according to a Chili’s statement.
The new recipe is made with American cheese, cheddar cheese, green chiles, onions and lime, and served with Chili’s tortilla chips.
Unlike the Skillet Beef Queso, the Southwest Queso is vegetarian.
Skillet Queso: a wistful history
Skillet Beef Queso, on menus at Chili’s since 1990, is being removed in October 2025. The chief marketing officer said it wasn’t popular with consumers.
Sarah Blaskovich/Staff
Skillet Beef Queso was a staple on Chili’s menu since 1990 — an item as iconic as Chili’s Southwestern Eggrolls. Its White Queso was added within the past 10 years, a spokesperson said.
The shift away from the Skillet Beef Queso might be the biggest recipe change from the Dallas-born company since it nixed the original recipe for Chicken Crispers in 2022. There’s more than one online petition to bring the O.G. C.C.s back.
“It is a huge part of my childhood,” wrote one petitioner.
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Will Chili’s fans care?
Time will tell whether nostalgic Chili’s fans will have a similar reaction to the death of Skillet Queso.
Felix stands firm.
“We understand that some guests have a lot of love for our Skillet Beef and White Skillet Queso, but we also recognized that there was room for improvement from both a flavor and quality standpoint,” Felix told The Dallas Morning News in a statement.
“Low sales numbers told us that our guests were clearly looking for a better queso from Chili’s, so we set out to develop an improved option,” he said.
In the past few years, Chili’s has made several changes to upgrade ingredients and appeal to a younger audience. It changed its baby back ribs and frozen margaritas recently.
It also announced “3 For Me” meal deal starting at $10.99, which led to a resurgence — a “boom” for Chili’s, as The Wall Street Journal put it. Parent company Brinker International saw a 21% increase in revenue year over year during the fourth quarter of fiscal 2025, according to a report in Yahoo Finance.
“You’ve got to get people to think and feel differently about you,” said Kevin Hochman, CEO of Brinker, in the WSJ story. The $10.99 value proposition put Chili’s back in the conversation, amid sustained concerns from diners in 2025 that restaurants are too expensive.
Chili’s was once a single location on Dallas’ Greenville Avenue that opened 50 years ago, in 1975. It operates 1,600 restaurants in 29 countries and two territories today.
The new cheese
Since fall 2023, Chili’s culinary team in Dallas worked on a new queso recipe. They tested it on 300 consumers at Curion Insights in Atlanta, and 70% of them picked Southwestern Queso over Skillet Beef Queso, the company reported.
Chilis’ new Southwest Queso will be sold four ways: as an appetizer, as part of the Dip Trio, as a side to the fajitas, and atop the new Chicken Bacon Ranch Nachos.
Southwest Queso becomes available Oct. 7, 2025 at all Chili’s restaurants, including 80 in Dallas-Fort Worth. Those enrolled in the My Chili’s program can try Southwest Queso for free Oct. 7 through Oct. 21, 2025. Limit one per member.
Find a Chili’s in the Dallas-Fort Worth area here.
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