FOOD
It started with Chili’s and those viral cheese pulls. Now other casual-dining chains are cashing in on the allure of ooey, gooey cheese. CHEESE IS MELTING ALL OVER MENUS, GIVING SALES A SOLID BOOST
BY PATRICIA COBE PATRICIA.COBE@INFORMA.COM
M elted cheese is having a mo- ment on menus, making cus- tomers and casual-dining res- taurants very happy. Diners love the dippability and stretchability of cheese, and operators are seeing that adding cheese can boost traffic and sales. Let’s call it the “cheese pull effect.” It started in 2024 with Chili’s and its now-fa- mous Triple Dipper appetizer. The shareable platter includes mozzarella sticks filled with gooey cheese that stretches when guests take a bite. TikTok users went wild showing off their exaggerated “cheese pulls,” and the menu item went viral. Chili’s reported that the Triple Dipper has since garnered 200 mil- lion TikTok views and 15% of transactions now include the appetizer. CHEESE PULL-MANIA The Dallas-based chain reported a same- store sales jump of 8.6% year over year dur- ing the last quarter of 2025 . And that was after five straight quarters of double-digit sales growth, with cheese pulls pulling their weight. Rival Applebee’s was ready to get a piece of the cheesy action and launched a Grilled Cheese Cheeseburger late last year.
guests can build, dip or customize every bite, it adds energy to the meal. That sense of play is becoming an important part of why they choose a brand,” said Michelle Chin, CMO of Glendale, California-based Apple- bee’s. “We’re in a visually driven environ- ment where people discover meals through short‑form video first. Melted cheese hap - pens to be incredibly dynamic on camera—it stretches, it drips, it sizzles—and that sensory appeal makes people stop scrolling,” To get the burger at its cheesiest best, Ap- plebee’s culinary team combined a smooth queso base with a blend of cheddars, result - ing in a molten, velvety sauce that covers both flavor and texture, said Chin. “With the O‑M‑Cheeseburger, we wanted something more dimensional—a sauce that had the com- fort of queso but the richness and stretch that make the dish so distinctive.” It turned out to be a recipe for success. “From a marketing standpoint, what’s been remarkable is the organic momentum,” said Chin. “More than 400 creators posted about it, generating over 65 million views. When the brand, the culinary experience and the social conversation all align, you get the kind of cultural moment that lifts the entire busi- ness.”
It boosted new customer traffic and became the casual-dining chain’s best-selling burger ever. But then the O-M-Cheese Burger arrived in January and quickly earned that title. This burger is topped with American cheese, ap- plewood-smoked bacon and spicy honey mustard, then cut in half and served along- side fries in a sizzling skillet of molten queso and a blend of cheddar cheeses. “What I love about the O-M-Cheese- burger is that it’s truly experiential,” said John Peyton, CEO of Applebee’s owner Dine Brands, in an interview with Restaurant Business. “When the skillet comes out and you can hear the cheese sizzling and you get that great cheese pull when you pick up the burger. And by the way, the cheese then ex- tends to the fries. So you’ve got cheese fries as well.” It’s clear that consumers think cheese is good, and more cheese is even better. Peyton added that none of Applebee’s guests asked to have the cheeseburger cut in half to make it easier to dip in the cheese, “but when we showed it to them, it’s what clearly appealed to them.” Dipping makes the cheesy experience even more social-media worthy. “When
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RESTAURANT BUSINESS APRIL 2026
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