Chili’s Grill & Bar has confirmed it is relaunching in the UK after more than 15 years, with hopes of eventually opening more than 100 restaurants across the country.

Chili’s originally arrived in Britain during the 1990s and operated restaurants in places including Cambridge, Reading and London’s Canary Wharf.

However, by 2009, every UK branch had closed.

“tAp TO vIEw VeRITcALLy” sure but look at the cheese pull pic.twitter.com/9CRaqBW14o

— Chili’s Grill & Bar (@Chilis) January 14, 2026

Fast food chain to return to UK after disappearing more than 15 years ago

Now, the company is making a fresh attempt at cracking the UK market, aiming to open a flagship restaurant within the next 12 to 18 months before it aims to roll out more sites, reports Need To Know.

The brand has partnered with The Franchising Centre on these relaunch plans.

Industry insiders say they believe the chain could open between 85 and 100 restaurants if successful.

Potential locations currently being considered include London, Manchester, Birmingham, Leeds, Glasgow, Liverpool, Milton Keynes, Reading, and Solihull, according to reports.

The Tex-Mex chain, which is well-known in the US for its burgers, ribs, fajitas, and margaritas.

It’s the latest US food brand to venture into the UK market, following the likes of Popeye’s, Dave’s Hot Chicken, and Chick-fil-A.

The UK’s favourite takeaways

John Overdijking, franchise recruitment specialist at The Franchising Centre, told Propel Hospitality about the company’s plans.

He said there are “significant” opportunities for the brand in Britain.

Mr Overdijking added that Chili’s could operate using several different formats.

This includes full-service restaurants, compact city sites as well as fast-casual locations.

However, it’s thought that the chain’s initial focus will be on traditional sit-down restaurants.

The Tex-Mex chain has become well-known in America, in part due to its regular appearance in the US series The Office.

Would you like a Chili’s restaurant to open near you? Tell us in the comments.

Katie Price says Interpol told her she would be a “good detective” after her missing husband was found and told her she had been a huge help as they looked for Lee Andrews

Katie Price says Interpol told her she would be a “good detective” after her missing husband was found. The ex-glamour model, 48, tied the knot with Dubai-based businessman Lee Andrews just a fortnight after she met him early this year, but he failed to board a flight to the UK earlier this month and his whereabouts was unknown for weeks.

Eventually, Lee, who had been due to join Katie for a scheduled interview on Good Morning Britain before he vanished, made contact with the former I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here! star and she then announced that he had been arrested and detained on suspicion of espionage in a Dubai prison.

Katie, who hosts The Katie Price Show with her sister Sophie, has spoken at length about the incident in the latest episode of her weekly podcast, and has now claimed that Interpol said she had helped them tremendously, and claimed that she would likely make a success of it if she were to have a major career change.

“It has been a worry and they have been amazing, to the point that they said I would be an amazing detective. You know I wanted to be a paramedic but I might even try to be a detective. They said ‘It’s not the same kind of money Kate.’”

“They said I’ve helped so much. The way I think about things, giving them clues, which they obviously know from intelligence. But they actually said, ‘Do you know what Kate? We do a lot of these cases and you would be a good detective yourself!”

Sophie shook her head in disbelief but Katie seemed confident as she said: “I’m like yes, where’s my prefect badge?”

Katie suggested to her sister that Lee come on the podcast for a chat, but she shot down the idea instantly and firmly suggested: “If you want to do a separate chat with him, that’s down to you.” It’s thought that Lee was arrested on May 14, having been hiding out up until that point.

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It’s also been claimed that he now must pay a four-figure fine and is expected to be released from prison on Monday.

Elsewhere on the podcast, Sophie asked about the other woman Lee followed, but Katie denied Lee was behind this. It was revealed that Marisol, the woman Lee briefly followed, previously used an online matchmaking service for millionaires, The Sun reports.

But Katie told her sister: “What happened with that other woman was apparently she activated her account and maybe she followed Lee or Lee followed her years ago. They’ve never exchanged messages or nothing. So she’s blocked him and that’s why it’s gone back.”

There had been speculation that Katie was involved in a publicity stunt surrounding Lee’s vanishing act earlier this month, although she vehemently denied these claims, and expressed her worry that Lee had become a victim of kidnap.

At the time, she added: “I’m really upset and distressed that people think I’m in on it. Are you joking? Come on, give me some credit why would I do that?”

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Residents feared the development would destroy a ‘valued asset’ and overwhelm ‘limited services’

A developer has lost an appeal to build 49 affordable homes in a village which residents feared would overwhelm the local school. Isleham Parish Council said the site is “one of the few remaining open spaces” in the village with “a strong reflection of its rural setting, nature and agricultural connections”.

They said the land is a “valued asset” and the village has seen “significant recent growth” and has “limited services”. East Cambridgeshire District Council agreed and rejected the plans in 2024 – but an appeal was launched by Abbey Properties Cambridgeshire Ltd and Robin Diver.

A hearing was held by The Planning Inspectorate on March 24 and 25, 2026. Inspector P Hanna visited the site on the second day.

The council said that two other planning applications would likely already meet Isleham’s need for 47 new homes. The inspector said it “cannot be presumed” these “will respond directly to the local need, unlike the current proposal”.

They added: “Indeed, even the council only go as far as saying that identified need is ‘very likely’ to be met by the two approved developments. Whilst the levels of local need may fluctuate, I am satisfied that the proposal would meet an identified need that may not be delivered by the sites within the settlement boundary or by existing planning permissions.”

They said the farmland was formerly a chalk pit and is lined with “dense hedgerows and woodland” and “high distinctiveness habitat”, some of which would be lost if developed. Though a replacement was suggested by the developer, the council were concerned this hedgerow “would not represent like for like replacement under the trading rules”.

The inspector added that even with the developer’s “own final metric calculation” it would fail to meet the minimum requirement. It was also noted that Isleham has “relatively poor existing public transport” with just one return bus service per day from Monday to Saturday and two on Tuesday and Saturday.

Inspector Hanna said the plans fall short in terms of “reducing car usage” but the rural location would “justify a more pragmatic approach”. They also said the village itself “contains a wide range of services and facilities” including two industrial estates which still makes it “highly sustainable” in terms of employment.

Commenting on school capacity, they said the lack of places at the primary school was “a matter for the education authority to deal with”. Inspector Hanna added that if children were unable to attend Isleham Primary, “there is no substantive evidence before me to suggest that a sustainable form of school transport could not be provided, such as a school bus”.

The inspector concluded that the benefits of the proposal would not outweigh the harms and dismissed the appeal.

Vallejo also said he was unhappy with how much time Kouame was given in between points.

Players are only allowed to take up to 25 seconds between points, but umpires can use their discretion as to when to start the shot clock while the crowd settles down.

“I think this sort of matches should be umpired by a man,” Vallejo told Clay magazine, external in an interview listened to and verified by BBC Sport.

“It’s very difficult for a woman to do it because the crowd is very annoying and you need to have a lot of courage to go against the crowd.

“I knew it [the crowd] was going to be like that. It didn’t harm me, it only strengthened him.”

Asked whether having a male umpire would have made a difference, Vallejo added: “Yes, yes, absolutely. The crowd was really disrespectful, but I understand it because they are supporting their home player.”

Vallejo has since taken to social media to defend his comments, stating on X that they have been “taken out of context” and he was referring to Carvalho specifically, rather than all female umpires.

The French Open added: “The tournament strongly condemns all sexist remarks, regardless of who makes them, and offers its support to the match umpire and, more broadly, to all the tournament’s umpiring officials.”

The Grand Slam rulebook states that players “shall at all times conduct themselves in a sportsmanlike manner and give due regard to the authority of officials and the rights of opponents, spectators and others”.

It was put to Mr Benn, while he was giving evidence to the inquest on Thursday that the Premier Drive stream culvert was a “seriously dangerous place for a 14-year-old child, unauthorised, to be in”, being dark, cold, part of an almost 1km long storm drain tunnel which filled twice a day with the tide.