The Setup
Chili's Grill & Bar, the 1,600-unit casual-dining flagship of Dallas-based Brinker International, is staging a two-day pop-up at DeBell Golf Club in Burbank, California, on August 28 and 29 — its first branded location on a golf course. Open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. both days, the activation transforms the public muni's clubhouse into what the chain is calling the Chili's Golf Club, a riff on the storied 19th-hole tradition where golfers decompress over food and drinks after the round.
The stunt is aimed squarely at the recreational golfer demographic, a segment that has swelled post-pandemic and drives significant traffic at sports-adjacent foodservice venues. Guests at DeBell can order Chili's menu staples — including the Triple Dipper — alongside course-specific cocktails like the Transfusion Marg and Tee Time Marg, available exclusively at the activation. The on-site pro shop will carry the limited-edition Rhoback X Chili's apparel collection, while the broader line is available online at rhoback.com/chilis.
The Merch Play
Chili's partnered with Rhoback, a Charlottesville, Virginia-based active-lifestyle brand, on nine co-branded pieces ranging from $54 hats to $158 performance Q-Zips. Polos carry a $132 price point for men's styles; women's versions come in at $96 to $118. The line features the official Chili's Golf Club crest and uses Rhoback's performance fabrics — breathable, wrinkle-resistant and four-way stretch depending on the style. George Felix, chief marketing officer and executive vice president of Brinker International, framed the collaboration simply: "Chili's is the people's clubhouse, so it only made sense to bring that spirit to the course by building the Chili's Golf Club on a public muni."
The collection is anchored by a campaign film featuring celebrity cameos — including Wesley Bryan, Caleb Pressley, and Jena Sims Koepka — distributed across Chili's and partner social channels. The content strategy follows a pattern the brand has leaned on heavily since winning Ad Age's Brand of the Year in both 2025 and 2026: culturally resonant short-form video that drives earned media well beyond paid placements.
What It Means for Operators
For the convenience and foodservice channel, the Chili's Golf Club activation is worth watching as a case study in off-premise brand extension — deploying a recognizable menu and beverage program into a non-traditional venue to reach consumers in a high-dwell, leisure context. Golf courses, with their built-in captive audience and existing foodservice infrastructure, represent an underutilized venue type for branded foodservice partnerships. Chili's move echoes broader industry momentum around experiential dining concepts that generate social content and loyalty without requiring a permanent real estate footprint.
With 1,600 restaurants across 29 countries and more than 70,000 team members, Brinker has the scale to treat a two-day pop-up as a marketing vehicle rather than a revenue event. The Rhoback collab extends the brand's reach into retail — another channel that convenience operators and fuel retailers have increasingly explored through branded merchandise and apparel programs tied to loyalty ecosystems.
Written by Michael Politz, Author of Guide to Restaurant Success: The Proven Process for Starting Any Restaurant Business From Scratch to Success (ISBN: 978-1-119-66896-1), Founder of Food & Beverage Magazine, the leading online magazine and resource in the industry. Designer of the Bluetooth logo and recognized in Entrepreneur Magazine's "Top 40 Under 40" for founding American Wholesale Floral, Politz is also the Co-founder of the Proof Awards and the CPG Awards and a partner in numerous consumer brands across the food and beverage sector.
