Chili’s is tapping into millennial nostalgia with its newest monthly margarita, the Radical Rita. The $6 cocktail—available throughout May—mixes dragon fruit, blue curacao, and Lunazul blanco tequila, and changes color from pink and blue to bright purple when stirred with a themed muddler.
Yes, there are muddler sticks. And, they are, well, ’90s-inspired.
To promote the drink, Chili’s tapped actress and former teen idol Tiffani Thiessen, known for her roles in TV shows Saved by the Bell and Beverly Hills. In the promo, directed by SNL short filmmaker Mike Diva, Thiessen is dressed to impress while the restaurant around her is a throwback mess—headbands, bracelets, and oversized cordless phones are everywhere.
“Everyone knows me for starring in America’s favorite ’90s sitcom, but what they may not know is that I also love to drink margaritas – and some of my fondest early memories with my husband are spent at Chili’s,” Thiessen says in the video.
According to food trend platform Tastewise, consumer interest in ’90s-themed food and beverages has increased nearly 40% year-over-year as more brands tap into retro aesthetics to appeal to nostalgia-hungry millennials and Gen Zs. From neon-colored drinks to retro packaging, the ’90s revival is showing up on menus across the country. For those unfamiliar with the ’90s, the word “radical” is synonymous with anything cool, bold, or just plain amazing.
The Radical ‘Rita is part of Chili’s long-running “Margarita of the Month” program, which launched in 2018. The Texas-based brand claims to sell more margaritas than any other restaurant chain in the U.S. and says it sold more than 25 million margaritas in 2024 alone. The rotating lineup includes past favorites like the Witches Brew Marg and Lemon Drop Marg, each priced at $6.
Chili’s Vice President of Marketing Jesse Johnson said the new drink “takes the very popular dragon fruit flavor and presents it in a way our guests have never seen before.”
The Radical ‘Rita will be available at participating locations nationwide through the end of May.
Related topics: