These days most news about companies is a little gloomy, as cautious consumers clutch their wallets tight, especially when it comes to discretionary spending like eating out. One exception is Chili’s. Yes — that Chili’s.

The casual-dining chain, whose parent company is Brinker International, has seen its highest sales and profit for a fiscal year since it went public in 1984. Its corporate workers are getting big bonuses, as reported by the Wall Street Journal, and it’s planning to expand.

If, when you think of Chili’s, you think of the baby back ribs jingle, I hate to break this to you but you are behind. Chili’s has new marketing.

Videos of people eating Chili’s gooey, stretchy, fried cheese — at Chili’s, at home, and in their cars, are all over the internet.

“That cheese pull thing was a pretty huge thing for a lot of people. And when you talk about Chili’s to a younger demographic, they all think about the cheese pull,” said Lilly Jan, a lecturer of food and beverage management at Cornell University.

Unlike a lot of food brands that market to millennials who have more cash, Chili’s went all in on Gen Z. 

“I don’t know that everyone understands just how strong the influential buying power and spending power is of the Gen Z at home,” said Jan. “Because if your teenager wants something and it’ll make them participate in the family activity, you’re doing it.”

The viral cheese pull looked like the beginning of a renaissance for Chili’s. In reality the chain had spent years preparing for this moment, by cutting its menu in half, cleaning up its dining rooms, and honing in on its brand: almost kitschy, but also self aware.

“And they priced it right. They didn’t price it necessarily cheaply, but they priced it right,” said Stephen Zagor, a business professor at Columbia University. 

Chili’s saw inflation as its opening to reposition itself. And it decided its competitor wasn’t other casual dining restaurants, but McDonald’s.

“The pitch there was it’s as good if not better quality-wise,” said Jim Sanderson, a restaurant analyst at Northcoast Research. 

In an ad for its $10.99 burger special — which comes with bottomless chips and salsa, and a drink — Chili’s calls out the McDonald’s Quarter Pounder by name, saying the Chili’s version has more beef. It worked. The burger brought in customers and sales of higher margin foods like mozzarella sticks spiked. 

Now the chain has plans to expand. Sanderson said the tough part is supporting growth. He said Chili’s is hoping to go back to making money off its classic: baby back ribs.