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The Chili’s Baby Back Ribs Commercial Still Slaps

Author adam12
(Photo by Jason Kempin/Getty Images for NYCWFF)

I was all set to write a 25th anniversary piece on the legendary Chili’s Baby Back Ribs commercial. Turns out I’m a couple years too late.

 

I’ve had 1998 on the brain this year, since 1998 was 25 years ago. Diving back into some of the albums I was living with in 1998 has been interesting, to say the least. For example, 5 by Lenny Kravitz celebrated a 25th earlier this year. And while I thought revisiting that one would be disappointing, it actually stood up better than I expected it to. Ditto on the Eve 6 debut album. 1998, baby!

 

For some reason, I had a false memory of the legendary Chili’s Baby Back Ribs ad debuting that year. I’m sure it was on a ton, but it was old hat in the ad world by then. I’ve learned this because there is a wealth of information online about the spots. If you don’t know or if you’ve forgotten, the commercial featured a funky, soulful song about Chili’s then-new Baby Back Ribs.

 

Last year, Mental Floss put together this piece. It leads with the story of Willie McCoy, whose deep, sultry baritone is the voice you hear crooning: “I want my baby back, baby back, baby back…” As the piece points out, Willie didn’t write the jingle, he was just one of the performers. The writer was a Creative Director named Guy Bommarito. He penned the song for Chili’s. According to VICE, he’s never eaten their ribs.

 

The Chili’s Baby Back Ribs Commercial Still Slaps

There’s different versions (and an Austin Powers parody) of the ad, which debuted in 1996 and was used in some form or another through 2009. But it’s this behind-the-scenes footage of the singers that you need to watch. McCoy and rest of the performers are putting their hearts and souls into a damn commercial jingle. That’s dedication to craft right there. And over 25 years later, it’s still an all-time earworm.

Adam 12 is the Program Director of Boston's ROCK 92.9, heard weekdays from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. He's been flexing his encyclopedic rock knowledge in New England for over 2 decades, both on-air and online, at WBCN, WFNX, Boston.com, and indie617. At ROCK 92.9, he keeps you in the know on the big stories from the Boston music scene and writes about great places to eat, drink (beer), and to spend time outdoors in and around Boston.

What Are the Most Popular Cuisines in Southern New England?

You’re grabbing grub in MA, RI, or CT. So you need to know: what are the most popular cuisines in Southern New England?

 

To answer that question, first we have to take a look at this new study from Grand Canyon University. The Most Popular Cuisines in the U.S. breaks down the top-rated cuisines in the 100 biggest cities in the United States. The full study gives you the full state-by-state breakdown, of course. But like you, I’m more interested in what’s cooking here at home. Southern N.E., specifically.

 

I’m fascinated by the methodology of these studies and I’m always looking to share that with you. So here it is:

“In order to evaluate the most popular cuisines in various U.S. cities, we started with a list of 50 of the most populous metropolitan statistical areas, according to the Census. Our analysis focused on the 10 most popular international cuisine categories, according to Statista. We also added in traditional American, bringing our total up to 11 cuisines.”

 

Cool. So what are the 11 cuisines in question? Aside from American, the study came up with this Top 10 of sorts: Chinese, Cuban, Greek, Indian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Mexican, Thai, and Vietnamese. Among the big picture findings, the biggest was this: Mexican food topped the list in 44 of the 50 states. And the Northeast, naturally, is a leader in Italian fare.

 

What Are the Most Popular Cuisines in Southern New England?

Again, you can dive into the full study to see what cuisines are leaders in which cities and regions. Three New England cities jumped out at me while I was reading it, though, and I want to share what I found below. What I’d really like to do, though, is go back in time 40 years and see what kind of trends a study like this would find. I bet the Hilltop Steak House would have topped the list.

  • Massachusetts

    Boston’s favorite cuisine is–you guessed it–Italian. The city also boasts 28 5-star restaurants. I’m guessing a few of those are in the North End.

  • Rhode Island

    Providence loves its Mexican food. And the city is host to an even dozen 5-star restaurants. And from the looks of it, East Providence is the place to be.

  • Connecticut

    Hartford, like Boston, is a hotbed for Italian cuisine. Their nine five-star restaurants are an impressive feat for being so close to New York City.

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