A beloved family-friendly restaurant turns out to be not-so-friendly after all — it was supposed to be a dinner, not a funeral.

4 Deaths. over 650 incidents of illness. Official cause still unknown. In the fall of 2003, the United States saw the worst Hepatitis A outbreak it had ever seen, spreading across 7 states. Where did it all originate? From a quaint Mexican restaurant just 30 miles north of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Chi-Chi’s was founded in Minnesota during the 1970s in an attempt to bring Mexican food to an area where it was a scarcity. Business boomed, profits rose, and Chi-Chi’s became a popular chain restaurant in the midwest, boasting locations in 19 states. Misfortune fell in 2003 when a shipment of Hepatitis A contaminated green onions was brought in to the Chi-Chi’s in Beaver valley Mall, Pennsylvania. What happened next was a series of unfortunate events, ultimately leading Chi-Chi’s to close its doors permanently. unless... it wasn’t
permanent?

Produced by Evangeline Bodhuri, Delna Cherian, and Sharon Iype

These podcast episodes were created by members of the 2025 Winter Capstone course in the Human Biology and Society major at UCLA's Institute for Society and Genetics (https://socgen.ucla.edu/). The faculty sponsor is Christopher Kelty. For questions or concerns email [email protected].