As restaurant chains like McDonald’s ($MCD) languish, casual dining giant Chili’s has found the key to consumers’ hearts — value and variety. In its latest quarterly performance, Chili’s parent company Brinker InternationalEAT

credited affordable menu items for a 14.8% rally in same-store sales, even as traffic rose just 6.5%. This adds to an already impressive year for the company.

• The Tex-Mex grill chain attributes its booming quarterly success to $6 margaritas, the viral Triple Dipper platter, and the $10.99 Big Smasher meal deal — which includes free refills and bottomless chips, salsa, and French fries.
• With these items, Chili’s sales surpassed $1B for the first time ever in the fourth quarter — a result of modest menu price increases and higher traffic driven by viral promotions.

Brinker booms: It wasn’t all that long ago that Chili’s was struggling, but thanks to its successful turnaround under new CEO Kevin Hochman,EAT

has rallied more than 206% over the last year, giving it a premium valuation. Unfortunately, it’s a price that analysts are increasingly unwilling to pay. Yesterday, JPMorgan cut its rating on the family-friendly grill, indicating that its unprecedented rally has left the stock “fully valued.” In tandem, BMO Capital Markets also downgraded the company after it outperformed the S&P 500 by five times, according to Andrew Strelzik.