Chili’s and Chilly: Take Your Pick

In eatery franchising news: A Chili’s will freshen up the American Airlines Center come October, as it moves into the venue’s southwest corner — where, for the moment, you can buy Stars and Mavs merch. Expect much branding — including a mini-blimp, which you’ll have to order off the menu. And, making a move into the DFW is something called Rita’s Ice, which appears to be some kind of Pennsylvania-based custard and Italian ice shoppe with locations up and down the East Coast. After 25 years it’s expanding, dunno when, into Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston and Austin. For now, I’ll stick with the coconut paletas I get off the neighborhood street vendor. –Robert Wilonsky