New Chili's Restaurant In Scranton Pays Tribute To 'The Office'

"Given the ties that this brand has to Scranton, this one was definitely special for us," George Felix, Chili's chief marketing officer, told the Associated Press.

It has been nearly two decades since the workplace mockumentary “The Office” first set an episode inside a Chili’s, where Michael Scott handed out Dundie awards to his ever-tolerant employees, including trophies for the whitest sneakers and for stinking up the bathroom.

Over nine seasons, “The Office” regularly name-dropped real places and products associated with Scranton, where the Emmy-winning show was set. There’s the big pirate ship restaurant known as Cooper’s Seafood House and Poor Richard’s Pub inside a bowling alley. But in 2005, there was no Chili’s in the Pennsylvania city.

So, at last, the chain is filling a hole in Office lore by opening a Chili’s in Dickson City, about 6 miles (10 kilometers) north of Scranton.

New Chili’s, old look

The restaurant will be decorated as it would have been in the mid-2000s with old signs and chalkboard art. It will also feature direct nods to the show’s fictitious paper company, Dunder Mifflin. In one episode, Scott, played by Steve Carell, orders an awesome blossom — a deep-fried onion with a cheese dipping sauce — while trying to win a new client over lunch at Chili’s. That item, long struck from the Chili’s menu nationwide, is being reintroduced in the Scranton-area restaurant only.