ElectricBlanketFire
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No word on expansion yet.
East Bay Times said:NEW YORK -- Chipotle, still struggling to win back customers after a series of food scares, plans to open its first burger restaurant this year.
The chain known for burritos said Thursday it will open a Tasty Made location this fall in Lancaster, Ohio, which is southeast of Columbus. The menu will be limited to burgers, fries and milkshakes, it said.
Chipotle Mexican Grill already has its hands full trying to recover from the E. coli outbreak and norovirus cases that sent sales plunging starting last fall. It has been giving away coupons for free burritos and stepping up marketing to win back customers, but sales were still down 24 percent at established locations in the second quarter.
Chipotle declined to provide additional details on Tasty Made's food. Co-CEO Steve Ells said early fast-food burger chains had "focused menus," and Chipotle wanted create a restaurant around that model. The remark may have been aimed at McDonald's, which has seen its menu mushroom over the years.
The company had signaled its intent to move into hamburgers, filing a trademark application for "Better Burger" earlier this year and noting its belief that the "Chipotle model" could be applied to a variety of foods. An address linked with Chipotle was on a trademark application for "TastyMade," the website Eater reported earlier this month.