Chipotle Is Rolling Out Its New All-Natural Queso Nationwide
After testing out the recipe for queso dip at Chipotle's NEXT Kitchen in New York City and then at locations in Southern California and Colorado, the brand is finally ready to roll out their cheese sauce nationwide.
According to Nation's Restaurant News, queso has long been the most requested item at the Mexican-style chain and will provide Chipotle with a popular add-on that will jump start weak sales after a series of food safety scares and bad publicity over the past few years.
CEO and company founder Steve Ells claims that the menu addition was introduced because the company has finally constructed an all-natural recipe.
"We never added it to our menu before now because we wouldn't use the industrial additives used in most quesos," Ells said in a statement to NRN. "Additives make typical queso very consistent and predictable, but are not at all I keeping with our food culture. Our queso may vary slightly depending on the characteristics of the aged cheddar cheese used in each batch."
Chipotle touts that their queso is made with all-natural ingredients like aged cheddar cheese, tomatillos, tomatoes, and several varieties of pepper, but the full list of ingredients is available on their website. It can be ordered with an entrée for $1.25 or as a side for $5.25. Prices vary by city.
Competitor Moe's Southwest Grill is not buying into the Chipotle queso hype. On Sept. 21, Moe's will be offering free queso to its customers. Talk about some healthy competition!