After adding few new items to its menu since opening in 1993, Chipotle has begun testing queso at its New York test kitchen and says it may offer it in hundreds of restaurants.
The restaurant chain famous for its made-to-order burritos and bowls said queso has been a top request of customers for a long time, but that it’s very difficult to make without artificial ingredients, according to "Today."
CEO Steve Ells said in a companywide memo Tuesday, “All of our competitors sell queso, and we know some customers don’t come to Chipotle because we don’t offer it,” Eater reported. “But because we refuse to use industrial additives, added colors, flavors or preservatives in our food, it’s very difficult to make queso that meets our standards.”
The NEXT kitchen is also testing strawberry margaritas and the chain recently rolled out bunuelos, a dessert of fried tortillas topped with honey, sugar, and cinnamon, in May to its restaurants, "Today" reported. The effort may be an attempt to revive lagging sales after E. coli and norovirus outbreaks in 2015 and 2016.
The queso has ingredients like milk, cheddar cheese, tomatoes, and corn starch — nothing unpronounceable or artificial-sounding. According to a marketing piece, their competitor’s queso has some natural ingredients, but also ones like methyl cellulose gum, silicon dioxide, and sodium hexametaphosphate, "Today" reported.
It reportedly tastes like sharp cheddar and peppers and has a grittier texture than other quesos, but got the thumbs up from "Today" testers.
Twitter was incredibly excited, for the most part, except those followers who kept pointing out that queso is just cheese in Spanish.
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