Chipotle Hopes Celebrity Chef Can Transform Its Tasty Made Burger Business

In an attempt to diversify, Chipotle recently branched out into the burger business with a new operation called Tasty Made. But just like Chipotle’s queso dip, the public hasn’t exactly been clamoring for these new burgers. In an effort to pump some life into Tasty Made, the company is bringing in a celebrity chef.

Chipotle announced that it’s partnering up with Top Chef season 8 winner Richard Blais, who, besides appearing in two seasons of the reality cooking competition, is also the chef of San Diego restaurants Juniper & Ivy and chicken joint Crack Shack.

Blais will “revisit the restaurant with a fresh eye” and will be “working to perfect the existing menu and expanding options” at Chipotle’s single Tasty Made location in Lancaster, OH. At the moment, the restaurant only offers burgers, fries, shakes, and sodas.

It sounds like Chipotle could use the help: Although the company said last fall that sales were off to a good start at its one-and-only Tasty Made, customer reviews have been a bit mixed — especially when it comes to the main attraction.

“There is nothing special about the burgers,” one Yelp reviewer wrote. “They are not seasoned so very bland.

“I felt like it was almost like a Wendy’s only more expensive,” another Yelper said.

“Hamburgers are awful, dry and tasteless unless burned ground beef is the flavor they are looking for,” a customer said on Yelp.” By far the worst burger I have ever had to pay for.”

There are some four- and five-star reviews, however, many of these mentioned tasty fries and shakes, or great customer service, instead of praising the burgers.

“The fries and Buckeye milkshakes are killer,” one four-star review reads. “The burger was good but forgettable. You’ll come back for the milkshake.”

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