Chipotle Testing Chorizo As New Meat Option

Chipotle Mexican Grill told NRN this past Friday that a new Chorizo Sausage meat option was in heavy testing in the New York area. Chorizo, a spanish-style sausage, has reportedly been rolled out to all Chipotle locations in New York, save four restaurants.

Given a week’s time, the test will expand to Denver, the company’s home base. Company officials have noted previous difficulty with cooking chicken chorizo on the chain’s already established grooved griddles. Notably, the availability of the new protein would mark a rather significant addition in Chipotle’s rarely altered menu.

For those who stay up on their chorizo game, you’ll notice how rare it is that a national food chain would incorporate it into its menu. The last notable sighting, in the form Jack In The Box Chorizo Chili Cheese Fries, was short-lived and never saw a national roll-out.

In the same NRN report cited above, Mark Kalinowski of Janney Capital Markets gave some further insight into Chorizo’s potential systemwide rollout. Prices for a chicken chorizo burrito in Manhattan ranged from $7.35 and $7.81 and the chorizo was put together with “naturally raised pork and chicken sausage with herbs and spices.”