Chipotle’s Revamped TastyMade Burger Concept Is Basically A More Pricy In-N-Out
Chipotle has just revamped TastyMade, their standalone burger concept, and the new version has the feel of a slightly upscale In-N-Out.
The chain, under the leadership of Top Chef’s Richard Blais, closed for a couple of days to implement all of the new changes. With the upgraded menu now live, we’ve been able to take a look at what’s new and gone and see just how similar to In-N-Out the burger spinoff has become.
One of the biggest modifications to TastyMade’s lineup comes in the form of price. While a single hamburger went for $3.75 in the past, that price has now been slashed to $2.45, competitive with In-N-Out’s $2.10 cost for the same item (Single cheeseburgers are $2.75 and $2.40 at the revamped TastyMade and In-N-Out, respectively). You can also now stack up additional patties at TastyMade, leaving open the possibility for a 50×50 challenge of In-N-Out’s caliber to be conducted at Chipotle’s version of the burger concept.
Instead of the old “Bacon Sauce,” Blais has added a lineup of modern dips to go with your fries and burgers, including a “burger sauce” that looks and sounds very similar to In-N-Out’s Animal Sauce. That doesn’t appear to be by coincidence, since the Burger Sauce is one of the ingredients to their “Extra Tasty” fries, which are loaded with the condiment, grilled onions, and melted cheese. Sound familiar?
Of course, TastyMade was meant to be like In-N-Out to begin with, serving a simple selection of burgers, fries, and shakes (which are still present in the new menu at a dollar cheaper than before). However, these lower price points and the inclusion of items similar to In-N-Out’s signatures makes Richard Blais’s revamp feel like a slightly pricier version of the West Coast Classic, albeit with a little more selection.
The one thing that does separate these two apart is the inclusion of bacon on TastyMade’s menu. It wasn’t there in the past, but the new “Mighty Made” burger comes with three patties, two slices of cheese, and two slices of bacon. That gives Chipotle’s burger concept the ability to compete with and stand apart from In-N-Out should the two ever have locations in the same place.
Read Seth T.‘s review of Tasty Made on Yelp
As for how TastyMade’s burgers taste, early feedback so far is giving the restaurant a thumbs up, with one Instagram user calling the burger “delicious.” And a recent Yelp review, the whole of which you can see above, showered TastyMade with praise after not having been a fan of its former iteration. Looks like Chef Blais is definitely doing something right by steering Chipotle’s concept in the direction of In-N-Out.
Currently, TastyMade is only available in Ohio, but there are plans to expand in the future. For now, customers in the area could see it as what In-N-Out would be like if the legend ever opened up in their neighborhood.
