Will Kalamazoo's Chipotle Be Adding Pizza and Burgers to their Menu?

Chipotle Mexican Grill has gone though a turbulent year following an October 2015 E. coli bacteria outbreak. As part of the chain's bounce back, the burrito joint is considering adding pizza, burgers and other items to their menu.

On the public company's Q3 2016 earnings call, the company's leaders discussed possible menu innovations including pizza and hamburgers.

The chain is also exploring desserts. Founder and co-CEO Steve Ellis revealed on the earnings call,

We’re also currently testing two different desserts, and we hope to select one to offer in the near future.

Like many other fast casual chains, breakfasts may also be a future option. Something the chain has test-marketed before.

Chipotle had explored a breakfast option years ago, when it spent around 18 months cycling through various egg-cooker prototypes before giving up on the effort. "We chased that to no avail and spent who knows how much money," a former executive says. Ells even told me the breakfast burritos Chipotle tested in select markets, such as at Dulles International Airport, failed to resonate with customers. "We had a breakfast burrito with scrambled eggs and crispy potatoes," Ells recalled. "But people were like, ‘Oh yeah, that looks good. Can I just have a chicken burrito though?’ I’m like, ‘But it’s 7 a.m.! Don’t you want eggs?’ So we started offering our regular menu, and the other [breakfast] stuff just sat there."

Even if the pizza and burgers don't actually end up on the menu at Chipotle, the company owns a pizza concept named Pizzeria Locale with locations in Cincinnati, Kansas City and Boulder. The company just opened a single location of their burger concept Tasty Made in Lancaster, Ohio.

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