IU students Rachel Klotz and Brooke Motta were willing to drive in a snow storm to get Chipotle. On Monday afternoon, they parked in the lot behind the Kirkwood location and ran to the doors, only to find them locked.
Nineteen hundred Chipotles across the country — including the two in Bloomington — were closed for lunch Monday so all employees could attend a food safety meeting, according to the restaurant’s website.
Klotz and Motta said they were not aware Chipotle would be closed for lunch yesterday.
“I didn’t know at all,” Motta said. “We just went to the one at the mall, and it was closed too.”
Recent outbreaks of E. coli, salmonella and norovirus, resulting in hundreds of customers getting sick, have caused some to question whether they should still eat at Chipotle.
Prior to the outbreaks, Chipotle was known for using high-quality, non-GMO ingredients.
At the employee meeting Monday, Chipotle announced it would form the Chipotle Local Grower Support Initiative to help local suppliers meet food safety standards. Chipotle will commit up to $10 million to the project, according to a press release on their website.
“We have supported local farms around the country for a number of years because we believe it is the right thing to do,” said Steve Ells, Chipotle founder, co-CEO, and chairman, in the release. “We recognize that it may make it difficult for some local farms to comply with our heightened standards, but we are looking to help local farmers comply with our standards and to continue our support for local farms and rural communities around the country.”
Motta said she follows the news and social media and she heard nothing about Chipotle closing.
“It’s bad press. I didn’t know anything about it,” Klotz said. “They didn’t even have signs on the doors or anything.”
Klotz and Motta said they are not concerned about the E.coli scare.
“I don’t really care,” Motta said. “I still go to Chipotle a lot. It hasn’t affected me.”
Motta said Chipotle is handling the situation well by closing individual stores and training employees.
Chipotle remains committed to sourcing the best ingredients possible, according to its website.
To make amends for closing for lunch Monday, Chipotle offered a coupon for a free burrito to anyone who texted “raincheck” to 888-222.
