Chipotle Mexican Grill will open its first Tasty Made burger restaurant in Lancaster, Ohio, on Thursday, October 27. Tasty Made serves only burgers, fries, and shakes made with high-quality ingredients, but served at prices that compete directly with typical fast-food chains.
The grilled-to-order burgers are made from fresh, not frozen, Responsibly Raised beef, from animals that were raised without antibiotics or added hormones. The fries are hand-cut in the restaurant and twice fried to a perfect, golden crispiness. The basic vanilla shake is made from only five ingredients: milk, cream, sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Other hand-mixed flavors include chocolate, strawberry, and an Ohio favorite: Buckeye (chocolate and peanut butter).
“We bring Chipotle’s commitment to better quality ingredients, a focused menu, fast service, and customized orders to Tasty Made,” says Steve Ells, founder, chairman and co-CEO of Chipotle. “Each order is sent to an advanced queuing system that uses heads-up visual cues so that the team can cook and serve the food very quickly. This is in stark contrast to typical fast food burger chains where frozen burger patties are usually cooked ahead of time and held until later, at which time they are assembled.”
Development of Tasty Made was overseen by Ells and two long-time Chipotle employees and Ohio natives, Dave Chrisman and James Beard Foundation Award winning chef Nate Appleman. Chrisman and Appleman fine-tuned the concept to allow customization while ensuring that orders could be made faster than other chains where the wait for a custom-made burger can be 15 minutes or more.
“Tasty Made burgers are exactly the kind of burger I would make at home,” Appleman says. “Even the bun is made from just a few ingredients with no dough conditioners, sweeteners, or preservatives found in other hamburger buns. The result is an absolutely delicious burger that’s made very, very quickly.”
“Lancaster is the ideal market for this because the people here really appreciate an excellent burger served at a reasonable price,” Chrisman says. “I ought to know because I grew up just miles from here. And the warm welcome from our community has been great. They are very excited that the first Tasty Made is in their town.”
Tasty Made is located at 732 N. Memorial Drive, in Lancaster, Ohio. The restaurant is open daily from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.
