Chipotle Will Not Let Its Queso Dreams Die
In 2017, Chipotle announced that it would finally be adding an oft-demanded menu item to its burrito prep lines: queso. The melted, flavorful, often spicy cheese dip has been a staple of rival Qdoba's menu for years, and Chipotle sought to finally close that gap. Upon release, the response was... less than rapturous. Even when revisions were made to the recipe a few months after the debut, Chipotle is still far from the first restaurant that comes to mind when hungry diners think "queso."
Now, where at first it did not succeed, Chipotle will dust itself off and try again. The company announced on Thursday that it's currently testing a new queso blanco at select locations in Dallas, Detroit, and San Diego. Where its previous queso was flavored with tomatoes and tomatillos, the queso blanco contains Monterey jack, white cheddar, and serrano, poblano, and chipotle peppers.
After a week, Chipotle is claiming that customer responses have been strong. If nothing else, the quick-service Mexican chain seems to be aware of its previous cheese-related shortcomings, judging by a recent Tweet:
If you don't love me at my queso you don't deserve me at my queso blanco.
— Chipotle (@ChipotleTweets) August 8, 2019
If anybody out there is near a test location, we'd love to hear whether the new queso blanco is delivering what its predecessor lacked. And if it proves successful, expect to see Chipotle's latest offering go nationwide before long. People love queso, as long as it's good.