"chipotle mexican grill" news and stories

Ay, caramba! Chipotle is running low on natural chicken, particularly at its restaurants in Southern California, reports the Orange County Register. This is a pretty big deal. After all, the chain likes to tout that its ingredients are a cut above your average fast-food fare, and let's be honest: to a certain crowd, part of the appeal of Chipotle is the side dish of sanctimony you get to enjoy as you imagine the chicken that's now the star of your burrito clucking around some bucolic barnyard somewhere while its KFC-destined kin were shivering in a cage waiting for their next mega-dose of antibiotics.

A spokesman for Chipotle told the Register that the chain had experienced a "disruption" in its supply of naturally raised chicken but that it's working to resolve the problem. There was no explanation as to why, all of a sudden, naturally raised chickens are in short supply. Alas, apparently the country doesn't keep a strategic reserve of the cluckers like it does for oil.

Despite Chipotle's admirable self-proclaimed "F.W.I. (Food With Integrity)" philosophy, which drives them to buy items only from environmentally-conscious farms, the end result still looks like plain ol' fast food. This is where Fancy Fast Food comes in!

Find the "recipe" for Chicken Chipotlioli after the jump.

U.S.-based, fast-casual* restaurant Chipotle Mexican Grill announced yesterday that they will be opening at least one store in London by the end of 2009. Opening a location abroad has more complications for Chipotle than it does for other dining brands, as they have a policy of working with local farmers and ranchers in order to source their food locally, humanely and sustainably.

They also announced yesterday that Bill Niman, founder of Niman Ranch, will be joining the management team as the Sustainable Agriculture Advisor. His job will be to will help Chipotle to expand on its efforts to support sustainable agriculture and bring food from sustainable sources to the masses.

It sounds like Chipotle is working hard to do everything right. Now, if only they could open a location in Center City Philadelphia!

*What happens to eating out when the quality of casual dining meets the speed and efficiency of fast food.

So often, it feels like in order to grab a quick meal you have to check your environmentally friendly ways at the door. However, for some lucky people in the town of Gurnee, Illinois (a suburb of Chicago), they will soon have a far greener fast food option.

This fall the Chipotle Mexican Grill chain will be opening a location that will get a portion of its operating power from a six-kilowatt wind turbine that has been erected behind the restaurant. They've also used recycled drywall, recycled barn metal, LED lighting, high efficiency faucets and toilets, and Energy Star rated equipment in the store's construction. Check out more pictures of this store and its wind turbine in the gallery below.

This store (and we hope they mean to do more of this responsible construction), coupled with their commitment to buy locally and naturally raised meats means that there is finally a more sustainable choice when it comes to fast food. It also helps that their burritos are mighty fine eating.

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