If you're a fan of Chipotle's food but not a fan of their infamously long lines, then you're going to love the latest news coming out of the popular chain: Chipotle is now delivering, which means you can enjoy your favorite burrito bowl or taco from the comfort of your couch. This exciting new Chipotle feature will allow you to place your online or mobile order for delivery in 67 cities, making this rollout anything but a soft launch.
To deliver your Mexican-inspired eats, Chipotle will be using Postmates, which is essentially Uber for food. It uses the same model as the familiar car service, but instead of connecting drivers and riders, it connects food deliverers and the hangry masses. Postmates, by the way, is the same service Starbucks is partnering with to roll out it's own delivery test-run this year in Seattle.
Other third-party delivery apps and services have tried to add Chipotle to it's lists of restaurants they offer service from, but the fast food chain hasn't responded to these providers positively in the past. “We weren't sure whether the quality was going to be sufficient or whether [the delivery services] were following our rules,” explained Chipotle's chief creative and development officer Mark Crumpacker to Nation's Restaurant News. "This is different because we’ve made an official deal with Postmates and they have been delivering Chipotle for quite a while, too," he added. This is a bit odd considering that Postmates is being rewarded when other services were scorned, but is anyone really complaining?
This is just one change Chipotle is making to innovate their business. They are also working on developing a feature in their mobile app to allow for restaurant diners to pay for their food via smartphone and is relaunching their website to allow for friendlier mobile use. There's also even better news ahead for those of you who are going to buy an Apple Watch: Chipotle will be launching an exclusive app for the Apple Watch that will allow you to place your order before you go to the actual location, ensuring faster eating time.
If you're wondering "Well, what's the catch?" since this much good news can't come without a price, there is one downside to this delivery service — the cost. A reporter from Re/Code used Postmates to get a burrito delivered to him, only to discover the delivery charge was more expensive than the food, with an $8 burrito coming with an over $11 delivery charge.
Chipotle delivery is expensive, apparently, so you might want to keep your order to a minimum. The reporter said he would do some additional reporting if that cost was indeed an error though, so stay tuned.
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