CINCINNATI -- Things are getting real in the world of fast casual Mexican food.
Chipotle opens at 3 p.m. Monday following a company-wide closure and meeting to hopefully eradicate the restaurant of food safety concerns, namely E. Coli.
So Moe's Southwest Grill took this opportunity to serve a mean uppercut to their competitor.
Shots fired:
Unlike others, we're open all day today. Click below for an awesome offer.https://t.co/duLwhLSH94
— Moe'sSouthwestGrill (@Moes_HQ) February 8, 2016
Qdoba is also jumping on it -- they offered to one-up a Chipotle deal for one lucky Twitter user.
@SecretAgentBERT Who needs a raincheck. Send us a DM and we have an offer you can use today.
— Qdoba (@qdoba) February 8, 2016
Last week, Bloomberg reported that Chipotle's January sales dropped 36 percent from last year. From December 2015 to January 2016, sales dropped 30 percent.
"The company is planning to spend at least $50 million in the first quarter on a frenzy of promotions, which are certainly going to hit the company's once-industry-leading margins," the article said. "Not to mention the money the company is plunging into revamping its supply chain to usher in new safety protocols, as well as increasing labor costs to hire more staff and offer paid sick leave to its employees in the hopes of making its restaurants more sanitary."
The first round of apologetic promotions comes in the form of a "raincheck" from the restaurant.
Text “Raincheck” to 888-222 for a free Chipotle burrito. This is not a drill. pic.twitter.com/YukvTq2mo9
— Kinja Deals (@KinjaDeals) February 8, 2016
The CDC announced last week that Chipotle appears to be safe.
All of this talk sparked a newsroom debate, so we want to know what you think -- what's your favorite fast casual/fast food Mexican restaurant chain? Take the poll below!
