Chipotle takes steps to speed service

Chipotle has established a new serving-line position as part of stepped-up effort to handle more customers during lunch and dinner rushes.

The expediter scrambles to complete a patron’s order—adding the drink, grabbing some chips or extra guacamole, bagging to-go items—so the cashier can focus on ringing up the order. Executives explained to investors yesterday that the set-up speeds service because the cashier now handles only the sales transaction, instead of juggling that function with finishing an order.

The high-flying burrito chain is also trying to handle more customers during crunch periods by ensuring that all prep work is completed before the rushes hit. Instead of chopping or slicing, staffers can be on the line, handling orders.

Executives said the production of stores is being boosted without an increase in labor costs through more astute scheduling and deployment.

They were less forthcoming about another new initiative for the chain, Burritos by the Box. They declined to answer questions about the Box, a program for handling bulk orders.

According to earlier press reports, each Box contains six identical burritos or burrito bowls, along with containers of guacamole, sour cream and salsa so the items can be customized before being eaten. The Box order, which also includes six bags of chips, is reportedly selling for just under $44, or roughly $7.30 per person.

The program was being tested in Las Vegas and California.

Bob Evans wants to be hip. Do kids still say 'hip'?

When your clientele is literally dying out, the best option may be starting over with a new crowd. That’s what Bob Evans, one of the industry’s more grandpa-oriented chains, appears to be trying to do in its latest marketing effort.

The ranch-house-themed chain is reaching out to college students, many of whom may remember Bob Evans as that place where Nanna took them for biscuits and sausage gravy. Headquarters said it will roll a specially built trailer, the BOBurrito wagon, into five Midwestern campuses to give students a taste of the brand’s new breakfast burrito of the same name.

Youngsters can also learn about the BOBurrito via a new Facebook page and a microsite, www.BOBurrito.com. That’s heady stuff for a concept known for putting servers in western-style garb, right down to bolero ties.

But when the old folks who used to park themselves in a booth every morning are coming less often, what else can you do but make a pitch to their grandchildren?

It’s surprising, though, that the chain didn’t go a step farther and make the BOBurrito with a few all-natural ingredients, a touch that might’ve played well with the college crowd. But because the burrito is being introduced at a price of $5.99, additives-free components might’ve put too much of a dent in margins.