“We heard you the first 500 times. You wanted queso,” said the heading on Chipotle Mexican Grill’s website. “But we refused to roll it out until we cracked the code on making it with only real ingredients. Well, guess what? We’ve finally done it.”

Queso is now being served at Chipotle locations around the country, after months of testing in experimental locations in Colorado and California. As the Chipotle website claims, the restaurant had been taking its time making sure they could create the queso up to their standards: with all-natural ingredients and no preservatives.

Due to its nature of having no preservatives, this queso is not like queso you can buy at Moe’s Southwest Grill or other Mexican restaurants in town. It is less creamy and does not hold together as much as other quesos do, but tastes just similarly.

However, the queso at Chipotle holds a secret benefit, as it can be used as both a queso and a salsa at one time. With tomatillos, peppers, chilis, and an assortment of different spices, Chipotle’s queso is already a salsa that can spice up your chips, burrito or burrito bowl without having to add any more salsa. 

Although the queso is an extra cost to add on your visit, it tastes like a queso that can complement your Chipotle order without having the preservatives. Just remember to eat it all at once, or it will go bad in the refrigerator quickly.

Chipotle hopes to compete more directly with their competition with this new queso, and continue to improve their business as they recover from their run-in with health concerns over the past few years. Adding this publicly requested menu item is a step foward as they continue to expand their offering