Chipotle burger experiment Tasty Made closing its only location

LANCASTER - It was an experiment that apparently failed.

After opening its first burger business in the country in October 2016 at 732 N. Memorial Drive, Chipotle is closing its Tasty Made restaurant at the end of the day Wednesday.

"While we liked the concept and the delicious food at Tasty Made, the economics were not what we wanted them to be in Lancaster, Ohio," Chipotle spokesman Chris Arnold said. "So we have decided to close that restaurant."

Arnold said the 30 or so employees can apply at Chipotle locations.

Arnold said the Lancaster restaurant remained the nation's only Tasty Made. Tasty Made featured a limited menu of burgers, fries, and shakes.

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Lancaster was chosen for the debut restaurant because one of Chipotle's executives, David Chrisman, is a Carroll native. He said the company originally wanted to open the first restaurant in Columbus.

But the restaurant received much criticism on social media from the start about the quality of its food. The company planned to open a location in Pickerington just after the Lancaster opening, but that plan never materialized. Arnold said there are no plans to open there.

In September, Tasty Made brought in celebrity chef Richard Blais to run the restaurant.

Blais' other restaurants include Juniper & Ivy, an American restaurant in San Diego, new chicken-focused Crack Shack, and FLIP Burger Boutique, which boasted three locations in the South.

jbarron@gannett.com

740-681-4340

Twitter: @JeffDBarron