Chipotle Closing Stores, Closed Feb. 8

Chipotle Will Briefly Shutter Stores On Feb. 8 to Discuss E. Coli With Staff - Chipotle still doesn't know what exactly caused the E. coli disaster that cost the company its reputation — and, to an extent, its customer base — but nonetheless, the burrito chain is soldiering on with an eye toward recovery. Part of that includes advertising and giving away free food to lure customers back; and of course, the company wants to ensure something like this never happens again. Besides previously announced measures to make its food safer, including doing less prep in-house so it can test food for bacteria, Chipotle also wants to talk to its employees about E. coli.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Chipotle stores will shutter for a few hours on February 8 for all-staff meetings related to the recent foodborne illness outbreaks. Reached for comment by Eater, spokesperson Chris Arnold says, "We are hosting a national employee meeting on the 8th to talk to all of our employees around the country about what happened and the many steps we are taking to enhance our food safety programs going forward." Let's hope they also touch on the topic of norovirus, and why workers should stay home when they're sick; an outbreak of that nasty virus sickened more than 100 people at a Chipotle in Boston back in December.

To say Chipotle has a long road ahead of it may be a bit of an understatement: As the WSJ notes, the company's stock had fallen 37 percent since the E. coli news broke in October, though it rose slightly yesterday morning following news of the chain's recovery plan. Chipotle is also facing numerous lawsuits from people who were sickened during the foodborne illness outbreaks.