Gainesville Chipotle locations recently started offering newly bacon-free pinto beans.
It’s part of a national rollout of the new vegetarian-friendly option, said Chris Arnold, a Chipotle spokesman. The beans should be offered nationwide in a few months.
During recipe tests, Chipotle decided the bacon didn’t add much to the flavor.
“By taking it out, we weren’t compromising anything, and we were making it more accessible to vegan and vegetarian customers as well,” Arnold said.
UF students like Leigh Markowitz, a 19-year-old English sophomore and a vegan for about three years, said the change wasn’t a “revelation” for vegans.
“I never understood why they needed to have it with bacon in the first place,” she said. “So when I found out they no longer did, it just seemed like they were doing the common-sense thing.”
Markowitz, a lifelong vegetarian, said beans are an important source of protein for everyone who lives meat free. She said this additional option will make it “more comfortable” for vegans to dine out.
“It’s usually very difficult to go out with your friends,” she said. “But now that they have this central food item available for vegans, it just makes it much easier to eat out.”
A version of this story ran on page 1 on 9/30/2013 under the headline "Chipotle offers vegan beans"
