How To Get Your Free Chipotle Burrito Right Now

Chipotles across the country closed their doors for a few hours on Monday afternoon as the company held a company-wide meeting on food safety. The restaurant chain is apologizing for any inconvenience by offering customers the opportunity to get some free grub. You've got to find out how to get a free burrito from Chipotle right now. It's very simple: Just text the word "raincheck" to 888-222. You'll receive a text back with a coupon (it could take a few days).

Chipotle is holding this meeting after a rough couple of months. There have been two E. coli outbreaks linked to the restaurant. In November, 43 locations were temporarily closed after an outbreak was tied to them. Five cases in three different states were reported in December. A total of 55 people from 11 states have been infected by the larger outbreak as of Jan. 27, and there have been 21 hospitalizations, the FDA reported.

On top of the E. coli situation, 80 students from Boston College got sick after reportedly eating at one of the restaurants. Local officials said that an employee infected with the norovirus was responsible. Finally, there were outbreaks of salmonella linked to several Minnesota Chipotle restaurants. Forty-five people got sick, and five were hospitalized.

Chipotle cooperated with the FDA and other agencies to take action regarding the findings. Founder Steve Ells said in a statement after the reported outbreaks, "Over the last few months, we have been implementing an enhanced food safety plan that will establish Chipotle as an industry leader in food safety ... we have implemented unprecedented food safety standards with our suppliers, which make the food coming into our restaurants safer than ever before."

Offering free burritos to customers may be more than the company's way of apologizing for being closed during lunchtime on Monday. It could boost business, which has been struggling amid the recent outbreaks, according to U.S. News & World Report. Furthermore, customers may be reassured by the fact that Chipotle is taking the time to hold a food safety meeting. In December, Chipotle announced that it had partnered with food safety testing company IEH Laboratories to institute changes to crew training, food handling, and safety testing.

Monday's food safety meeting was led by co-CEOs Monty Moran and Steve Ells and broadcast to hundreds of offsite locations around the country where employees from the 1,998 stores in the U.S. gathered. Moran said:

We know that our hard-working employees will continue to play a critical role establishing Chipotle as a leader in food safety, and this meeting will also provide us with an opportunity to thank them for their hard work and dedication.

Your free burrito is just a text away, but the offer ends at 6 p.m. ET on Monday. So get texting!