This healthy fast-food chain is trying to cash in on Chipotle's day off

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Freshii 14

Hollis Johnson

Freshii's spicy Thai burrito

For fast-casual chain Freshii, there may be a silver lining to Chipotle's recent food safety scandals.

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On February 8, the day that Chipotle is closing all locations until 3 p.m., 200-location Freshii is offering 50% off on all Mexican-inspired menu items. The deal will include offerings such as the Pangoa Bowl, the Tex Mex Burrito, and the Ranchero Breakfast Burrito.

"Like millions of other people, we at Freshii are big fans of Chipotle," Freshii founder and CEO Matthew Corrin said in a statement. "Chipotle has been a pioneer of fast-casual food. We figured the least we would do was look after their customers while Chipotle pauses to recalibrate."

Corrin says if the deal attracts new customers who typically eat at Chipotle, he hopes that in the future they continue to visit both chains.

Freshii 19

Hollis Johnson

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Chipotle is closing all restaurants from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on February 8 for a company-wide meeting on food safety efforts. The company's same-store sales fell by 30% in December, following two E. coli outbreaks spanning nine states plus a norovirus outbreak in Boston.

Freshii was founded in 2005, with the mission of making healthy food affordable and convenient. The chain made headlines last year when Corrin sent an open letter to McDonald's, offering to partner with the fast-food giant to bring more healthy options to the chain.

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