Burger King is bringing back a popular side: cheesy tots.

The snack features "a bite-sized combination of warm potatoes and melty cheese inside with a crispy outside," according to Burger King.

The cheesy tots will be available for a limited time on Burger King's lunch and dinner menus at a recommended price of $1.99 for an eight-piece order.

Burger King fans have been begging the chain for years to bring back the tots.

The snack was discontinued in 2009 and then came back for a limited time in 2013. 

"Fans have been craving the return of cheesey tots for some time now," said Burger King North America President Alex Macedo Burger. "So we wanted to give loyalists a holiday surprise after we heard so many of their requests."

The cheesy tots are the latest in a series of cheese-inspired snacks released by Burger King in an effort to boost lagging sales growth.

Other recent snack additions include Mac N' Cheetos, mac n' cheese bites, and Cheetos Chicken Fries.

Burger King's same-store sales grew 1.7% during the third quarter of 2016, down from 6.2% growth recorded during the third quarter of 2015.

SEE ALSO: McDonald’s most dramatic menu change in decades takes direct aim at Wendy's

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The inventor of McDonald's iconic Big Mac has died. 

Michael Delligatti, who was known as "Jim," died Monday night in Pittsburgh at the age of 98.

Delligatti was one of McDonald's first franchisees.

He made an indelible impact on American cuisine with the creation of the Big Mac burger in 1967 at his Uniontown, Pennsylvania restaurant.

Delligatti made the sandwich by combining two all-beef patties, lettuce, cheese, pickles, and onions, as well as a "secret sauce."

That's the same recipe that's used today for the Big Mac sandwich, which is served in more than 100 countries worldwide.

Delligatti also played an integral role in the development of McDonald's breakfast menu, by creating the Hotcakes and Sausage meal to feel steel workers at the end of their overnight shifts, according to an obituary written by his family that was provided by McDonald's.

He opened his first McDonald’s restaurant in 1957 and went on to operate 47 additional locations in Pennsylvania.

"Jim was a legendary franchisee within McDonald’s system who made a lasting impression on our brand," McDonald's said in a statement on Delligatti's death. "We will remember Jim as an insightful franchisee, a knowledgeable businessman, and an honorable gentleman who left a legacy of four generations of family members running great restaurants in Pennsylvania and North Carolina."

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NOW WATCH: Watch millennials try a McDonald's Big Mac for the first time

President-elect Donald Trump and his chief of staff, Reince Priebus, dined with former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney in New York City on Tuesday night.

Romney is being considered for secretary of state in Trump's administration.

The group's restaurant of choice was Jean-Georges, a restaurant with three Michelin stars at the base of the Trump International Hotel and Tower in Columbus Circle. Led by the acclaimed French chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten, who became an American citizen in 2014, the restaurant has earned numerous accolades since opening in 1997.

Diners can choose from a selection of prix fixe menus, with the least expensive, a three-course dinner, priced at $138 a person. There are also two six-course tasting menus that cost $218 a person, plus a two-course lunch for $58 each.

For wine pairings with each of your courses, you should expect to shell out an additional $168. It's a pricey meal, but is generally in line with what it costs to dine at New York's top-tier restaurants.

Jean-Georges also has a strict dress code: Men are expected to wear jackets, and jeans, sweatshirts, and sneakers are not allowed.

Trump, Priebus, and Romney enjoyed garlic soup, frog legs, and diver scallops for appetizers, while Trump and Priebus had prime sirloin for their entrees, according to Slate. Romney had lamb chops with a mushroom bolognese sauce, and all three had chocolate cake for dessert.

This is Trump's second meal out in New York since the election — earlier in November, he broke protocol to to have a meal at the 21 Club.

Eating at Jean-Georges is quite the experience. Here are just a few of the dishes you could expect to enjoy from some of the restaurant's tasting menus.

SEE ALSO: Here's a look at Trump and Romney's private dinner in New York

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The $138 prix fixe menu begins with a 'caviar creation,' should you opt to buy one for an additional $45. One of the options is a Meyer lemon gelée topped with caviar and crème fraîche.

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A second option for the caviar course is a toasted egg yolk with caviar and herbs on top.

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And the egg caviar is a third option.

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Mixing money and family can lead to plenty of potentially awkward situations. But going out to dinner shouldn't have to be one of them.

When you're out to eat with a close relative, such as a brother, sister, or parent, there's no magic formula for deciding how to split the check, so it's best to evaluate each meal on a case-by-case basis. But there are a few general ground rules to make the process easier.

"Usually, the most senior family members might be reasonably expected to pay unless the younger family members have more means or they want to make a special gesture," David Weliver, founder of financial advice website Money Under 30, told Business Insider.

That means if you're with your parents or in-laws, it's likely that they'll offer to pick up the tab. However, keep in mind that it's always a nice gesture to offer to treat them, even if they turn you down.

With family, it's usually not about the money, Patricia Napier-Fitzpatrick, founder and president of The Etiquette School of New York, says.

"It's showing respect for them and how many times they've treated. It's a nice thing to do, a gesture of independence," she adds.

Now let's say you're sharing a meal with a sibling. If you live in the same city and see them all the time, it's usually okay to split the check evenly as you would with any friend. However, if they're visiting you from out of town, it's polite to treat them to a meal out.

"If somebody's visiting me from out of town, I would want to treat her,"Napier-Fitzpatrick says. "When I went to visit her, she'd treat me. It gets complicated, but generally it all works out if people are fair-minded."

At the end of the day, don't be afraid to be generous, but use your best judgement for each situation. After all, you know your family better than anyone.

SEE ALSO: How to split the restaurant bill when you're out to dinner with your in-laws

DON'T MISS: Here's when to split the restaurant bill evenly and when to pay your share

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Ever wonder why McDonald's McNuggets are shaped the way they are?

Well, we did.

In a video produced by McDonald's Canada that shows exactly how Chicken McNuggets are made, we learned that the nuggets come in four distinct shapes: The bell, the ball, the boot, and the bow tie (also called the bone). 

We went digging for the reasoning behind the shapes and here's what we found.

The shapes are all the same width and they are "pressed out with a rolling cookie cutter," according to McDonald's Canada.

Here's a picture of the nuggets after they have been formed. The bottom row is the bow tie, followed by a row of boots, then balls, and the bells:

The reason why they are all a standard shape and size is to ensure consistent cooking times for food safety in all McDonald’s restaurants, the company wrote on its Q&A page.

But the varying shapes are also geared toward kids. 

"Our Chicken McNuggets are shaped uniquely for kids and kids at heart  — it makes dipping more fun!" the company wrote. 

So why just four shapes?

According to the company, "three would've been too few. Five would've been, like, wacky."

After the nuggets are shaped, they are smothered in a two layers of batter and then sent to the fryers, where they are partially cooked.

They come out of the fryer looking like this:

Finally, the nuggets are frozen and packaged for shipping to McDonald's restaurants, where they should be fully cooked through for consumption.

SEE ALSO: McDonald's is making a major change to its most popular item

SEE ALSO: Panera Bread CEO slams McDonald's for new McNuggets commercial that left him furious

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Reservation-booking site OpenTable just announced its picks for the best restaurants in America for 2016.

To compile the ranking, OpenTable combed through 10 million reviews for restaurants that are available for booking on its site, which included more than 24,000 restaurants in all 50 states and Washington, DC. Only restaurants with a minimum qualifying number of reviews from the last year were considered. 

As for the winners, New York made a strong showing with 13 restaurants, followed by California with 12. American and French were the cuisine types most commonly appearing on the list, though many restaurants showed an emphasis on global influences and seasonality.

Here's the full list: 

Acquerello– San Francisco, California

Addison Restaurant– San Diego, California

Andrew Michael Italian Kitchen– Memphis, Tennessee

Angelini Osteria– Los Angeles, California

Antebellum– Flowery Branch, Georgia

Arabellas Italian Ristorante– Winter Haven, Florida

Arethusa al Tavolo– Bantam, Connecticut

Ariana– Bend, Oregon

Auberge du Soleil– Rutherford, California

barmini by by José Andrés– Washington, D.C.

Barrio Café Gran Reserva– Phoenix, Arizona

Bavettes– Chicago, Illinois

Bibou– Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Bida Manda Restaurant and Bar– Raleigh, North Carolina

Bistro L'Hermitage– Woodbridge, Virginia

Bistro San Martin– Arlington, Virginia

Bliss Restaurant– San Antonio, Texas

Bolete Restaurant– Bethlehem, Pennsylvania

Bones– Atlanta, Georgia

Café Juanita– Kirkland, Washington

Café Provence– Prairie Villa, Kansas

Camp Verde General Store and Restaurant– Camp Verde, Texas

The Capital Grille– Minneapolis, Minnesota

Carlos' Bistro– Colorado Springs, Colorado

Castagna Restaurant– Portland, Oregon

The Cellar– Daytona Beach, Florida

Chachama Grill– East Patchogue, New York

Chama Gaucha– San Antonio, Texas

Charleston– Baltimore, Maryland

Chef's Table at Edgewater– Winter Garden, Florida

Chez Francois– Vermillion, Ohio

Chez Nous French Restaurant– Humble, Texas

Circle Brunch-The Breakers– Palm Beach, Florida

Collage Restaurant– St. Augustine, Florida

Daniel– New York, New York

Fat Canary– Williamsburg, Virginia

Fearrington House Restaurant– Pittsboro, North Carolina

Fleurie– Charlottesville, Virginia

Flight Restaurant & Wine Bar– Memphis, Tennessee

Franklinville Inn– Franklinville, New Jersey

The French Room– Dallas Texas

Geronimo– Santa Fe, New Mexico

goosefoot– Chicago, Illinois

The Goodstone Inn & Estate Restaurant– Middleburg, Virginia

Gramercy Tavern– New York, New York

Halls Chophouse– Charleston, South Carolina

Harold Black– Washington, D.C.

Harvest Beat– Seattle, Washington

Heirloom– Midway, Kentucky

Highlands Bar & Grill– Birmingham, Alabama

The Hobbit– Orange, California

The Inn at Little Washington– Washington, Virginia

Ijiji Sushi– San Francisco, California

Joan's in the Park– Saint Paul, Minnesota

Kai – Sheraton Grand at Wild Horse Pass Resort– Chandler, Arizona

The Kitchen Restaurant– Sacramento, California

Kokkari Estiatoro– San Francisco, California

L'Auberge Chez François– Great Falls, Virginia

L'Opposum– Richmond, Virginia

Le Coucou– New York, New York

The Little Dipper– Wilmington, North Carolina

Maison Blanche– Longboat Key, Florida

Mama's Fish House– Paia, Hawaii

The Metro Wine Bar & Bistro– Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

Michael's-South Point Casino– Las Vegas, Nevada

Mizuna– Denver, Colorado

The Modern-Dining Room– New York, New York

Monarch– Scottsdale, Arizona

o ya– New York, New York

Orchids at Palm Court– Cincinnati, Ohio

Oriole– Chicago, Illinois

The Painted Lady– Newberg, Oregon

Peck's Arcade– Troy, New York

Per Se– New York, New York

Peter Shields Inn– Cape May, New Jersey

Quince Restaurant– San Francisco, California

The Restaurant at Gideon Ridge– Blowing Rock, North Carolina

Restaurant Lorena's– Maplewood, New Jersey

Roe– Portland, Oregon

Russell's Steaks, Chops, and More– Williamsville, New York

Ruth's Chris Steak House– Baton Rouge, Louisiana

The Saddle River Inn– Saddle River, New Jersey

Saint Jacques French Cuisine– Raleigh, North Carolina

Seasons Restaurant-Four Seasons– Washington, D.C.

Sette– Bernardsville, New Jersey

Ski Tip Lodge– Keystone, Colorado

Sotto– Cincinnati, Ohio

St. Francis Winery & Vineyards– Santa Rosa, California

State & Lemp– Boise, Idaho

Stonehouse at San Ysidro Ranch– Santa Barbara, California

Sushi Nakazawa-Sushi Bar– New York, New York

The Table at Season To Taste– Cambridge, Massachusetts

Terra Restaurant– St. Helena, California

Thomas Henkelmann-Homestead Inn– Greenwich, Connecticut

The Trattoria– Saint James, New York

Trattoria L'incontro– Astoria, New York

Truluck's Seafood, Steak and Crab House– Austin, Texas

Vetri– Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Yono's Restaurant– Albany, New York

Zahav– Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

SEE ALSO: A restaurant-less food delivery startup beloved by tech investors delivered 1 million meals in a year

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There are a lot of "best of" restaurant lists to consider when it comes to picking a dinner spot in San Francisco, but Uber ignored all of the food critics when it put together its own.

Instead, Uber judged San Francisco's most popular restaurants by which ones had the most drop-offs in the last year.

The ride-hailing company recently unveiled its restaurant guide based on a year's worth of drop-offs in the city to see which restaurants had the most drop-offs from November 1, 2015 to October 1, 2016.

Here are the top 9 most popular restaurants in San Francisco, according to Uber's data:

9. House of Prime Rib

Cuisine: Steakhouse

Website:http://houseofprimerib.net/

Address: 1906 Van Ness Ave

8. Foreign Cinema

Cuisine: Californian

Website: http://www.foreigncinema.com/

Address: 2534 Mission St 

7. The Brixton

Cuisine: Gastropub

Website: http://www.brixtonsf.com/

Address: 2140 Union St

Chipotle co-CEO Steve Ells says the burrito chain's customer service is slipping. 

In a startling admission, Ells said Tuesday that the company internally rates half of its roughly 2,100 restaurants with a "C" grade for service.

He cited flaws like messy soda stations, dirty tables, and slow-moving lines.

"We took our eye off the ball on the customer service side," Ells said, according to the Wall Street Journal. He made the remarks during a presentation at a Barclays investors conference Tuesday. 

This is a critical issue for Chipotle, which is trying to dig itself out of a massive slump following an E. coli outbreak that sent sales plunging by as much as 30%.

Customers have been slow to return to Chipotle in the wake of the outbreak, which started late last year, and now service issues are threatening to drag out the recovery even longer.

As a result, Chipotle management is suddenly getting nervous about meeting the 2017 guidance that it issued in October, Ells said Tuesday. 

Chipotle had said in October that it was expecting same-store sales growth in the high single digits next year — so anywhere from 6% to 9%. 

In the most recent quarter, Chipotle's same-store sales dropped 21.9%.

That's only a slight improvement since the second quarter, when same-store sales fell 23.6%, despite the company's launch of a generous rewards program called Chiptopia that gave away free burritos. 

Many analysts have said that customers have been slow to return to Chipotle because they were forced to try new restaurants during the E. coli outbreak, and in many cases, they discovered they liked those restaurants even more than Chipotle.

Others have blamed the slow recovery on menu fatigue, saying that even before the outbreak customers were growing tired of Chipotle's menu — which has been virtually unchanged over the last two decades.

Chipotle's sales growth was contracting for several quarters prior to the outbreak, which emerged in the fourth quarter of 2015.

Same-store sales grew as little as 2.6% in the third quarter of 2015, a sharp slowdown from the 16.8% reported for 2014.

Now with the decline in service, it's hard to tell whether Chipotle will ever return to powerhouse it was before, according to Matthew DiFrisco, and analyst for Guggenheim Securities.

"The prioritization used to be speed, speed, speed — and now it is cleanliness and safety," DiFrisco said on CNBC Tuesday. "These are all good priorities. However, the prior success — the 26% restaurant margins and $2.6 million in volume per store — those were all indicative of everyone running with the goal of speed. That's gone away… and that’s what I think, structurally, will be changed forever." 

SEE ALSO: Whole Foods predicts the 8 biggest food trends of 2017

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When it comes to getting in the Christmas spirit, no one does it quite like Rolf's German Restaurant in New York City's Gramercy Park.

The otherwise quiet restaurant and bar is a spectacle during the holidays. Thousands of sparkling ornaments, icicles, lights, and dolls dangle above customers as they sip spiked hot apple cider and mulled wine. 

Last year, Business Insider spoke to restaurant manager Suhal Uddin to get the scoop behind Rolf's tradition of over-the-top Christmas decorations. He estimated that there are about 15,000 ornaments and 100,000 lights hung up inside. It all costs the restaurant between $60,000 and $65,000 each year.  

We had to check out the decorations for ourselves — here's what we saw.

SEE ALSO: 12 gifts the modern gentleman actually wants this year

The Christmas decorations usually start going up during the last week of September.

Over the following six weeks, six men work overnight, five nights a week, to complete the decorating process.

By November 1, it's complete. At Rolf's, the holiday season begins well before Thanksgiving.

Chipotle executives are warming up to the idea of drive-thru service after more than two decades of rejecting the fast-food staple.

The company appears to be having a change of heart after launching its first drive-thru service at Tasty Made, Chipotle's newly opened burger restaurant in Lancaster, Ohio, according to Nomura Instinet analyst Mark Kalinowksi.

The drive-thru now accounts for more than half of the restaurant's business, and that's not going unnoticed by Chipotle's management team, Kalinowksi said.

"Historically, and unsurprisingly in this context, Chipotle has generally been anti-drive-thru," Kalinowski wrote in a note to clients.

But at a recent meeting with Chipotle management at the new Tasty Made restaurant, Kalinowski was told that "Chipotle management who have visited the Tasty Made restaurant may have had their eyes opened somewhat about the convenience a drive-thru can offer some types of customers (for example, a parent with multiple young children)."

Customers of the Tasty Made have also been inquiring about whether Chipotle will add drive-thru service.

"Apparently quite a few Tasty Made customers who are aware of the burger unit's connection to Chipotle have been asking, 'So, is Chipotle going to get drive-thru?'" Kalinowski wrote.

Chipotle did not respond to a request for comment.

"Perhaps Tasty Made's creation is the first step in a process that could lead to brand Chipotle testing this store format," Kalinowski wrote. "Chipotle may find out (as Starbucks did) that drive-thru units work for it (excellent returns, higher customer satisfaction, etc.)"

Drive-thru service is a huge source of business for fast-food chains. At McDonald's, drive-thru reportedly accounts for as much as 70% of business.

Chipotle co-CEO Steve Ells has floated the idea of adding drive-thru windows in the past, but he previously said it could detract from the customer experience.

"In sort of expanding the Chipotle concept as we go to new markets, the question always comes up, should we try one with a drive-thru?" Ells said during an October 2012 call with analysts. "And part of what customers love is the ability to customize ... And a drive-thru distances them from that. So it doesn't seem like for the majority of our customers it's something that would be relevant."

"That being said, it's certainly something that we could try in the future," he added.

Adding drive-thru service would most likely be possible only at standalone Chipotle restaurants, and even then, pretty significant changes to the restaurant infrastructure would have to be made.

But with the company's sales still in a slump after last year's E. coli outbreak, Chipotle is testing all kinds of new ways to attract customers, such as offering free-food coupons and adding new things like dessert to the menu.

SEE ALSO: Chipotle's CEO made a stunning admission about a grave problem plaguing the brand

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This little-known menu hack at Chipotle is a better deal for your stomach and your pocket.

Original reporting by Hayley Peterson.

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Chipotle co-CEO Monty Moran has stepped down from his role effective immediately. Founder Steve Ells is now the company's sole chief executive, Chipotle said Monday.

"Given the ongoing challenges facing the company, the board felt strongly that it was best for Steve to resume leadership of the company going forward," Neil Flanzraich, the lead director of Chipotle's board, said in a statement.

Ells said Chipotle's operations had become "overcomplicated" and the company needed to "act with a sense of urgency toward all of the changes we are pursuing" after the E. coli outbreak that has sent sales plunging.

Customers have been slow to return to Chipotle since the outbreak, which started late last year.

As a result, Chipotle management is suddenly getting nervous about meeting the 2017 guidance that it issued in October, Ells said last week.

Chipotle had said in October that it was expecting same-store sales growth in the high single digits next year — so anywhere from 6% to 9%.

In the most recent quarter, Chipotle's same-store sales dropped by 21.9%.

Here's a news release on the management changes:

Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE: CMG) announced that its Board of Directors has named company Founder Steve Ells the company's sole Chief Executive Officer. Ells will also remain Chairman of Chipotle's board. Monty Moran has stepped down from the co-CEO role and from his board seat effective immediately, and will retire from Chipotle in 2017.

"Steve founded Chipotle more than 23 years ago with a powerful vision to use great ingredients prepared skillfully by hand, but served very fast," said Neil Flanzraich, Lead Director of Chipotle's board. "This approach has proven to be a very successful formula, but as the company grew, operations became more complicated and less consistent. Given the ongoing challenges facing the company, the board felt strongly that it was best for Steve to resume leadership of the company going forward. This will ensure that his high standards for the guest experience and his unyielding commitment to the company's mission are top priorities."

Ells, a classically trained chef, started Chipotle in 1993 with a small loan from his father. Chipotle has since grown into one of the nation's largest restaurant companies, with more than 2,200 locations in five countries. Ells served as Chairman and CEO from 1993 until 2009 when he became co-CEO, a title he shared with Moran. The company went public in 2006. As Chairman and CEO, Ells will directly oversee restaurant operations, strategic initiatives, and innovation projects at the company.

"Chipotle is based on a very simple idea: We start with great ingredients, prepare them using classic cooking techniques, and serve them in a way that allows people to get exactly what they want," said Ells. "Even though it's a simple idea, operations have become over-complicated. I'm very much looking forward to relentlessly focusing on ensuring an excellent guest experience, removing unnecessary complexity from our operations, championing innovation, and pursuing our mission of making better food accessible to more people."

Ells also indicated that he will pursue employee incentives that are more closely tied to the guest experience. Chipotle now pays its starting employees above the federal minimum wage and provides benefits including paid vacation time, paid sick leave, and tuition reimbursement to all employees. The company also provides stock to its General Managers upon achieving Restaurateur status. The Restaurateur program, which recognizes the company's elite restaurant managers and provides a pipeline for its future leaders, is a cornerstone of Chipotle's field operations. In recent years, however, achieving Restaurateur status has become increasingly complex and Ells is committed to re-envisioning the program by placing an emphasis on the guest experience and making the path to Restaurateur more intuitive and accessible to more General Managers.

"It's incredibly important to me that we create an excellent dining experience in all of our restaurants. That starts with having great restaurant teams. To that end, I will evolve our Restaurateur program to ensure that even more of our best employees succeed and thrive at the company," Ells said. "While our plans will take some time to implement, we will act with a sense of urgency toward all of the changes we are pursuing."

Ells also recommitted to the company's quest to serve better ingredients, announcing a reimagined company mission. The new company mission to "Ensure that better food, prepared from whole, unprocessed ingredients is accessible to everyone" is the next step in the evolution of Chipotle's mission-driven business. Chipotle's previous mission was to "Change the way people think about and eat fast food."

Ell's commitment to expanding the company's mission can be seen at http://www.chipotle.com/ mission.

"When I started Chipotle, I knew very little about the way food was raised," Ells said. "But over the years, I've become a champion for ingredients that are raised with respect for people, animals, and the environment. I will also continue to advocate for food made simply, without processed ingredients, which is the kind of food I believe should be available to everyone. I'm incredibly proud of the team at Chipotle and I'm thankful to them for helping us realize our mission of bringing better food to more and more people."

"I'd also like to thank Monty for his extraordinary contributions to Chipotle over the years. Monty inspired us with his vision for an enlightened people culture, and I wish him the best as he retires from the company," Ells said.

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No matter what type of food you're itching for, you can find it in New York City.

As part of its 2017 restaurant-survey results, released in October, Zagat compiled a list of the best restaurants in New York City for every type of cuisine.

From smoky barbecue to flavor-packed ramen to handmade falafel, there's a top-rated spot to curb every craving.

There were also a few repeats on the list this year, with Le Bernardin and Pearl Oyster Bar each making multiple appearances.

Food ratings are out of 5 on the Zagat scale.

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AMERICAN: Kingsley

190 Avenue B

Food: 4.8

It's nearly impossible to choose what to order at Kingsley, where the innovative dishes range from roasted bone marrow with bacon marmalade to scallops doused in a roasted poblano sauce. 

The East Village spot also features a nine-course tasting menu that includes a selection of the chef's favorites for $125 a head. 

ASIAN: Asiate

80 Columbus Circle

Food: 4.6

Located in the Mandarin Oriental hotel, Asiate wows guests with its top-notch pan-Asian fare, including dishes such as basted Hudson Valley foie gras, seared Icelandic cod, and homemade tagliatelle with white truffle butter.

It's on the 35th floor of the Mandarin Oriental hotel, so it has stunning views of the surrounding NYC skyline.

AUSTRIAN/GERMAN/SWISS: Wallsé

344 West 11th Street

Food: 4.6

The flagship restaurant of Chef Kurt Gutenbrunner's hospitality group, Wallsé serves refined Austrian cuisine that combines classic techniques with modern simplicity. Branch out with an unusual protein, such as snail ravioli or braised rabbit.

And leave room for dessert — the hot Salzburger Nockerl and chocolate Mozart Kugel are customer favorites.

Chipotle is facing an "increasingly frequent problem" in its restaurants: food shortages.

Restaurants are miscalculating demand and not making enough food, so certain ingredients sometimes aren't immediately available for customers.

"Running out of food is a very common occurrence at Chipotle," Mark Crumpacker, the burrito chain's chief marketing officer, said Monday on a call with analysts. "It's hard to do — to keep up with the demands in exactly the right way."

Customer complaints about food shortages have increased recently, according to Chipotle's internal surveys.

It's now customers' No. 2 complaint, behind problems with long ordering lines. Customers' No. 3 complaint is messy dining rooms, Crumpacker said.

The company is working to solve the food-shortage issue through better training.

"When trained properly and focused on the right things, they can do it [right] every time," Crumpacker said.

Chipotle is battling these issues at a critical time when it's trying to persuade customers to come back to its restaurants following an E. coli outbreak that affected restaurants in 14 states.

Chipotle's sales have fallen for three consecutive quarters since the outbreak. In the most recent quarter, same-store sales, or sales at restaurants open at least a year, fell by 22%.

The company announced Monday that co-CEO Monty Moran was stepping down from his role effective immediately and that founder Steve Ells would become Chipotle's sole chief executive.

"Given the ongoing challenges facing the company, the board felt strongly that it was best for Steve to resume leadership of the company going forward," Neil Flanzraich, the lead director of Chipotle's board, said in a statement.

Ells said Chipotle's operations had become "overcomplicated" and the company needed to "act with a sense of urgency toward all of the changes we are pursuing" after the E. coli outbreak.

The management changes were announced a few days after executives acknowledged getting nervous about meeting the 2017 guidance that the company issued in October.

Chipotle had said in October that it was expecting same-store sales growth in the high single digits next year — so anywhere from 6% to 9%.

SEE ALSO: Chipotle co-CEO steps down as chain struggles to recover from sales slump

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Chipotle investor CtW Investment Group has written a scathing letter to activist Bill Ackman urging him to fix the restaurant chain's "grave failures."

The letter, written by CtW executive director Dieter Waizenegger, casts doubt on Chipotle's sales recovery and accuses the company of failing to restore customer trust since the E. coli outbreak that sickened hundreds of customers last year. 

Chipotle's sales have fallen for three consecutive quarters since the outbreak. In the most recent quarter, same-store sales, or sales at restaurants open at least a year, fell 22%.

Waizenegger says he wrote the letter in hopes that Ackman — the CEO of Pershing Square Capital Management and one of Chipotle's largest shareholders with a 10% stake in the company — will push the company toward making his recommended changes. Last month, The Wall Street Journal reported that Ackman could soon get a seat on Chipotle's board.

In the letter, Waizenegger says Chipotle is in dire need of a management shakeup on its board of directors, and highlights the fact that the median tenure on the board is 18 years. 

"Chipotle tells investors that it is 'in the process of' refreshing its board, but change has been painfully slow, and the current board has not been able to provide the sort of decisive — and effective — leadership that seems important to put the lingering effects of the food safety crisis behind us," Waizenegger writes.

He also urges Ackman to split the dual role of CEO and chairman of the board of directors, so CEO Steve Ells doesn't serve in both positions. He writes:

"The company’s stuttering public response to the food safety crisis of 2015 clearly demonstrates why strong independent oversight is so needed at the company. After discrediting Chipotle’s central value proposition of 'food with integrity' and shedding half of the company’s market capitalization since October 2015, Chipotle has yet to debut a convincing, comprehensive approach to repairing the brand. We believe a lack of independent oversight has contributed to the company’s grave failures of risk management."

Chipotle dismissed the letter's accusations in a statement emailed to Business Insider on Tuesday.

"We are already on record saying that we have been interviewing board candidates as part of an effort to refresh our board, and expect to share details on new directors soon," Chipotle's statement said. 

Here's the full letter from CtW:

SEE ALSO: Chipotle restaurants are running out of food

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Oklahoma passed a law earlier this year that will require restaurants, hospitals, and other businesses with public bathrooms to spend an estimated $2.3 million on signs intended to reduce abortions. 

On Tuesday, the State Department of Health began considering the regulations for signs, which will be required to be posted in hospitals, nursing homes, restaurants, and public schools, "for the purpose of achieving an abortion-free society,"the Associated Press reported. 

Hospitals and restaurant groups in the state are opposing the new regulation, saying that it serve as an unnecessary tax on small businesses.

"We don't have any concern about the information they're trying to get out to women about their babies and their pregnancy. This is just the wrong way to do it," said Jim Hooper, president of the Oklahoma Restaurant Association, told the Associated Press. "It's just another mandate on small businesses. It's not just restaurants. It includes hospitals, nursing homes. It just doesn't make sense."

The Oklahoma Hospital Association estimated making the signs would cost from $45 to $150 per sign, which could add up to roughly $750 in costs for a small rural hospital and $60,000 for Integris Health, Oklahoma's largest network of health care systems, reported NewsOK. 

Many took to social media to complain about the new signage requirement. 

Leaders of the Oklahoma Assisted Living Association also opposed the required signage, though for different reasons. 

"This rule could have a negative emotional impact on our residents," a comment from the association reprinted in NewsOK. "I understand the purpose of House Bill 2797 is to educate those of childbearing age of option to terminating a pregnancy. However, our residents are obviously older and not of childbearing age. Is it necessary to inform them of options which are not applicable?"

Public bathrooms have become a major target for city and state regulation — at times to the detriment of local businesses. 

North Carolina's "bathroom law"— which mandates that transgender people must use the bathroom that corresponds with their biological sex — has reportedly cost the state nearly $400 million due to lost business. 

Meanwhile, cities including Philadelphia and Seattle have passed legislation in recent years to require all businesses with public bathrooms to designate all single-stall restrooms as open to all genders, something cities said was a relatively low-cost proposition.  

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The INSIDER Summary:

• Restaurants are a great way to see and sample the world.
• Some popular meal spots need to be booked a year in advance.
• One restaurant Googles its patrons before they come and personalizes the service.

Sometimes a stellar restaurant is all the reason you need to jet off to some corner of the world.

Maybe it’s an earthy soil soup that beckons from Tokyo or an edible cocktail in Chicago, a piquant shaving of sheep’s milk cheese in rural Tennessee or simply a fresh filet of snapper caught somewhere off the coast of Tulum. These spots should be on any culinary bucket-list. 

French Laundry in Yountville, California

Thomas Keller continues to reinvent his nouvelle French tour de force, the first ever Bay Area restaurant to receive a third Michelin star in 2006. A new glass-sheathed kitchen is currently under construction, designed by Oslo-based firm Snøhetta, who pedestrianized Time Square in 2014. The $295 tasting menu is still one of the most revered experiences in the food world.      

Tip: The restaurant reopened April 7, cooking out of a temp kitchen fashioned from shipping containers, so book now (707.944.2380) while there’s less demand and before the grand reopening next fall.  

Astrid & Gastón in Lima, Peru

El Bulli and Mugaritz vet Diego Muñoz took the reigns at Gaston Acurio’s flagship after he hung up the apron last year. The passing of the torch, along with the relocation to Acurio’s new culinary campus Casa Moreyra in San Isidro, signals a new era for the restaurant. The tasting menu, developed at the on-site research and development lab, is conceptualized with ingredients from the botanical garden and will focus on the biodiverse region surrounding Lima—a shift from previous menus that focused on themed narratives—and will span everything from ceviche to guinea pig to alpaca.

Tip: Online reservations are accepted up to three months in advance. If it’s short notice, call and try to land a table at lunch.

Benu in San Francisco

David Chang called this homey Soma spot the best restaurant in America. For his Korean-and-Chinese-inspired tasting menu, former French Laundry chef de cuisine Corey Lee utilizes northern California’s seasonal bounty. The standout: the faux shark fin soup, made with dungeness crab and Jinhua ham custard, a childhood favorite from Lee’s early days in Seoul. 

Tip: Since Michelin awarded Benu with its third star, demand for reservations has been even higher than normal. Book up to two months early on the website.

Chipotle says it is addressing a top customer complaint by making ordering much faster and more efficient.

"The number one complaint that customers have is long lines," Chipotle Chief Marketing Officer Mark Crumpacker told analysts on Monday.

Chipotle executives have conceded that service is getting slower, and said they are trying to speed things up by retraining employees and getting better at predicting demand.

Chipotle is also experimenting with new ordering systems, such as tablets and "virtual drive-thrus" that will enable customers to skip long lines and potentially avoid coming inside the restaurants altogether, Chipotle CEO Steve Ells said.

To manage demand from tablets and online orders, Chipotle's restaurants have started adding what the company calls a second "make-line," or team of workers that prepares virtual orders from a prep table in the kitchen. The second line is located in the kitchen to avoid bogging down the main, customer-facing preparation line.

"This new make-line will enable digital orders to be made more quickly, accurately, and efficiently, and it will allow for tablet ordering as a way to skip the queue and eventually for things like virtual drive-thrus or other ways to order outside the restaurants," Ells said.

Ells didn't explain what he meant by a virtual drive-thru. Chipotle spokesman Chris Arnold declined to expand on the concept. Other restaurants have used that term to describe curb-side pickup services.

If Chipotle implemented curb-side pickup, customers would be able to order Chipotle online and then pick up their food without ever leaving their cars.

That would be a game-changer for Chipotle, which is one of the only fast-food restaurants that has refused to embrace drive-thru lanes.

Ells also provided an update Monday on online ordering, saying the company has improved the lag time between when orders are placed and when they can be picked up at restaurants.

Through a new "smarter pickup" technology, the company has "dramatically shortened the wait time after a digital order is placed," he said.

The smarter pickup technology will be rolled out nationwide by January. It sets a lag time for online orders automatically based on each individual restaurant's level of demand at any given time. Previously, restaurants were able to set that lag time, and many customers claimed that their wait for online orders would be 30 minutes or longer.

By comparison, Starbucks mobile orders during peak morning periods are typically ready three to seven minutes after ordering, and Chick-fil-A prepares mobile orders immediately, as soon as customers arrive at the restaurant.

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