Holy mole! Moe's newest burrito is going to get messy

Source: Moe’s Southwest Grill

The Smothered Burrito from Moe’s Southwest Grill.

You may need a fork to eat the newest burrito from Moe's Southwest Grill.

The fast casual Mexican chain is offering customers the chance to smother their burritos with either hatch green chile, red chile or mole starting Tuesday.

The Smothered Burrito platter is a limited-time only promotion from Moe's and is served with guacamole, sour cream and pico de gallo. In addition, the chain will begin selling pork carnitas in store, and will phase out its pork verde.

"It's a whole new platform for our customers to express choice and variety," Jason Dowd, Moe's executive chef, told CNBC. The chain prides itself on offering diners the ability customize their meals with more than 20 ingredients from queso to cucumbers. 

The hatch green chile is a sweet and tangy sauce made with fire roasted hatch chiles. The red chile is made with peppers and tomato sauce, but has a vinegar hot sauce kick. As for the mole, it was created using more than 20 spices and has a hint of chocolate. 

"It's a nice way for us to get new flavors into the restaurant," Dowd said. "But, it also has a lot of building blocks that can stay there through this promotion and live on in the restaurant. ... We're trying to build up a pantry."

Moe's hopes to continue to set itself apart from competitors like Taco Bell and Chipotle Mexican Grill with this smothered burrito platter promotion. The chain recently surpassed Chipotle for the title of America's favorite fast casual Mexican restaurant, according to a Harris Poll survey.

Chipotle has continued to struggle to get customers to return after a string of foodborne illnesses last year that sent its stock plummeting. Although the company's loyalty program helped marginally boost traffic, the chain continues to push to convince people that its food won't make them sick. Chipotle is slated to run more newspaper and digital ads starting Wednesday.