Chipotle offers free food to get customers to like them again

Chipotle found a new way to get customers to bite: free food.

The Mexican eatery has launched new promotions specifically targeting students preparing for the back-to-school season in another attempt to bounce back from over a year of bad press.

For the month of September, high school and college students will get their drink on the house just by showing a school ID.

And those age 12 and under can get in on the deals too — by way of their parents’ wallets, of course. Every Sunday, kids’ meals are free with the order of a burrito, bowl, order of tacos or salad. “Bonus: it comes with a nifty Dragons Love Tacos activity sheet,” brags the restaurant’s website.

The Denver-based chain has tried repeatedly to become a fast-food favorite again since a nationwide outbreak of food-borne illnesses plagued the store’s reputation.

An E. coli outbreak that started in restaurants throughout the Northwest and made its way to New York caused dozens of stores to close their doors and even prompted the company’s co-chief executive, Steve Ells, to issue a public apology.  A norovirus epidemic also broke out at Boston College as a result of students scarfing down the restaurant’s burrito bowls — an outbreak that executives may have been aware of beforehand.

The chain suffered financially  when profits fell 44 percent. Shares have slumped 28 percent since last October, when the outbreak emerged.

Desperately trying to make a comeback, higher-ups at the fast-food joint have held company-wide food safety meetings, offered other free food promotions and launched a cleverly named rewards program.

But it appeared the guac was still extra.