Chipotle is turning Friday the 13th into a buy-one-get-one day again, but only for one hour and only for guests with a tattoo. The chain’s “Tatted Like a Chipotle Bag” offer returns Friday, Nov. 13, from 3 to 4 p.m. local time at participating restaurants in the U.S. and Canada.
Guests who show a tattoo during that window can get a second entree free with the purchase of one. Permanent ink is not required, and the company says a temporary tattoo or a design drawn on with a pen counts too.
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How the Friday, Nov. 13 BOGO Works
Chipotle announced the return of the deal on Nov. 9, 2026, in a release on the company’s newsroom. The offer runs from 3 to 4 p.m. local time, so a guest in Denver and a guest in Boston each get the same afternoon hour on their own clock.
The fine print matters. According to Chipotle, the BOGO is redeemable in restaurants only, and it does not apply to catering, mobile, online or delivery orders. That rules out the app for this one, so anyone hoping to skip the line will need to plan on standing in it. Readers curious about how much restaurant ordering has shifted to delivery-only setups can see this explainer on ghost kitchens and the trend reshaping restaurants.
Each free item requires the purchase of an entree of equal or greater value, and the limit is five free menu items per check, subject to availability. Kids’ meals do not count as the qualifying entree purchase. The free items can only be collected by a guest who has a tattoo, and staff at each restaurant have the final say over what counts.
The deal cannot be combined with other coupons or promotions. Purchased entrees still earn Chipotle Rewards points, according to the company’s terms.
What Counts as a Tattoo
Chipotle’s rules are loose on purpose. Permanent tattoos, temporary tattoos and drawn-on designs all qualify, and the terms add that “another creative iteration invoking tattoos” may count at the discretion of restaurant staff.
The idea borrows from a custom in the tattoo world. Chipotle’s release points to the tattoo community’s Friday the 13th tradition of releasing flash sheets of small pre-designed tattoos as the inspiration for the deal. Flash refers to ready-made tattoo designs that customers can pick without commissioning custom art, according to Wikipedia’s entry on tattoo flash. For those thinking about something more permanent than a pen sketch, these travel tattoo ideas show how varied small designs can be.
The name comes from an online joke. Fans began comparing heavily inked looks to the illustrated artwork printed on Chipotle’s to-go bags, and the phrase “tatted like a Chipotle bag” stuck.
Friday the 13th happens whenever the 13th day of a month lands on a Friday, and every year has at least one and as many as three, according to Wikipedia’s entry on the date. That rarity is part of why the chain builds an event around it.
Why Chipotle Keeps Bringing It Back
The numbers explain the encore. Chipotle said the promotion first launched in June 2025 and drove the company’s highest sales ever during the normally slow 3 to 4 p.m. hour. When it returned on March 13, 2026, the company said it helped drive the highest single-day sales in its history at that point, about 10% above the previous record set on National Burrito Day 2024.
Stephanie Perdue, Chipotle’s senior vice president of brand marketing, said in the release that the Friday the 13th promotion gives tattooed fans a way to show off their ink, be rewarded for it and share the stories behind their tattoos.
For a bowl built on rice and beans, a free second entree stretches a meal budget further. Rice and beans are among the staples covered in this list of budget foods that even the wealthy eat. Chipotle itself started small: Steve Ells opened the first location in Denver in 1993, according to Wikipedia’s history of Chipotle Mexican Grill. The company now counts more than 4,200 restaurants as of Sept. 30, 2026. Craftingyourhome.com has a look at the older generation of chains in its list of fast-food chains that got their start in the 1950s, and recent chain freebies were rounded up in its guide to Veterans Day free meals at Denny’s, In-N-Out and Golden Corral.
The Wiz Khalifa Bags in Pittsburgh
This year’s version adds a celebrity tie-in. Rapper Wiz Khalifa co-designed limited-edition to-go bags featuring designs based on his own tattoos, each signed by him. The bags will be available only at Chipotle’s Oakland neighborhood restaurant at 3510 Forbes Ave. in Pittsburgh, from 3 to 4 p.m. ET on Nov. 13, while supplies last. A purchase is required, and the limit is one bag per person.
Pittsburgh is a fitting spot. Wiz Khalifa moved to the city as a child and attended high school there, and his hit “Black and Yellow” was a tribute to it, according to his Wikipedia biography. In Chipotle’s release, he said he has been a big Chipotle fan for years and called seeing his tattoos take over the bags “wild.”
His go-to order, according to the company, is a double chicken bowl with white rice, roasted chili-corn salsa, romaine lettuce, and a side of chips and guacamole. Chipotle said guests can order it through the app and website starting Nov. 13.
A Sweepstakes for Those Outside Pittsburgh
Fans who cannot get to Forbes Avenue have another shot. Chipotle is giving away 13 of the Wiz Khalifa bags through a sweepstakes in its Rewards Exchange. Members can trade 10 points per entry, with a maximum of 20 entries, from 12:01 a.m. PT on Nov. 12 through 11:59 p.m. PT on Nov. 14, according to the official sweepstakes rules.
No purchase is necessary. The rules say entrants must be legal residents of the 50 states or Washington, D.C., at least 13 years old and Chipotle Rewards members, and a mail-in entry option is also available. Mail-in entries must be postmarked by Nov. 14 and received by Nov. 20.
For everyone else, the plan for Friday is simple: show up between 3 and 4 p.m. local time, show some ink, real or temporary, and order two entrees for the price of one.
This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.
Image: Phillip Pessar – CC BY 2.0/Wikimedia Commons
