Chipotle Opens 500th Location With Digital Pick-Up Lane
Chipotle Mexican Grill opened its 500th restaurant with a Chipotlane, the brand's digital order drive thru pick-up lane. Located in Louisville, Kentucky, the milestone opening underscores the brand's ongoing commitment to driving access and convenience to real food made with true culinary every day.
"We are thrilled to celebrate this landmark Chipotlane opening," said Tabassum Zalotrawala, Chief Development Officer. "Chipotlanes are the digital drive thru of the future and a key piece of our growth strategy as we plan to more than double our restaurant count over the long term to achieve 7,000 restaurants or more in North America."
HT Exclusive! At MURTEC Executive Summit, Nicole West, VP Digital Strategy and Product at Chipotle Mexican Grill, shared she's most proud of reducing friction & helping operators run great restaurants - digital and physical.
Chipotle is building a real estate pipeline to accelerate new unit growth with an emphasis on Chipotlanes. The Chipotlane format was introduced in the U.S. in early 2018, giving guests and delivery drivers a fast and convenient experience. New restaurant openings that feature this digital order pick-up lane have demonstrated higher volumes and greater returns than a traditional Chipotle restaurant format.
In October 2021, Chipotle opened its first Chipotlane restaurant in Canada. Next year, the company plans to open between 255 to 285 new restaurants, with at least 80% including a Chipotlane.
Delivery ASAP
To further increase access for its digital guests, Chipotle recently partnered with ASAP.com, a regional marketplace partner that provides seamless delivery service in more than 1,000 cities, mainly in the Southeast and Northeast. The partnership is intended to provide a timely delivery experience from more than 600 Chipotle restaurants on the East Coast, South and Mid-West, in addition to Chipotle's existing national delivery partnerships.
