the first chipotle on evans opened in 1993.
the first chipotle on evans opened in 1993.
when did the first chipotle on evans open?
1993
founder steve ells attended the culinary institute of america in hyde park, new york. afterward, he became a line cook for jeremiah tower at stars in san francisco. there, ells observed the popularity of the taquerías and san francisco burritos in the mission district. in 1993, ells took what he learned in san francisco and opened the first chipotle mexican grill in denver, colorado, in a former dolly madison ice cream store at 1644 east evans avenue, near the university of denver campus, using an $85,000 loan from his father. ells and his father calculated that the store would need to sell 107 burritos per day to be profitable. after one month, the original restaurant was selling over 1,000 burritos a day. the second store opened in 1995 using chipotle's cash flow, and the third was opened using an sba loan. to fund more growth, ells' father invested $1.5 million. afterwards, ells created a board of directors and business plan, raising an additional $1.8 million for the company. ells had originally planned to use funds from the first chipotle to open a fine-dining restaurant, but instead focused on chipotle mexican grill when the restaurants saw success.
chipotle mexican grill
architecturally, all chipotle restaurants are built using most of the same materials (plywood, corrugated metal, stainless steel, exposed ductwork), although each store is unique. the interiors have been described as having an "industrial, sheet metal look". chipotle has built restaurants using white ceramic tile instead of stainless steel. it costs the company approximately $850,000 to open a new restaurant. when the first chipotle opened, steve ells asked his friend, sculptor bruce gueswel, to design the chairs and a styled mayan king whose face was loosely based on that of civil rights leader martin luther king, jr., a personal inspiration of gueswel, for the restaurant. both items were made from wood and metal. gueswel has continued to design and build the art and chairs for all subsequent chipotle restaurants.
chipotle mexican grill