Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. is an American chain of fast casual restaurants in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, and France, specializing in tacos and Mission-style burritos.
Its name derives from chipotle, the Nahuatl name for a smoked and dried jalapeño chili pepper.
From the Chipotle’s value statement –
Great ingredients deserve great preparation. Morning to night, our skilled crews use classic cooking techniques on the meticulously sourced meats and produce that are delivered regularly to each restaurant. It’s no coincidence that our founder is a classically trained chef.
We’re all about preparing food without added colors, flavors, or preservatives (other than lemon or lime juice, which can be used as preservatives — though we use them only for taste).
Just genuine raw ingredients and their individual, delectable flavors. We source from farms rather than factories,
and spend a lot more on our ingredients than many other restaurants.
We wouldn’t have it any other way.
How many classically trained chefs start fast food restaurants? In 1993, Steve Ells did just that, opening the first Chipotle and bringing fresh thinking and real food knowledge to an industry all about cheap ingredients and addictive additives. Fast food hasn’t been the same since.