Chipotle opens milestone restaurant — in the ‘Little Apple’
Chipotle Mexican Grill is now over halfway to its long-term goal of operating 7,000 restaurants in the U.S. and Canada.
The quick-serve chain has opened its 4,000th restaurant, located in Manhattan, Kan. The town is known as the "Little Apple."
The Manhattan restaurant includes the brand's Chipotlane, a drive-thru pick-up lane that allows customers to retrieve digital orders without leaving their cars. It also features the company’s new high-efficiency equipment package, which allows staff to be deployed more effectively during peak hours and is designed to simplify cooking processes for employees
The equipment enables higher cooking volumes and consistent batching, and reduces cook time for steak, chicken and fajita veggies. It also improves throughput for fresh chips, and automates the slicing of produce to streamline prep.
"Our 4,000th restaurant in Manhattan, Kansas is both a milestone for our growth and a celebration of the guests who have asked us to bring Chipotle to their communities," said Stephen Piacentini, chief development officer. "This location showcases more convenient access points, sustainable design features and equipment upgrades that elevate the experience for our team members and our guests."
Since current CEO Scott Boatwright joined Chipotle in 2017 as chief restaurant officer, the company has grown from over 2,300 restaurants to 4,000 locations, a 70% increase in only eight years. (Boatwright was named CEO in November 2024.)
Chipotle will open between 315 to 345 restaurants for the full year 2025, with at least 80% featuring a Chipotlane. For 2026, management is anticipating 350 to 370 new restaurant openings, including 10 to 15 international partner-operated locations.
"Achieving 4,000 restaurants underscores the strength of our strategic initiatives and commitment to Cultivate a Better World," said Boatwright. "Most importantly, our continued growth has allowed us to bring real food made with responsibly sourced ingredients to more communities throughout the world and create new career opportunities for our team members."
International expansion
To date, Chipotle has over 100 restaurants outside the U.S., including 75 in Canada, 28 in Europe and 11 partner-operated locations in the Middle East. Last month, in partnership with Alshaya Group, the first Chipotlane outside of North America opened at Bneid Al Gar in Kuwait.
Additionally, the company signed a development agreement to open restaurants in Mexico for the first time next year with Alsea, S.A.B. de C.V. (Alsea), a leading restaurant operator in Latin America and Europe. Through a joint venture with SPC Group, a leading South Korea-based food company, the first Chipotle restaurants in South Korea and Singapore are also scheduled to open in 2026.
Chipotle is the only restaurant company of its size that owns and operates all its restaurants in North America and Europe.
