LEO's Eats with Robin Garr
Chipotle is here at last. Let the congregation say "Whoopee!" The 20-year-old Denver-based fast-food chain built about 1,400 units in 43 states (including a few properties in Lexington and about 30 in Greater Cincinnati) before one finally opened in downtown Louisville last month.
Quite a few people have apparently been waiting a long time for this. When we showed up for a late lunch last week, we faced a 20-minute wait. Patient supplicants were lined up all the way back to the entrance of the smallish, glass-walled eatery tucked into a corner of the Hyatt-Regency Louisville. It was pretty much worth the wait, too, at least as much as fast food can be worth waiting for.
Why the excitement over the arrival of another national fast-food chain? Perhaps it's because Chipotle is not just any fast-food chain. In a New York Times Magazine article this month, food writer/food anthropology pundit Mark Bittman declared Chipotle "the best newcomer of the last generation," based on its commitment to quality and (relatively) healthful fare that breaks the pattern of the fast-food giants.
"There's now a market for a fast-food chain that's not only healthful itself, but vegetarian-friendly, sustainable and even humane. And, this being fast food: cheap," Bittman wrote. It's a formula that works for Chipotle, which bills its product as "food with integrity ... the best ingredients raised with respect for the animals, the environment and the farmers."
This is a promise that appeals to increasingly health-conscious Boomers and youthful hipsters alike, and anyone who likes the idea of fast food built on humanely raised, hormone-free "natural" beef, pork and poultry and organic and local produce. (Pay no attention to the "whenever possible" and "when practical" language that accompanies those pledges ... I'm sure it's only the lawyers who make them say that.)
Chipotle enjoyed a boost when mega-corporate McDonald's became its major investor in the late '90s and early '00s, infusing sufficient cash to build the Chipotle empire from 16 to 500 restaurants between 1998 and 2005. Mickey D's divested all its interest in 2006, but Chipotle hit the market with a winning IPO ... and over the next few years tripled its reach again.
Chipotle's sales reached $3 billion last year, Bittman said, and while that may be a tiny fraction of McDonald's $88 billion, it should still be more than sufficient to keep the stockholders happy.
Does it keep the dining public happy? The consistent crowds seem to say "yes," and I was impressed with the flavor and quantity of our lunch. I see hard times ahead for the Qdoba across the street, as Chipotle fits into the same fast-casual model as its neighbor but offers far more fetching fare.
Read the full review on LouisvilleHotBytes,
http://www.louisvillehotbytes.com/louis ... potle-w00t
And in LEO Weekly:
http://leoweekly.com/dining/louisville- ... s-chipotle
Chipotle Mexican Grill
315 S. Fourth St.
584-8606
http://chipotle.com
Rating: 82
