Denver — Chipotle Mexican Grill has reopened its doors to the first-ever Chipotle restaurant in its hometown of Denver following a summer long renovation.
The original Chipotle location opened in the former Dolly Madison ice cream shop on East Evans Avenue across from the University of Denver, where founder, chairman and CEO Steve Ells himself prepared the food and served the very first Chipotle customers.
Much of the work at Evans was done behind the scenes. Chipotle expanded the cramped basement of the 850-square-foot restaurant to create additional storage and food prep space, allowing them to make the small open kitchen — still a hallmark design element of all Chipotle locations — more efficient. Work in the dining room updates the style of the small space, while preserving the original charm of the first restaurant.
“The Evans restaurant will always be special to me,” says Ells. “I opened that restaurant with the novel idea to show that food that was served fast didn’t have to be a typical fast food experience. Today, Chipotle is having a significant impact on the way people eat by making delicious food, made with whole, unprocessed ingredients available and affordable to everyone. That isn’t something I could even have imagined when I opened that first restaurant 24 years ago.”
Ells opened the second Chipotle in 1995 and the third in 1996. Today, Chipotle has more than 2,300 locations worldwide. For more information, visit Chipotle.com.
SOURCE: Chipotle Mexican Grill