Release: Chipotle Mexican Grill Coming to Burlington Aug. 23

Last week Burlington Patch carried . At the time of the article the opening day was set for Tuesday, Aug. 17. Since that article was published the opening date has changed to Tuesday, August 23. 

The following is a release from Chipotle explaining the restaurants history and food service methods: 

Chipotle (Chi-POAT-lay) the popular quick-service restaurant chain whose will start dishing up its award-winning gourmet burritos, bowls, tacos and salads to the public on Tuesday, August 23. The restaurant is located at 90 Burlington Mall Road in the Burlington Marketplace, across from Burlington Mall near Meadow Rd.

Chipotle’s FWI philosophy stems from Founder, Chairman and CEO Steve Ells’ commitment to move the restaurant chain toward using all responsibly and sustainably farmed ingredients.

Indeed, this year Chipotle expects to use over 10 million pounds of produce from local family farms throughout the 2011 growing season, up from 5 million pounds in 2010. The local produce will be grown on farms within 350 miles of the restaurants where it will be served. In addition, all the pork and chicken Chipotle serves is naturally and humanely raised (an all vegetarian diet, no added hormones or antibiotics and responsible animal husbandry). And, while 85 percent of the beef served in Chipotles throughout the U.S. also is naturally and humanely raised, all of the East Coast Chipotles serve it.  In fact, this year Chipotle will purchase over 100 million pounds of naturally raised meats and sell more naturally raised meat than any other restaurant company. Also, its sour cream and cheeses are made from milk that is rBGH-free (recombinant bovine growth hormone)...35 per cent is from pasture-raised cows.

And 40 percent of the black and pinto beans that Chipotle purchases are organically grown with about 5 percent using conservation tilling methods.   

"More and more, we're able to push farther to have a meaningful impact on the way people eat," explains Ells. "But there isn't a switch you can throw to make this happen all at once. It's an incremental revolution, and we're committed to being part of it."

Ells came to the decision to use premium ingredients quite honestly. By the time he opened his first Chipotle in Denver in 1993, he had graduated from the CIA and worked at San Francisco’s Stars restaurant at the elbow of renowned Chef Jeremiah Tower for three years. While living in the Bay area, he loved to eat at the local tacquerias; yet, he thought he could make that style of food better and came upon the idea of using the same kind of ingredients he used at Stars to fill burritos and tacos. Thus was born Chipotle. True to his training, Ells treated each ingredient with care. He used market-fresh herbs for every dish. He hand chopped fresh ingredients and grilled fresh batches of marinated meats throughout the day, and even made his own tortilla chips seasoned with freshly squeezed lime juice and tossed with kosher salt."There aren’t a lot of moving parts to our menu, so we can focus on grilling the perfect chicken, steaming the perfect rice, slow-cooking the best beans and finding the freshest avocados to mash into guacamole,” Ells says. “The flavor of our food is complex, but we use very simple ingredients."

Eighteen years later, visitors to any one of Chipotle's locations will find the same methods, the same menu, and the same emphasis on quality as at Ells' original Chipotle.  You will see the fresh ingredients prepared in front of you, while you watch rather than while you wait, in an open kitchen. The menu focuses on just two things, yet with countless customer options. It has a hip, clean dining room, great music and gourmet food you can eat with your hands, all for about $7.

The design of each Chipotle also mirrors Ells' food philosophy. His team has incorp-orated the principals of sustainable architecture in all new building projects since 2001 and included many of those elements in existing Chipotles. There are four certified green Chipotles in Austin, TX and Chipotle worked with the US Green Building Council to build LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Chipotles in Gurnee, Ill, which received a PLATINUM LEED rating, and in Minnetonka, MN and Deer Park, NY.