Technology

Louisville home to 500th Chipotlane

Chipotle Mexican Grill has added its 500th unit with a Chipotlane, a digital order drive-thru pick-up lane, in Louisville

November 16, 2022

Chipotle Mexican Grill has added its 500th unit with a Chipotlane, a digital order drive-thru pick-up lane. Located in Louisville, Kentucky, the milestone opening underscores the brand's commitment to driving access and convenience to real food made with true culinary every day, said Tabassum Zalotrawala, chief development officer.

"We are thrilled to celebrate this landmark Chipotlane opening," Zalotrawala said in a company press release. "Chipotlanes are the digital drive thru of the future and a key piece of our growth strategy as we plan to more than double our restaurant count over the long term to achieve 7,000 restaurants or more in North America."

Chipotle is building a real estate pipeline to accelerate growth with an emphasis on Chipotlanes, which was introduced in 2018 in the U.S.to give guests and delivery drivers a fast and convenient experience. Restaurant openings that feature the digital order pick-up lane have demonstrated higher volumes and greater returns than a traditional Chipotle restaurant format. In October 2021, Chipotle opened its first Chipotlane restaurant in Canada. Next year, the company plans to open between 255 to 285 restaurants, with at least 80% including a Chipotlane, according to the release.

To further increase access for its digital guests, Chipotle recently partnered with ASAP, a regional marketplace partner that provides delivery service in more than 1,000 cities, mainly in the Southeast and Northeast. The partnership is intended to provide a timely delivery experience from more than 600 Chipotle restaurants on the East Coast, South and Mid-West, in addition to Chipotle's existing national delivery partnerships, Zalotrawala said in the release.

Chipotle has 3,100 restaurants.