Chipotle Looking to Replace Burger King in Escondido

Chipotle Mexican Grill, the massive chain known for its tacos, burritos, salads, and bowls, is working on a new location in Escondido at 1310 W Valley Pkwy .

The company’s new site is expected to move into the former home of Burger King in the West Valley Plaza , according to a recent liquor license application. Considering Chipotle already has an in-line location at 1282 Auto Park Way, next to the Escondido Promenade, it’s likely the company is deciding to upgrade across the street to a standalone site, likely with a drive-thru, known as Chipotlanes. There’s no exact timeline for the nearby relocation.

Last year, the company opened about 238 Chipotlane locations, making the company’s total a little above 800, according to Restaurant Dive. The company expects to open between 285 and 315 new restaurants this year — over 80% of which will include Chipotlanes. At this rate, Chipotle hopes to surpass 1,000 Chipotlanes this year and plans to reach 8% to 10% unit growth by 2025. While it’s unclear if the new Escondido Chipotle will open by the end of the year, it proves Chipotle is focused on opening more locations with Chipotlanes despite ongoing delays.

“We continue to see developers delaying projects due to macro pressures and high interest rates, along with permitting, inspection, and utility installation delays,” Jack Hartung , Chipotle’s CFO, told investors during the Q4 2023 Earnings Conference Call in February 2024. “The midpoint of our guidance range assumes these challenges persist. If we get any break in terms of timelines with developers moving a little bit faster with local authorities in terms of utilities, in terms of permitting, if that was a little bit faster, we actually can get to that clip even a little sooner. But we built in the exact same extended timeline that we’re seeing today with the current very robust inventory. And that will get us, if not all the way, very close to that 10% figure.”

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