Wreck some fresh Tex-Mex at new Columbia County restaurant's grand opening Thursday

One of the nation's most popular Tex-Mex restaurant chains opens Thursday in Columbia County.

The Augusta area's third Chipotle location will be at 710 Province Way in Evans at the Mullins Colony shopping center. The Augusta Chronicle first reported on the new location in January.

The location will feature drive-thru "Chipotlanes." Customers who order on the restaurant's mobile app or website can pick up their food in the Chipotlane without leaving their cars.

The location is hiring to fill about 30 job openings in Evans. Visit jobs.chipotle.com to find out more.

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Augusta got its first and currently only Chipotle in 2018 at Augusta Exchange, 229 Robert C. Daniel Jr. Parkway. The only other Chipotle in the Augusta area is at 362 E. Martintown Rd. in North Augusta. A location that opened in Aiken in 2016 closed in 2018. Others closest to Augusta are in Athens and in Columbia, S.C.

Chipotle stock dropped 7% Aug. 13 after the company announced the departure of its CEO, Brian Niccol, who's assuming the same role at Starbucks by September.

Chipotle opened its first restaurant in 1993 in Denver. It has since grown to more than 3,300 locations in the continental United States, including nearly 100 in Georgia. All locations are corporate-owned, and the company offers no franchises.

This article originally appeared on Augusta Chronicle: Wreck some fresh Tex-Mex at new Columbia County restaurant's grand opening Thursday