When customers think of Chipotle (CMG) -), they envision steam rising over hot grills with savory meat and fresh veggies, but there is more to Chipotle than what customers see behind the restaurants sneeze guards.
Chipotle has tried several things that might surprise you, as it has adopted other restaurants' concepts. Chipotle’s sister venture was the ShopHouse, which was a restaurant that had a Southeast Asian menu concept.
The ShopHouse was a venture that Chipotle had supported back in 2011, but later folded in 2017.
"Even though the food was delicious, the chain failed to attract the same level of customer loyalty and repeat visits that Chipotle did,” then-Co-CEO Monty Moran said when ShopHouse closed, according to The Motley Fool.
“We now have a deal in place to sell the ShopHouse leases and believe that is the right decision at this time,” said Chipotle’s spokesperson Chris Arnold in an Email to Eater at the time.
Chipotle
Chipotle Back to the Drawing Board
After Chipotle’s ShopHouse venture failed, you might think that trying to develop a sister restaurant was out of the idea, but it wasn’t and isn’t. It’s really the restaurant chain playbook, open one restaurant chain, make it successful, and then open new concepts.
Chipotle tried its hand at pizza, but it decided to shut down the ovens and stick to burritos. Now after knuckling down with Pizzeria Locale, a pizza chain in the Denver area. Chipotle’s pizzeria served up Neapolitan style pizza in a fast casual atmosphere.
It had only five locations before it decided to hang it up. When Chipotle decided it was done with ShopHouse, it had 17 locations.
“We have made the decision to close all five Pizzeria Locale restaurants on July 10 and dissolve the business,” said Chipotle’s chief corporate affairs officer Laurie Schalow in a statement. “Impacted employees have been extended employment opportunities at Chipotle restaurants in the Denver area.”
Lessons Learned or Not
Chipotle is putting its efforts behind a new restaurant concept called Farmesa with the closure of Pizzeria Locale.
Farmesa is a California-inspired fresh eatery concept, similar to Sweetgreen, according to The Take Out. Like Chipotle, Farmesa serves its meals up in bowls, keeping everything fresh with real great ingredients. The menu is curated by James Beard Award-winning Chef Nate Appleman, who is the director of Culinary Innovation for Farmesa. Appleman had previously led menu creations for Chipotle.
"One of our strategic objectives is to create or invest in emerging culinary spaces and restaurant concepts that fit within Chipotle's food with integrity mission and make fresh food daily," CEO Brian Niccol said in a release. "Our New Ventures team, which was created in 2022, developed a unique restaurant concept that uses classic culinary techniques with flavorful ingredients in a fast casual setting that we're excited to test and learn on before we determine a broader rollout strategy."
Farmesa is different from other restaurants, it is located inside a Kitchen United, a ghost kitchen, that can be picked up and delivered through DoorDash and Uber Eats or available via kiosk.
"Launching Farmesa in the Kitchen United Mix food hall in Santa Monica and partnering with third-party partners for pickup or delivery will allow us to reach a large number of consumers, learn quickly, and evolve our concept and menu so that we can deliver on our goals before expanding," said Chipotle’s Vice President of New Ventures Nate Lawton.
"We believe there's an opportunity to serve premium, craveable food every day and we're eager to bring this new concept to life," Lawton said.
