The burrito bowl is coming to Mexico. That’s right: Chipotle is taking its Mexican-inspired menu south of the border.
The California-based fast food chain announced this week that its first Mexican location will open on Thursday in Monterrey, in the northeastern part of the country.
The opening of a Chipotle restaurant in Monterrey was a “significant milestone,” Chipotle said, that “introduces the company’s menu of freshly prepared, customizable burritos, bowls, salads, tacos and quesadillas to guests in Mexico.”
You may be wondering, does Mexico need a version of its food created by Americans?
The company is betting it does.
“We’ve spent years evaluating this opportunity because we wanted to enter the market thoughtfully and with the right partner,” the company said in an email, stressing the use of “real ingredients, fresh preparation and customization” as potentially appealing to Mexican consumers.
And even though Mexicans have many options for tortilla-based dishes, Chipotle could still offer “a novelty to the Mexican market,” said Sharon Zackfia, a Chicago-based restaurant analyst with the investment bank William Blair.
“The difference would lie in the bowls,” she said, adding that the company’s customizable burrito bowls are its best seller in the United States.
Ms. Zackfia also compared Chipotle’s foray into Mexico to when Starbucks in 1998 first expanded to Europe, a continent that prides itself on its cafe culture and initially did not seem to need any more places to buy a cappuccino.
“Muffins were considered a unique item when Starbucks first went to Europe,” Ms. Zackfia said. (The coffee chain even opened in Italy in 2018, and now has dozens of cafes there.)
Similarly, Chipotle’s highly customizable menu may offer options that are not the usual taqueria fare.
The last few years have not been easy for the restaurant industry. In the United States, the cost of food at restaurants has climbed 22 percent since 2022, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Chipotle is no exception: Over the past four years, it has raised prices nearly 25 percent.
But, Ms. Zackfia said that, since February, the price gap between groceries and restaurants has narrowed to the lowest it has been since 2023.
At the Mexican Chipotle restaurant, prices will be between 15 and 20 percent below U.S. prices, the company said.
Chipotle announced a partnership with Alsea, a restaurant operator in Latin America and Europe, in April.
Ms. Zackfia, the analyst, added that much of the success of any restaurant chain’s international expansion depends on its local partner. Alsea, Chipotle’s partner in Mexico, has been responsible for the successful openings of many other American franchises in Mexico, including Starbucks, Domino’s and Chili’s.
Chipotle started expanding internationally in July 2023, when it opened restaurants across the Middle East. Last year, the company announced that it was expanding to Asia, with plans to open locations in South Korea this year and in Singapore next year. Chipotle also operates more than 80 restaurants in Canada, 20 in Britain, six in France and two in Germany, the company said.
The restaurant opening in Mexico on Thursday will be the first of several in the country, the company said.
Chipotle is not the first Mexican-inspired chain from the United States to venture into Mexico. Taco Bell tried twice, once in 1992 and again in 2007, but it has since closed its restaurants there.
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