Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Chipotle Opens, Finally

Just a reminder: As of today we no longer have to venture outside of FoHi for our Chipotle. Now that's a wrong that has finally been corrected! (Next up, fingers crossed, Shake Shack!)

Chipotle staff preparing for their opening day today.

13 comments:

  1. rumor said it was a MADHOUSE, but that doesn't look that bad

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  2. I enjoy your blog, but still haven't grasped your fascination with crappy Chipotle. I'd have killed for an awesome Mexican option, but Chipotle now completes the trifecta of ho-hum, with 5BC and Garcia's.

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  3. One of the nice things about Forest HiIls is the number of remaining locally owed businesses, especially restaurants. Chain restaurants like Chipotle and Shake Shack? You can get crap that anywhere.

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  4. the closest Shake Shack is at Citi Field, and it is only opened seasonally. The Citi Field one also doesn't have a full menu. Other than that, you have to go to Westbury or one of the few and limited locations in Manhattan.

    You dont know what you are saying, Anonymous

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  5. Frankly, I don't get the fascination with Shake Shack. I braved a 45-minute line at the Madison Square Park location a few years ago and thought it was just okay. The burger was bigger than a typical fast food burger, but smaller than what I expected and was no better-tasting than many diner burgers. A few weeks ago, I went to the Westbury location and had a similar reaction. Didn't hate it, but didn't get all the fuss. A Dirty Pierre's burger is tastier and larger. Yes, they cost more, but they include fries.

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  6. Not excited about Chipotle. I passed by on opening day and saw it was crowded. But I don't get the appeal of mexican fast food which is not even nutritionally healthy.

    In Queens you have Mexican fast food places many times owned by the Chinese all over.

    In the center of Forest Hills there are no fast food mexican places, except one which went out of business on Restaurant Row.

    Liangs shut down so there is room for a new restaurant on Restaurant Row. It was always empty with very few customers as of late.

    And Chipotle fills a missing void with a firm which had lots of locations for economy of scale, something that other smaller places couldn't do.

    Also 104-70 Queens Boulevard will be available which has extremely high traffic as HSBC is vacating in May.

    It is unclear if the whole building will be demolished or not.

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  7. There is a fast food chinese mexican place on austin st next to sushi time and we know about HSBC leaving from the 5 other times you mentioned it

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  8. We will order Chipotle at work every so often. It's ok, not something I would eat often, but an acceptable lunchtime option. What I have always found strange about Chipotle is that the pork item they serve is nutritionally healthier than their chicken.

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  9. Better to have Chipotle than Burger King, Wendy's, or, at the Top of the mexican nutrition chain....TACO BELL!

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  10. Chipotle interior in Queens is not as nice as Manhattan locations from the photos and it appears to be much smaller in size.

    Also Chipotle seems to be extremely crowded at the Queens location but I didn't see anyone walking in, just saw lots of people through the window.

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  11. It reminds me of when Mitt Romney ate at a Chipotle and was with the workers. During this time Queens Chipotle was either under construction or location was vacant as Chipotle corporation had identified this location through their real estate acquisition teams.

    http://tinyurl.com/bygwdld

    I was looking at the Chipotle stock which is in the 300s now and seems to be closer to their 52 week low. Was calculating average store sales figures at this new location which is the most impressive part, not the fact that it is mexican food. Sure you can eat it once in awhile and it isn't horrible but the most impressive part of the firm is the profit margins that Chipotle has been sustaining from opening a chain of food locations using the business model it has. Sort of like the modern day lemonade stand.

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