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Chipotle opens first site in Mexico
Chain has plans for nationwide expansion
DANIEL BECERRIL AND SARAH MORLAND Reuters
Representatives of the first Chipotle fast-food chain location
in northeastern Mexico are seen on its opening day Thursday in san
Pedro Garza Garcia, Mexico.
DANIEL BECERRIL, REUTERS
MONTERREY, Mexico — With balloons, confetti and optimism, U.S.-based Cal-Mex food chain Chipotle has opened its first restaurant in Mexico, bringing its chicken salads and burrito bowls to the homeland of tacos.
Chipotle's inaugural restaurant opened in Monterrey's upscale suburb of San Pedro Garza Garcia, a corporate hub known as the wealthiest municipality in Latin America, located in Mexico's northern border state of Nuevo Leon.
A large chili-themed veil was dropped to a burst of confetti, after which crowds of residents queued for a taste of the Californian chain, many taking photos as workers prepared wraps and salads behind a busy bar.
Ricardo Aguilar, 26, a Mexican resident who visited on opening day, said he became a Chipotle fan while visiting the U.S. and appreciated the restaurant chain's quality ingredients and robust portions.
"It's a different kind of offering," he said. "It's definitely not your street-corner taco stand."
Chipotle's Mexico director Pablo de Brito told Reuters the company planned to open six to eight new stores in Monterrey within the next 14 months, after which it would expand to Mexico City, then the rest of the country.
"We're more than happy with this opening," he said, noting that Chipotle chose Monterrey for the chain's debut in part because the city provided a young demographic with a close relationship to U.S. culture and familiarity with the brand.
Chipotle's entry into Mexico follows two unsuccessful forays by fast-food chain Taco Bell, whose efforts to enter the market in 1992 and 2007 were rebuffed as locals snubbed their offerings in favor of authentic Mexican products.
Mexico's INEGI statistics office counts over 147,000 registered taquerias across the country, but the vast majority of sellers are informal street stands selling various types of meat-based tacos with assorted toppings and spicy salsas.
A geographer at Mexico's National Autonomous University, Baruch Sangines, in 2021 created a map of 1.6 million taco shops, calculating that 95% of Mexico City inhabitants lived within a five-minute walk of a taqueria.
In Monterrey, which has more than 5 million residents in its metropolitan area, the number fell to a still-plentiful 75%.
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