Chipotle Just Saw Its Worst Year Ever. It May Not Get Any Better

Before maine was a luncheon arsenic large and hefty arsenic a brick, wrapped successful gold-colored foil that gleamed pinch nan committedness of a delicious meal.

What I was astir to effort was nary culinary treasure, though; it was a burrito from Chipotle.

Chicken al pastor smushed into cilantro rice. Sour pick and food to adhd tang; pinto beans and reddish salsa for heartiness. Chips and a cup of Tex-Mex style queso arsenic a snack, and a cardamon-spiked mandarin agua fresca to lavation down everything.

It was possibly nan 5th clip I had ever eaten astatine nan Newport Beach-based fast-casual chain because nan thought of spending money connected pricey, whatever-tasting burritos was ne'er my thing. That put maine successful nan number of a procreation of eaters who transformed what started successful 1993 arsenic a mini Denver edifice into a multibillion multinational pinch astir 4,000 locations.

So why I was astatine a Tustin Chipotle connected a caller drizzly day? I wanted to fig retired why much Americans are starting to spot things my way. As my workfellow Caroline Petrow-Cohen reported past week, 2025 was nan company’s worst twelvemonth ever.

Same-store income fell for nan first clip since Chipotle became publically traded 2 decades ago. Shares fell 37%, a plunge that said to trying times successful an manufacture that continues to spot rising costs and plummeting user spending create a combo sheet from hell.

Chipotle Chief Executive Scott Boatwright admitted in an net telephone pinch investors that he expects 2026 to stay level because nan company’s “landscape is shifting.” He nevertheless tried to item what he sees arsenic glimmers of hope. New instrumentality that will lead to “juicier steak and chickenhearted that is cooked to perfection each time.” A relaunched rewards program. More than 300 caller locations scheduled to unfastened successful 2026, including nan first-ever Chipotle successful Mexico.

“As we look guardant to nan adjacent 20 years,” Boatwright’s concluded successful his opening remarks, “I’ve ne'er been much assured successful nan spot of this marque and our expertise to win.”

As I publication his thoughts while readying to excavation into my lunch, I almost felt bad for Boatwright, whose 2025 guidelines net was $1.1 million, per Securities and Exchange Commission filings. It’s arsenic if he’s forgotten what Chipotle peddles — Mexican food.

For complete 140 years, restaurateurs person go millionaires capitalizing connected nan insatiable American appetite for astir immoderate foodstuff from southbound of nan border. But arsenic each empires inevitably do, nan bully times stop. Waves of items — chile, tamales successful a can, fajitas, hard-shell tacos, stiff margaritas — that were erstwhile considered “authentic” are now truthful thoroughly assimilated into nan American fare that they’re now considered arsenic quaint arsenic chickenhearted cookware pastry and Limburger sandwiches.

Few Mexican edifice chains successful nan United States — really, conscionable Taco Bell — person escaped this destiny. Boatwright would beryllium wise to heed this history and either return Chipotle into caller frontiers aliases hole for its inevitable irrelevance.

Burritos from Burritos La Palma, a mini concatenation successful Orange and Los Angeles counties.

(Stephanie Breijo / Los Angeles Times)

When Steve Ells founded nan company retired of a erstwhile crystal pick shop, he was pursuing nan illustration of galore earlier him who looked astatine Mexicans making delicious nutrient and figured they could do amended and go rich | disconnected it. In Chipotle’s case, Ells freely admits his muse was taquerías successful San Francisco’s Mission District that prepped burritos successful nan assembly statement mode and size his institution would soon imitate.

“Each 1 astatine 5 bucks, they’re making immoderate bully money,” he told maine successful my 2012 book “Taco USA: How Mexican Food Conquered America.”

Chipotle roseate astatine nan cleanable clip and place, arsenic monolithic burritos dispersed crossed nan state during nan 1990s and 2000s, particularly settling successful assemblage towns and gentrifying neighborhoods wherever young group wanted accelerated and filling Mexican nutrient but somewhat much elevated than accelerated food. Ells’ existent invention was turning eating astatine Chipotle into a virtue-signaling experience. It contracted pinch boutique farmers for meats and nutrient nether nan tag statement “Food With Integrity,” while sponsoring floats astatine Pride and Rose parades and commissioning tiny commercials. Big-name authors for illustration Jonathan Safran Foer, Toni Morrison and Julia Alvarez moreover wrote original short stories that Chipotle published connected its cups and bags.

If you ate pinch us, went Chipotle’s pitch, you weren’t conscionable eating Mexican food; you were eating thing that was ethical, progressive, smart and cool — nan burrito type of Erewhon.

Boatwright still thinks Chipotle operates successful that era. In nan net call, he bragged that nan mostly of nan brand’s halfway customers made complete $100,000 a twelvemonth and “skewed younger ... and we’re gonna thin into that successful nan astir meaningful way.” The irony of that is that nan world of Mexican nutrient is now vastly richer than erstwhile Chipotle initially stormed nan U.S.

Eaters don’t want to discarded their money connected conscionable OK nutrient successful this economy. The coolest spots since nan emergence of societal media are mom-and-pop location eateries. People pinch rate to walk gladly do truthful connected Michelin-starred restaurants aliases typical experiences: Consider that the coming $1,500 multi-course Mexican diner personage cook René Redzepi plans to connection retired of a location successful Silver Lake from March to June sold retired wrong minutes.

Mexican nutrient is hipper than ever. Not Chipotle. The company’s large correction is that it has hardly evolved, reasoning consumers will ever instrumentality pinch its ersatz ways.

When I visited its Tustin branch, a wall featured nan aforesaid cheesy wood-and-metal sculpture of a Mayan lord holding a burrito I remembered during my first Chipotle sojourn backmost successful 2009. The soundtrack — hipster nonsense, “Fly Like an Eagle,” a remix of Rare Earth’s “I Just Want to Celebrate,” “Bésame Mucho” — seemed amended suited to a Pilates people astatine Leisure World alternatively of nan fewer Gen Zers who forked astatine their burrito bowls. They were astir outnumbered by Chipotle labor connected their break.

I went pinch nan chickenhearted al pastor burrito because Boatwright proclaimed it was “the astir celebrated limited-time connection successful [our] history.” It initially deed nan correct sweet, somewhat piquant notes that al pastor nutrient should — but nan spirit quickly dissipated because nan marinade hadn’t soaked done nan chickenhearted chunks. Everything other I tasted was arsenic underwhelming. I had to herb up nan salsa pinch drizzles of Tabasco. The queso started good but yet congealed into thing that approximated lukewarm paste. The agua fresca was much cloying than refreshing.

Al & Bea’s legume and food burrito pinch greenish chile sauce.

(Kirk McKoy / Los Angeles Times)

When you eat a immense burrito, nan biggest dilemma is whether you should prevention half for later aliases eat nan beast each astatine once. One inevitably chooses nan second and doesn’t regret it. That’s what happens erstwhile I scarf down a legume and food pinch greenish condiment astatine Al & Bea’s successful Boyle Heights, nan chile relleno wonderment from Lucy’s Drive-In successful Mid-City, aliases King Taco’s nicely sauced carne asada burrito astatine nan flagship disconnected nan 710 Freeway successful East Los Angeles.

I ate astir half of Chipotle’s chickenhearted al pastor burrito earlier stopping. I didn’t moreover to return immoderate leftovers because I knew they would conscionable stitchery mold successful nan fridge.

This discarded of a luncheon group maine backmost $20. On nan measurement home, I stopped to bargain 3 carne tacos from a truck. Cheaper, tastier, better. Chipotle amended dream its customers don’t observe it!