About Chipotle Mexican Grill
About Chipotle Mexican Grill, in the figures the company itself files rather than the ones that circulate. It was founded in Denver in 1993 with a loan from the founder father, was majority-owned by McDonald’s for seven years, and now runs more than 4,200 restaurants across ten countries. Its chief executive is not the person most pages still name. Here is the company as it stands in October 2026.
Chipotle Mexican Grill was founded on 13 July 1993 by Steve Ells in Denver. It trades on the New York Stock Exchange as CMG and is independent. Its CEO is Scott Boatwright, appointed November 2024 — not Brian Niccol, who left for Starbucks in August 2024. It operated 4,201 restaurants in 10 countries as of 30 June 2026.
- Founded 13 July 1993 by Steve Ells, in Denver, Colorado.
- CEO is Scott Boatwright, since November 2024.
- Chairman is Scott Maw — the roles are separate.
- 4,201 restaurants as of 30 June 2026, across 10 countries.
- Listed on the NYSE as CMG; no parent company.
- Target is 7,000 restaurants in the US and Canada.
The Company in Figures
All of these come from Chipotle own filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which is the only place a figure like this can be checked properly.
| Metric | Figure | As of |
|---|---|---|
| Total restaurants | 4,201 | 30 June 2026 |
| United States | 4,074 | 30 June 2026 |
| International company-owned | 112 | 30 June 2026 |
| Partner-operated | 15 | 30 June 2026 |
| Chipotlanes | 1,500 | 29 September 2026 |
| 2025 revenue | $11.9 billion | FY2025 |
| Q2 2026 revenue | $3.35 billion, up 9.3% | Q2 2026 |
| Employees | 130,301 worldwide | 31 December 2025 |
| Shares outstanding | 1,265,418,000 | 24 July 2026 |
| Long-term restaurant target | 7,000 in the US and Canada | — |
Who Runs It
This is the single most commonly wrong fact about Chipotle online, including on pages that Chipotle own investor site still serves to search engines.
- Chief Executive Officer: Scott Boatwright. Interim from August 2024, permanent CEO and a director from 11 November 2024. He joined Chipotle in May 2017 and was Chief Restaurant Officer and then Chief Operating Officer before that.
- Chairman of the Board: Scott Maw, independent. The board separated the chairman and chief executive roles in August 2024, so the CEO is not the chairman.
- Brian Niccol was CEO from March 2018 and chairman from March 2020. He left on 31 August 2024 to become chairman and chief executive of Starbucks.
Other senior figures as of the 2026 proxy: Curt Garner as President and Chief Strategy and Technology Officer, Jason Kidd as Chief Operating Officer, Adam Rymer as Chief Financial Officer, Ilene Eskenazi as Chief Legal and Human Resources Officer, and Laurie Schalow as Chief Corporate Affairs and Food Safety Officer. Fernando Machado joined as Chief Brand Officer in June 2026. Full detail on our Chipotle CEO guide.
Where It Came From
Steve Ells opened the first Chipotle on 13 July 1993 at 1644 East Evans Avenue in Denver, in a former ice cream shop near the University of Denver, funded by an $85,000 loan from his father.
Four moments shaped everything after that:
- 1998 to 2006 — the McDonald’s years. McDonald’s began investing in 1998 and took a controlling stake in September 1999, funding the expansion from a handful of restaurants to several hundred. It exited completely on 12 October 2006.
- January 2006 — the IPO. Chipotle sold 6,060,606 shares at $22.00 each. It had 481 restaurants at the end of 2005.
- 2015 and 2016 — the food safety crisis. Comparable restaurant sales fell 20.4 percent across 2016, with the first quarter down 29.7 percent. Average sales per restaurant dropped from $2.42 million to $1.87 million.
- December 2025 — the 4,000th restaurant, in Manhattan, Kansas.
The full timeline, including the founder departure and the move from Denver to Newport Beach, is on our Chipotle history guide.
Where It Operates
Chipotle operates in ten countries, and the past three years have changed that map faster than the previous fifteen.
- Owned and operated directly: the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, France and Germany. Chipotle describes itself as the only restaurant company of its size that owns and operates all its restaurants in the United States, Canada and Europe.
- Operated with partners: Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates from 2024, Qatar, Mexico from July 2026, Saudi Arabia from August 2026 and South Korea from September 2026.
- Announced, not yet open: Singapore in 2027, and Mexico City in 2027.
Country-by-country detail is on our countries guide, and the restaurant count on our locations guide.
How It Is Performing
Two different pictures, and both are worth holding at once.
The business is recovering. Comparable sales fell 1.7 percent across 2025, then turned positive: up 0.5 percent in the first quarter of 2026 and up 2.2 percent in the second, which Chipotle described as its second consecutive quarter of improving transaction growth. It raised its full-year guidance in July 2026 from about flat to low single digit growth.
Customer satisfaction is mid-pack. Chipotle scored 77 out of 100 in the 2026 American Customer Satisfaction Index study of quick-service restaurants, against a category average of 79. That is up a point on 2025 but still below average, and roughly seventeenth of the twenty-six brands named. Its apps rate far better, at 4.7 out of 5 on both the iOS App Store and Google Play.
Chipotle has also been candid in its own filings about headwinds, telling investors in its second-quarter 2026 report that it had seen low single digit pressure on sales as customers responded to, among other things, recent US food safety concerns and geopolitical developments. The sentiment data is broken down on our Chipotle reviews guide.
All Chipotle Company Guides
- Chipotle Customer Service and Contacts — every published route, and the one number that is not what people think.
- Who Is the Chipotle CEO? — Scott Boatwright, and why most pages are two years out of date.
- Who Owns Chipotle? — shareholders, and the McDonald’s history.
- Chipotle History: 1993 to Today — the full timeline.
- Chipotle Logo History and Meaning — what is documented and what is guesswork.
- Chipotle Bag Design and Collectibles — the author series Yale collects.
- Chipotle Reviews: What the Data Says — aggregate scores, not anecdotes.
- How to Pronounce Chipotle — and what the word means.
- How Many Chipotle Locations Are There? — the current count.
- What Countries Have Chipotle? — all ten, with entry dates.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Chipotle Mexican Grill?
Chipotle Mexican Grill is an American fast-casual restaurant company founded in Denver in 1993, serving burritos, burrito bowls, tacos, quesadillas and salads built to order. It trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker CMG and operated 4,201 restaurants as of 30 June 2026.
Who founded Chipotle and when?
Steve Ells founded Chipotle on 13 July 1993, opening the first restaurant at 1644 East Evans Avenue in Denver, Colorado, in a former Dolly Madison Ice Cream store near the University of Denver. He funded it with an $85,000 loan from his father.
Who is the CEO of Chipotle now?
Scott Boatwright. He was appointed interim chief executive in August 2024 and became permanent CEO and a director on 11 November 2024. He is not Chairman — the board separated those roles and Scott Maw serves as independent Chairman.
Is Chipotle owned by McDonald’s?
No, not since 2006. McDonald’s began investing in 1998 and acquired a controlling stake in September 1999, holding around 87 percent of the combined voting power immediately after Chipotle’s 2006 initial public offering. It sold down through that offering and a secondary, then disposed of its remaining interest effective 12 October 2006.
How many countries is Chipotle in?
Ten as of October 2026: the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Mexico and Saudi Arabia, plus South Korea, which opened in September 2026. Chipotle owns and operates its restaurants in North America and Europe and works with partners elsewhere.
How big is Chipotle?
It reported revenue of $11.9 billion for 2025 and $3.35 billion in the second quarter of 2026 alone. It employed 130,301 people worldwide at the end of 2025 and ranks seventh among the largest US restaurant chains by system sales in the 2026 Technomic Top 500 report.
Methodology
Company figures, leadership, ownership, restaurant counts and historical detail on this page are taken from Chipotle filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, from Chipotle company press releases and from chipotle.com, all checked in October 2026. Where a figure is derived from Chipotle own store directory rather than published by the company, this page says so. Where Chipotle does not publish something, that is stated rather than filled in from third-party sources. Company data changes with each quarterly report; confirm current figures in Chipotle latest filing.