Chipotle's assembly-line burrito format (1993)
Steve Ells opened the first Chipotle in Denver with a build-your-own burrito line that cut wait times and let customers pick ingredients. The format spread quickly across the country.
Chipotle grew from one Denver store into a national chain.
The assembly-line model became an industry standard that Qdoba, Moe's, and Habanero's all copy.
The Isthmus critic reviewed Habanero's precisely through this lens, calling its meats a step up from the burrito chains the format copies.
