Chipotle Expands into the Fast-Casual Pizza Game

Having conquered the world of fast-casual burrito bowls, Chipotle is applying their concept to the pizza business.

This past May, the company invested in Pizzeria Locale, a Denver-based restaurant that just so happens to also be owned by Chipotle founder Steve Ells’ longtime friends, restaurateurs Lachlan Mackinnon-Patterson and Bobby Stuckey. Ells brought Chipotle’s unique format to the table, suggesting the new restaurant adopt an assembly line counter and lower it prices by using more affordable ingredients. However, although Chipotle became an equity partner in this new venture, Mackinnon-Patterson and Stuckey maintain a majority stake and run day-to-day operations.

Pizzeria Locale offers a total of 10 customer-created combinations. Pizzas are fired up on a rotating oven at 1000 degrees Fahrenheit and are baked in less than two minutes, eliminating the need for constant tending and turning. “It’s really central to making this thing work in a fast-casual format,” a Chipotle spokesman told Huffpo. “With the type of oven that they used at the original Locale, it would be really difficult, given the volume that you you do in a fast-casual environment, to keep all of the pizzas cooking perfectly without tremendously skilled pizzaoili.”

While Pizzeria Locale was inspired by a partnership with the original Pizzeria Locale in Boulder, a sit-down restaurant, the company plans to expand its fast-casual format to two more locations in Denver.

H/T Huffpo