Chipotle Mexican Grill

Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (/tʃᵻˈpoʊtleɪ/) is a chain of restaurants in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, and France, specializing in Mission burritos and tacos. Its name derives from chipotle, the Nahuatl name for a smoked and dried jalapeño chili pepper.

The company has released a mission statement called Food with Integrity, which highlights its efforts in using naturally-grown ingredients, and serves more naturally raised meat than any other restaurant chain. Chipotle is one of the first chains of fast casual dining establishments.

Founded by Steve Ells in 1993, Chipotle had 16 restaurants (all in Colorado) when McDonald's Corporation became a major investor in 1998. By the time McDonald's fully divested itself from Chipotle in 2006, the chain had grown to over 500 locations.

With more than 1,900 locations, Chipotle had a net income in 2013 of US$327.4 million and a staff of more than 45,000 employees as reported in a 2015 CNN Money syndicated report via WTVR.