Our investors are here for only one reason: great returns. They want to make money. — Steve Ells Customer Copy Share Image
My father is very supportive of anything that his kids want to do. — Steve Ells Anything Copy Share Image
Focus on just a few things, and do them better than anybody else. — Steve Ells Better Copy Share Image
Chipotle is really showing that there's a better way to do fast food. — Steve Ells Better Copy Share Image
The bottom line - customers want delicious food served quickly in an interactive format, and they are increasingly unwilling to compromise. — Steve Ells Bottom line Copy Share Image
We decided long ago that we didn't want Chipotle's success to be tied to the exploitation of animals, farmers, or the environment,… — Steve Ells Animal Copy Share Image
We want to make the old fast food model irrelevant. We want to make great ingredients and classic cooking techniques accessible to… — Steve Ells Cooking Copy Share Image
If food is processed - like canned or frozen - you can reduce the risks of pathogens. — Steve Ells Canned Copy Share Image
You cannot take shortcuts. We've shown that we can spend more on ingredients, not less, and charge a fair price. — Steve Ells Cannot Copy Share Image
People were asking me all kinds of questions about the business, and I was initially put off. I was like, 'Just invest… — Steve Ells About Copy Share Image
We want to show all of our customers that the industry standards that we had been employing before - which are considered… — Steve Ells Good Copy Share Image
When I started on the very first day with just one restaurant, we used to pick oregano off the stems and chop… — Steve Ells Day Copy Share Image
The first Chipotle was intended to be my source of funding for a full-scale restaurant, a means to an end. But it… — Steve Ells Chipotle Copy Share Image
I was so terrified that the business would not do well and that there would be no way that I would be… — Steve Ells Business Copy Share Image
We can assure you today that there is no E. coli in Chipotle. We have thoroughly tested our food, we have thoroughly… — Steve Ells Chipotle Copy Share Image
The traditional fast food model is built on buying the cheapest ingredients - and that usually means poor-quality, heavily processed foods. But… — Steve Ells Cooking Copy Share Image
I'm very much looking forward to relentlessly focusing on ensuring an excellent guest experience, removing unnecessary complexity from our operations, championing innovation,… — Steve Ells Experience Copy Share Image
If we really want to change the way Americans eat, we need to make delicious, sustainably-raised food accessible to everyone. Most people… — Steve Ells Better Copy Share Image
The economic model was formed by the constraints that I had: a small space, relatively inexpensive building materials, relatively inexpensive investment, a… — Steve Ells Assembly line Copy Share Image
I certainly could've made a lot more money buying cheap ingredients, and people might not have been able to tell the difference.… — Steve Ells Dna Copy Share Image
One of the pivotal moments for me was realizing that our 'food with integrity' approach at Chipotle was satisfying my passion. That's… — Steve Ells Best Copy Share Image
We're not best in the world at burritos and tacos. What we're best in the world at is building a people culture,… — Steve Ells Best Copy Share Image
When I created Chipotle in 1993, I had a very simple idea: Offer a simple menu of great food prepared fresh each… — Steve Ells Atmosphere Copy Share Image
Certainly, in college, I had no idea what I wanted to do, I studied art history and had a great time, but… — Steve Ells Art Copy Share Image
When our folks focus on exactly what is needed to succeed in the restaurants, they should be able to lead themselves to… — Steve Ells Focus Copy Share Image
The earliest recollection I have of being in the kitchen and cooking was in the third grade, and we lived in Germany.… — Steve Ells Being Copy Share Image
Looking inward and understanding where you made mistakes in the past helps you set up for change. — Steve Ells Change Copy Share Image
Despite offering dollar menus and frequent discounts, many of these chains also scored poorly in terms of value. — Steve Ells Chains Copy Share Image
The idea for Chipotle is a sort of combination of food borrowed from Stars and sort of a technique and a service… — Steve Ells Chipotle Copy Share Image
I started Chipotle with the idea to create an experience that's fast - and not fast food. — Steve Ells Chipotle Copy Share Image
So much of today's food is based on the exploitation of animals and the environment. Yes, it's cheap, but at what cost? — Steve Ells Animals Copy Share Image
It is impossible to insure that there is a zero percent chance of any kind of foodborne illness anytime anyone eats anywhere. — Steve Ells Chance Copy Share Image
We have two day-parts, lunch and dinner. We don't have breakfast. We don't have drive-thru. We don't have late night. We don't… — Steve Ells 24 hours Copy Share Image
After operating in three diverse markets, we have determined ShopHouse hasn't demonstrated an attractive unit economic model. — Steve Ells Attractive Copy Share Image
I am deeply sorry that people got sick from eating at our restaurants. It's the worst thing that can happen. — Steve Ells I am Copy Share Image
Think about the systems at McDonald's. It's a very mechanized world, where you take out a highly processed patty. — Steve Ells About Copy Share Image
We have a terrific team, and our managers are terrific managers, but we have made it too complicated for them and too… — Steve Ells Complicated Copy Share Image
If I had taken money from, say, venture capital, they would have wanted a certain return in a certain time period. McDonald's,… — Steve Ells Hand Copy Share Image
