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
When I started Chipotle, I didn't know the fast-food rules. People told us the food was too expensive and the menu was… — Steve Ells 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 Copy Share Image
Chipotle is based on a very simple idea: We start with great ingredients, prepare them using classic cooking techniques, and serve them… — Steve Ells Copy Share Image
For too long, great food has really only been available in high-end restaurants and specialty food markets, but Chipotle is making the… — Steve Ells Copy Share Image
Being in compliance with industry standards is less than 5 percent of what companies need to do to make food safe. Company… — Steve Ells Compliance Copy Share Image
You know, I hate to borrow Apple's tag, but think different. Really. From the very beginning. I didn't know what the fast-food… — Steve Ells America Copy Share Image
Having never taken a business class, the economics of restaurants scared me. I opened Chipotle with the idea that I could step… — Steve Ells Business Copy Share Image
I thought we were going to get customers excited by telling them there were no antibiotics in our meat or no growth… — Steve Ells Animals Copy Share Image
My undergraduate degree was in art history! Raising money for Chipotle was really my MBA. The money for my first restaurant came… — Steve Ells Art Copy Share Image
Our economic model allows us to invest a disproportionate amount in our food costs. We have a very efficient system: customers go… — Steve Ells Economics 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 Copy Share Image
When I graduated from cooking school, I went to work at Stars, which was one of my favorite restaurants in the country… — Steve Ells Cooking Copy Share Image
I use a lot of citrus for seasoning. There's lemon or lime juice in just about everything, and that balances with salt… — Steve Ells Copy Share Image
When I told my friends and family that I was leaving Stars to open a burrito shop in Denver, they thought I… — Steve Ells Copy Share Image
The gimmicks that have driven the fast food sector for years - dollar menus, limited time offers, and merchandising partnerships - are… — Steve Ells Copy Share Image
I remember looking to McDonald's, and, my God, they have 13,000 restaurants in the United States. Well, we have almost a couple… — Steve Ells Food Copy Share Image
I am incredibly proud of Chipotle and our people - and grateful to our loyal customers - and while we are continuing… — Steve Ells Grateful 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 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
We have a terrific team, and our managers are terrific managers, but we have made it too complicated for them and too… — Steve Ells 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
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
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
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 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 Copy Share Image
