It is safe to say that Chipotle founder Steve Ells has rewritten the rules of fast food. It turns out that you really can serve sustainably sourced ingredients en masse.
Since 2006, Chipotle's revenues have tripled to $2.2 billion. Today, there are more than 1,200 restaurants in the U.S., U.K., and Canada, with plans to open 165 additional outposts this year.
But long before there were billions in sales, or even organic beans, there was a guy from Boulder banking on the success of a small burrito shop.
Ells was an unlikely candidate to start a fast food empire. He was trained in classical French cooking at the Culinary Institute of America, and he had aspirations of opening his own fine dining establishment.
Post-culinary school, Ells moved to San Francisco to work under the tutelage of celebrity chef Jeremiah Tower. While living in the city, Ells was inspired by watching an assembly line of workers at a local taqueria, efficiently feeding hungry masses of patrons.
Ells thought that this model could prove to be very profitable, and opening a fast food Mexican restaurant could be the "cash cow" he needed to fund his fancy establishment. He was confident that adding fresh ingredients would heighten its appeal, according to Knowledge@Wharton.
Ells took the entrepreneurial leap in 1992. He quit his job, went back to his home state of Colorado and searched for the funds to start his company.
He pitched his idea to everyone he knew, yet no one thought it was a viable plan. After unsuccessfully soliciting dozens of people, one real estate broker got behind him, according to Rocky Mountain News.
With an $85,000 loan from his father and the realtor's help, Ells found and renovated an old ice cream parlor near the University of Denver.
The first-ever Chipotle was a huge success.
Only July 13, 1993, the first Chipotle was born, and was instantly a hit. Within six months, sales reached $3,000 a day and the restaurant's second Denver outpost opened in 1995, according to Rocky Mountain News.
Once the word on Chipotle got out (thanks to some rave restaurant reviews), people would flock from all over Colorado for the fresh burrito and taco experience. Lines snaked out the door and down the block, according to CNNMoney.
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