It seems some other folks feel agree with me that the “new” chipotle style is not so good.

http://cheapotle.com/

Chipotle Comes to Your iPhone

According to macrumors a Chipotle ordering tool was added to the iPhone Application store (and then promptly removed).

Update: Chipotle Mobile Ordering has been removed from the App Store for unknown reasons, although users have reported that the app suffered from a number of bugs that may have precipitated its removal.

Bummer. I don’t see much advantage to ordering ahead, but it probably helps Chipotle sell more burritos so go out and get it, everyone!

Chipotle is Headed to London, United Kingdom

Forbes, among others, is reporting about Chipotle’s plans to expand to London. A few years ago they expanded to Canada while copycat restaurants open elsewhere around the globe so now they are heading straight to the UK themselves.

I wonder if the recipes will stay the same or be “Brittified”? I wonder if there are enough farms and ranches around to raise the animals in a way that fits with the Food With Integrity program?

Some of you may have seen “bio cutlery” other plant based plastics. The basic idea is that instead of using petroleum to create the plastics some plant material (usually corn) is used as the basis for the containers. This is often better for the environment in some ways because plants are a renewable resource and these plastics often degrade more quickly.

Chipotle Partners with HAVI/Perseco and Cereplast for Bio Cutlery

In Millbrae California the city government is instituting a ban on non-degradable containers at restaurants. This has restaurants scrambling to find suitable alternatives for their disposable products. This is probably a good idea for restaurants to implement nationwide.

According to this press release:

Chipotle will initially use the cutlery in its Millbrae, Calif. restaurant, with a system-wide rollout in Chipotle’s approximately 800 locations expected in the near future.

This could become another way that Chipotle leads the industry in sustainable and environmentally responsible practices.

Except Chipotle Isn’t Really Planning a Change…

According to QSRMagazine Chipotle isn’t really planning this change…

Currently, through a supplier, Chipotle purchases plastic cutlery made using Cereplast Compostables resin for its one restaurant in Millbrae, California, to comply with a local ordinance. In a Dec. 15 press release, which was not reviewed or approved by Chipotle, Cereplast misstated the nature of the relationship, stating that “A system-wide rollout of up to 800 Chipotle locations is expected in the near future.”

Chipotle currently has no plans to expand its relationship with Cereplast.

One thing that quickly becomes apparent to most visitors of a Chipotle is the furniture and art in the stores. Much like the food, the finishings are a mix of rich style, common materials, and high design. In the cast of the art it's Maya/Aztec style; plywood, stell rod, stainless steel, corrugated metal; and the inspired artistic vision of Bruce Gueswel of MayaTek.

History of Mayatek and Chipotle

According to their marketing materials, Bruce met Chipotle founder Steve Ells during a wedding that they both attended in San Francisco. Shortly thereafter Bruce took on the task of building furniture and art for the original Chipotle in Denver. Since then Bruce has been coming up with new designs and creations for Chipotle restaurants across the nation.

Buy the Chipotle Look for Your Home

Bruce also sells these designs from his shop in Loveland, but don't expect that the everyday materials yield everyday prices. Each Chipotle chair sells for $100 and the art pieces from the walls of the Chipotle sell for several hundreds or thousands of dollars each.

I found this via Digg.

If you are unfamiliar with "rockroll" it is a relatively dumb techy in-joke. The idea is to trick someone into clicking on a link that will send them to a video of a 1980s Rick Astley video. Well, chipotle.com got rick rolled:

This is hilarious to me. If you're a chipotle fan/geek then perhaps this is funny to you...

For a while now I've had this idea to make a purse hook for Chipotle. My good friend Carrie returned from Spain a while ago with a purse hook (see the purse hook site for some photos on the idea if you are unaware of them). This seemed like a really brilliant thing and I started noticing that some bars provide hooks for purses (and other items) under the bar.

The Need for the Hook at Chipotle

Later on, I started noticing the stool+bar situation at Chipotle: pretty atrocious for anyone who has extra things with them. I started tracking meals and restaurants where the lack of hooks under the bar was a problem. There was the time a lady awkwardly moved her purse when I sat down two seats away from her - imagine if the seats were full how awkward a purse on the bar would be. There's the standing room only bar (sorry, fuzzy) in New York where people pile their jackets on the bar because there is no jacket hook under the bar.

Being a problem solver by nature I started to think of ideas for how to build a hook that would fit with the Chipotle style and provide the storage that they need.

My Final Chipotle Style Purse Hook Design

It’s a little late for a 2007 wrap up post, but I’m doing it anyway. With almost 90,000 pageviews from 40,000 people, 2007 was the quite a busy year for Chipotlog.com.

What were your favorite posts on this site from 2007?

Based on popularity ranking (and in order) they are:

1. When Chipotle.com had to take theirs offline, the scan of Chipotle Nutrition Information became a popular page.
2. The Barbacoa Recipe (which has since been determined to be from elsewhere…) is a perennial favorite
3. Everything you need to know about Chipotle Franchises, while a bit of a sarcastic title, was a hit with entrepreneurs while…
4. CMG Stock - Profitable way to Franchise Chipotle is a more practical tip for the Peter Lynch “Invest in what you know” crowd.
5. The interview with the Chipotle (rock star) Employee proved quite popular - perhaps due to people interested in life as an employee of the fine chain.
6. And finally, www.chipotle.com site review has proven popular among the folks interested in their website and some possible ideas for improvement

I’ve also added a new feature allowing people to vote on articles. That way I’ll be able to base the “best” articles on visitor votes instead of based upon just popularity.