Steve Ells
Co-founder 1993Background
Steve Ells was the primary founder of Chipotle Mexican Grill, opening the first restaurant in San Francisco in 1993 with a $80,000 loan from his father. His defining founding philosophy was 'Food with Integrity,' a radical belief that fast food could be made with high-quality, sustainably sourced ingredients rather than frozen, pre-processed commodities, a stance that initially caused severe supply chain bottlenecks and near-bankruptcy before securing a $50 million investment from McDonald's in 1998.
Role at Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc.
Chipotle was founded in 1993 by Steve Ells, a classically trained chef whose original ambition had nothing to do with building a fast-food empire. The founding of the company occurred in Denver, Colorado, and represents an accidental disruption of the American restaurant industry. Steve Ells had attended the prestigious Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York, and subsequently worked as a line cook at Stars, a legendary high-end restaurant in San Francisco run by Jeremiah Tower. Ells' ultimate dream was to open his own fine-dining establishment. However, he lacked the capital required to launch a high-end restaurant. While living in San Francisco's Mission District, he became obsessed with the foil-wrapped burritos sold at local taquerias. He recognized a financial opportunity: he could apply classical, high-end cooking techniques (fresh ingredients, proper marination, open-flame grilling) to this efficient, fast-food format. Ells borrowed $85,000 from his father to open the first Chipotle Mexican Grill in a former ice cream shop near the University of Denver campus. His business plan calculated that he needed to sell 107 burritos a day to break even. Within a month he was selling over 1,000 burritos a day. The concept of 'fast-casual'—offering food quality significantly higher than McDonald's but at a speed significantly faster than a sit-down restaurant—was a sensation. Ironically, McDonald's recognized the immense potential of the model and became an early investor in 1998, pouring $360 million into the company and fueling its national expansion before fully divesting its stake during Chipotle's successful 2006 IPO. While Steve Ells was ultimately ousted following the food safety crises, his foundational insistence on applying fine-dining principles to fast food permanently altered American eating habits.