Chipotle Mexican Grill

That's what it looked like. The original Chipotle circa 1993. Now if you look at it closely you might be able to see that this location was originally an ice cream shop called Dolly Madison. Steve Ells found this location and opted to turn it into the first of what would become many Chipotle Mexican Grills .

Within a few years it branched out to 8 more locations in Colorado. And finally, in 1999, Chipotle officially opened up shop in two more states (happily called Minnesota and Ohio).

One additional and earth-shattering event took place in 1999. This was when Steve Ells really started paying attention to his food back when it was still a living creature. Within a year he started serving naturally raised pork (but more on all this later).

In 2006, Chipotle went public and was listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

Today, Chipotle has 1100 locations worldwide (39 states, 3 countries) and I was fortunate enough to try it in London, England. It tasted a bit different but nonetheless I had to check it out. They often taste a bit different depending on the region. I believe the best steak burrito I ate was just outside of Dallas, Texas.

Paris has one coming soon and more are opening every year - all of which are company owned, they don't franchise.