Steve Ells, founder of the red-hot Mexican-food chain, Chipotle, spoke with BusinessWeek and one of his answers is another example of just how large Apple’s mind share has grown:
BW: What other companies do you admire?
Ellis: Apple. I’ve watched Steve Jobs’ introduction of the iPhone multiple times, and it’s an hour-and-a-half long. I admire his passion for not accepting mediocre stuff. People don’t ask for this stuff, but when they see it, they go, “Oh my God, it’s what I always wanted.”
Thinking about the Apple disciples—I’m not even going to call them customers—it’s as if they have ownership in the product, and they do the selling for the company. There’s also this sense that once people convert, they’re like, “I can’t believe what I have been putting up with all these years.” I hope there is going to be some tipping point when we all say, “My God, why are we putting up with this fast food?” Not that I want everybody to eat at Chipotle every day, but great food is something that everybody should have access to. And people should demand this from every place they eat.
Full article here.
If only we had a nickel for every email we’ve received form Windows to Mac switchers that said, “I can’t believe what I have been putting up with all these years.”
Response to Simple Math:
People pronounce Chipotle chi-pole-tay because they can’t read. The “t” comes before the “l”. In their restaurants, Chipotle has a pronunciation guide so that people can figure it out. It says chih-POTE-lay. However, the ignorants that couldn’t read it the first time probably won’t figure it out in the restaurant either.
“And, on the odd chance you want to figure out how many calories/fat/etc. are in that tasty Chipotle burrito, check this site out: http://www.chipotlelovers.com/calculator.asp
Not for the faint of heart, kids “
You SO suck…my beloved carnitas ‘rrito will never be quite the same.
What makes Chipotle attractive from a business standpoint, vs. their fresh mex competitors Rubio’s and Baja Fresh (and there may be others in this category) – anyway, at Chipotle, they make your order right in front of you. It’s very fast, and you get the extras you want. The other chains take your order, prepare it in the back then call your name or number some minutes later. Not so fast, and not so much opportunity to customize your order.
Angelus:
Well you may know a thing or two but you have a bunch of other idiots running around claiming ZOMGSANDWICHBURRITO NoTasteOLAY is the great!!!one burrito ever…LOL
I was no aware that Chicago was #2 in Mexican population. I thought they might be top 5. That makes it even worse. There is no excuse to think Chipsmokeslay is even a substandard burrito place. There should be a ton of taco trucks or little hole in the wall joints that serve better burritos!
Agree with all the Chipotle-bashers. I’m an Angeleno who can understand what the hell the big deal is. Had it in DC, had it in Chicago, had it in LA: Chipotle makes mediocre food. Absolutely nothing spectacular about it. I only ate half the burrito last time because it was the Mexican food equivalent of eating cardboard…okay, that’s a little harsh, but you guys seriously need to get your ivories on some real food.
There is no one “authentic” style of Mexican food, just as there is no one “authentic” style of American food. I grew up in Tucson, where the style is traditional Sonoran food. Still my favorite *drool*. Quite different from Baja food, which has more fish, or Mexico City food, or any other region in Mexico. What you may consider “the best traditional Mexican food” might not be very traditional in other parts. It’s hard to know all of the styles unless you’ve traveled to all parts of Mexico. A lot of the traditional food has been bastardized here in the US, or changed because of availability of ingredients. As an example, Sonoran food typically didn’t have cilantro. As a result, I really dislike it.
I don’t think that Chipotle claims to be authentic, do they?
Now, if Chipotle would just put wi-fi in all their restaurants, that would be heavenly. Surf the ‘net on my MacBook while chowing down on a tasty monster burrito.
Could be messy though. I’d have to get some kind of clear plastic cover for my keyboard.
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@LMFAO – “There should be a ton of taco trucks or little hole in the wall joints that serve better burritos!”
If you’d bothered to read my opening graph, I said there are a lot of great Mexican places in Chicago – there just aren’t any in the Loop. As far as taco trucks, the only thing I see is a truck selling jerk chicken and the like in front of my building. The lunchtime food selection in the Loop leaves much to be desired.
Angelus and LMFAO
You are both wrong
LA has the second largest Mexican population and Chicago is number three,
Th city with the largest Mexican population is Mexico City.
just for fun, the top 5 largest Mexican citys are
1 Mexico City
2 LA
3 Chicago
4 Quadalajara
5 Monterrey
It’s a shame people can get so pissy about stuff that is so trivial. Even a bigger shame that people start flame wars based on incorrect information – which is standard for the Internet.
1) I live in Houston, where there is plenty of Mexican food and plenty of burrito companies. Chipotle still rocks.
” width=”19″ height=”19″ alt=”wink” style=”border:0;” /> It was eating shredded beef in California that turned me on to the barbacoa at Chipotle. It’s the main reason Chipotle is worthy.
2) I’ve been to California, the food there is great, but not worth putting up with Californians
3) McDonald’s owned Chipotle, then spun them back off – which is why Chipotle is now publicly traded. I didn’t buy at 50, and now I regret it with the stock (symbol CMG) at 63 today.
4) When it comes to eating at local food vans, the locals are usually the ones that tell you to stay away – not exactly the cleanest of places and who knows where they get their stuff. I’d rather meet my bud Brett at the Houston Kirby St. Chipotle.
5) Love visting Austin, they have lots of groovy places – but Chipolte is groovy too.
Mac addict, barbacoa addict, and proud of it….
MDN magic word figures – it figures, now I’m hungry for barbacoa
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How long until the Baybrook Mall (Houston) Apple Store opens?
2 hotinplaya: Mexico City is irrelevent, we were just talking about in the US. Chicago is, accordingly, #2 in the US.
@Angelus: Of course, that is fine. I’m just saying (and it isn’t you) that ChipNOLEY is far from being the best mexican food/burritos as several other idiot uninformed posters postulated above. It is a forgivable offense maybe in a place like Omaha to not know any better but in a place like Chi-city which such a large population, it is a cardinal offense.
Look, just go for the 3 soft tacos. Butt watch out for chipotle’s revenge.
Chipotle in Beverly Hills is often packed. How’s the one over in Evanston?
In some ways, Chipotle and Apple have a lot in common.
They both have abbreviated, simplified “menus” of products (just compare a Chipotle menu to a McDonalds one to see what I mean) and are really focused on doing a few things.
They have carefully-cultivated public images that appeal broadly, but especially to the “hip” youth demographic, and depend a lot on grassroots and word-of-mouth marketing.
And apparently, from the comments here, they both have a lot of detractors.
” width=”19″ height=”19″ alt=”wink” style=”border:0;” /> Both seem to evoke strong, love-it or hate-it reactions.
Chipotle has the best Mexican food of any “chain”. Mom & Pop places are your best bet for authentic food.
@ buster
You have good poutine in Montreal. BTW are you still fighting you guys over French or English signs? i lived 2 years there, man these canadians are really funny… Vive le Quebec Libre !
Now we gonna sue MDN for publishing only in English. We need la loi 101 in United states. Forget English Spanish _ Now we gonna fight for English _ French.
Otherwise New orleans will join Quebec. LOL
Salut, Buster
LMFAO
dont get in a huff, wasnt trying to ruffle any feathers
the qoute was
“I think we know a thing or two about Mexican restaurants here in Chicago considering we have the second largest Mexican population behind LA”
I didnt see a country specified??
I was just trying to point out an interesting fact, that of the top five mexican populated citys, number 2 and 3 are in the USA.
Oh, and you may know what restaurant it is, but Chicago has the top rated Mexican Restaurant in the world, that did not go over well in the local press
(we live in Mexico)
Have you seen their newspaper and billboard ads? Their burritos are made of tin foil! The insides are okay but, aack!, those burritos are tough on the dental work!
People don’t ask for this stuff, but when they see it, they go, “Oh my God, it’s what I always wanted.”
Steve Jobs is reputed to have said that he never asks people what they want because, by the time you make
what they asked for, they want something else.
Never heard of Chipotle. Does it have poutine?
Back in the early to mid nineties we used to vacation in the Hill Country of Texas every summer. We stumbled upon a place in San Antonio that as so good, we went back the next year (from New Braunfels) just to eat there. Glad to see it is still in business and thriving.
http://sanantonio.citysearch.com/review/10098599
Sorry, that was the best link I could find.
@ Angelus520
Beautiful sunrise, somewhat nice day, clear enough to see Chairs Over Redmond, with showers in the afternoon. Lunch at Baja Fresh, sadly, no Chipotle. Chippataple. Chipoodle.