Newest Chipotle in Apopka opens with drive-thru "Chipotlane"
On Dec. 14, Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. (NYSE: CMG) opened an outpost at 1215 W Orange Blossom Trail in Apopka. The good news for locals is that they won’t have to exit their vehicles to get their food.
The restaurant will feature the brand’s drive-thru pick-up lane Chipotlane, a centerpiece of Chipotle's growth strategy. The first few dozen Chipotlanes opened in 2019, and by 2022, more than 500 Chipotle locations had the drive-thru feature. There are 3,304 Chipotle restaurants in the United States as of Dec. 05, 2023.
Given that each Chipotle restaurant has only about 25 workers, the company may look to Hyphen, a robotics-powered system that automates bowl and salad building, to make Chipotlane available, and optimally productive, at all its restaurants. Approximately 65% of all Chipotle digital orders are bowls or salads, according to a company news release.
The robotic support should give Chipotle workers more bandwidth to make burritos, tacos, quesadillas and kid's meals from the same digital orders, said the company statement.
