Chipotle to Add Drive Through Lanes

Before anyone gets too excited about Chipotle’s announcement that the compay will be adding drive-thru lanes, you won’t be able to order any food at them.

The mobile drive-thru windows, which are expected to pop up at Chipotle restaurants across the U.S., will allow customers to pick their food up at the window rather than go inside.

Customers will be given a pick-up time once they place their order and can drive through the mobile order lane to grab their meal.

Stores in Ohio, Texas, Massachusetts, and Tennessee already offer the feature and more locations are on the way.

“[CEO] Brian [Niccol] has said very well that Chipotle has this huge opportunity ahead of us as it relates to access,” said Curt Garner to CNBC. He is the chief digital and information officer at Chipotle.

“We still only have 2,500 locations. There are plenty of places and occasions for us to continue to grow into. But as we’ve looked at access, we’ve also looked at it in terms of different restaurant formats and these mobile drive-thru pick-up restaurants are part of that.”

“As we are looking at our real estate pipeline, part of the criteria that has been introduced is to understand how many of those sites might lend themselves to that experience, even if we don’t open them immediately with [the mobile lane] enabled,” he said.

“The idea of having a mobile pick-up station or a dedicated lane makes a lot of sense because anything that makes it more convenient for the guest has been proven to drive sales,” remarked BTIG analyst Peter Saleh to CNBC.

Disclaimer: We have no position in Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (NYSE: CMG) and have not been compensated for this article.