Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. often known simply as Chipotle, is an international chain of fast casual restaurants specializing in bowls, tacos, and Mission burritos made to order in front of the customer. As of June 30, 2024, Chipotle has 3,500 restaurants. Its name derives from chipotle, the Nahuatl name (from chilpoctli) for a smoked and dried jalapeño chili pepper.

Chipotle was one of the first chains of fast casual dining establishments. Founded by Steve Ells on July 13, 1993, Chipotle had 16 restaurants (all in Colorado) when McDonald's Corporation became a major investor in 1998. By the time McDonald's fully divested itself from Chipotle in 2006, the chain had grown to over 500 locations. With more than 2,000 locations, Chipotle had a net income of US$475.6 million and a staff of more than 45,000 employees in 2015.

In May 2018, Chipotle announced the relocation of their corporate headquarters to Newport Beach, California, in Southern California, leaving Denver after 25 years.

The history of Chipotle features Steve Ells, the founder of Chipotle. Ells who graduated from the Culinary Institute of America, dreamed of opening a fine-dining restaurant but ran into the problem most entrepreneurs face; lack of funds. In 1993 he opened Chipotle as a way to make money to fund his fine-dining restaurant. This restaurant then became massively popular and expanded into a large restaurant chain. And it is now a favorite restaurant of mine that makes one of my favorite foods, the Chipotle burrito.