Chipotle said it opened its 1,500th Chipotlane on September 29, putting a long-running store format bet into clearer view. The milestone restaurant is at 16680 SR 64 East in Bradenton, Florida, according to the company and Nation’s Restaurant News.
For families who order dinner through an app and pick it up on the way home, the news matters because Chipotlanes are built around prepaid digital orders, not a traditional speaker-box drive-thru. Chipotle has spent years adding the format as online ordering became a bigger part of how customers buy meals.
Bradenton marks the latest step in a format Chipotle has pushed since 2018
Chipotle introduced the Chipotlane model in 2018, with then-CEO Brian Niccol describing it as a faster option and a better experience, according to Nation’s Restaurant News. The lanes are dedicated to customers who place and pay for digital orders before they arrive, which sets them apart from a conventional drive-thru.
The buildout moved quickly. Within a year of launch, more than 60 Chipotlane locations were open, and by July 2020 the chain had reached 100, Nation’s Restaurant News reported. On September 29, 2026, Chipotle said it would open its 1,500th Chipotlane in Bradenton, a milestone that shows how central the format has become to new development.
Chief Operating Officer Jason Kidd said in a company statement, “Chipotlanes are a powerful growth engine for Chipotle, delivering greater convenience and access for our guests while driving strong restaurant performance.” He said the format will remain central to the chain’s development strategy as it expands across North America.
Florida gets the milestone store, but the strategy is much broader
The 1,500th Chipotlane is opening in Bradenton, on Florida State Road 64 East, giving that city the named location tied to the announcement. Chipotle said it expects to grow its restaurant footprint in Florida by approximately 17% in 2026, making the state a key part of this year’s opening plan.
Companywide, the pipeline is much larger. Chipotle opened 334 company-owned restaurants in 2025, and 257 of them included a Chipotlane, according to the company’s full-year 2025 results and SEC filing. For 2026, Chipotle said it expects to open 350 to 370 new restaurants, including 10 to 15 international partner-operated locations.
The chain’s long-term target is 7,000 locations across the United States and Canada, up from nearly 4,000 restaurants at the end of 2025, according to the company. Chipotle has not released a state-by-state count of Chipotlanes in this announcement, and it has not provided a city list beyond the Bradenton location tied to the milestone.
Why Chipotle keeps building Chipotlanes, and what that means at dinnertime
Chipotle’s own numbers help explain the push. Nation’s Restaurant News reported that digital sales are still near 40% of the company’s total sales mix, and Chipotle said digital sales represented 38.3% of total food and beverage revenue in the second quarter ended June 30, 2026. That gives the pickup lane a direct role in how the chain handles online demand.
Executives have also said the format produces stronger unit economics. Nation’s Restaurant News reported that Chipotlanes generate 15% to 20% higher sales than traditional stores and deliver quicker returns. In Bradenton, the milestone store also includes Chipotle’s Habanero restaurant design and its High-Efficiency Equipment Package, which the company said is meant to improve back-of-house efficiency.
At home, the practical takeaway is convenience rather than a menu change. Families using the Chipotle app or website are more likely to see pickup built into new-store designs, especially in expanding markets like Florida. The company said the format is designed around access, speed and digital ordering, and those features are now part of 1,500 Chipotlane locations.