Chipotle upended the restaurant business when it rose to popularity in the 1990s and 2000s, leading the way for a new type of dining experience: fast casual. Fast casual could be defined as a self-service restaurant (meaning there is no waitstaff) that offers made-to-order meals. The phrase, which was coined in the '90s, has also come to imply more elevated decor than a fast food establishment, as well as a healthier menu.
With all this in mind (as well as all of the recent changes Chipotle has made and its eye toward the future), can this chain actually be considered a fast food restaurant these days? Chipotle falls under the fast casual umbrella of restaurants, along with Panera and Five Guys, but it's on a slippery slope; and it has started to bridge a gap between fast casual and fast food. This is in contrast with a time when (during its surge in popularity in the 2000s) it was seen to bridge the gap between fast food and casual dining. Chipotle: Always on the cutting edge.
The chain has taken incremental steps toward embracing more aspects of the fast food dining experience, but seems to pull itself back from the brink before crossing the boundary entirely. How Chipotle became fast(er) casual (a meal consisting of a burrito, chips with salsa, and a soft drink is about five dollars more than a Big Mac meal at McDonald's) and premium ingredients that are assembled right in front of you when you order in-restaurant. But after an E.
coli blip in 2015, the chain did change up.
