20 New Chain Burrito Openings in Under 3 Years A Sign of the Apocalypse?
Word has come that in addition to the two new Baja Fresh locations, we’re also getting another Chipotle on 7th Ave. btw. 37+38th and another Qdoba on 3rd Ave. and 40th Street. That will bring the total to almost 20 new burrito chains in less than 3 years! Don’t get me wrong… I’ll admit to getting excited about Baja Fresh (Is it real Mexican food? Of course not. But it was my goto lunch when I was broke and living in L.A. for two years.) But overall this trend is kind of worrisome. The chain-i-fication of Manhattan food has been slowly happening for years now, but the bad economy looks like it’s accelerating the whole process. With so much real estate open around the city, big chains are the only businesses with the kind of money you need to expand, and survive through this crappy economy. Sure, I want In N Out Burger, Chick Fil A, and Panda Express to open in Midtown. But not at the expense of Blarney Stone, Cafe Cello, and Hing Won. Can’t we have it both ways?
Thanks to Lunch’er Rebecca for sending along the photo.
Posted by Zach Brooks at 10:30 am, May 18th, 2009 under Chipotle, Qdoba.
12 Comments | RSS comments feed for this post
Chipotle and Qdoba are like Cancers. But we (mostly thanks to you) still manage to find those little hole in the wall places that still make us smile. I don’t think I’ve ever walked out of Chipotle thinking “that was a good idea.”