Locals flock to Chipotle

Got a craving for guacamole and chips? How about a burrito stuffed with steak, salsa, sour cream, beans and cheese, or some other combination of traditional Mexican fare?

If you haven’t already visited the La Cañada Town Center’s new Chipotle Mexican Grill, this Friday, Nov. 14, might be the time to enjoy some great food and help raise money for the La Cañada High School Spartans in the process.

The gourmet burrito restaurant — which officially opened last week in La Cañada — will donate 50% of its proceeds to the Spartans during the three-hour, 4:30 to 7:30 p.m., Friday fund-raising event.

This is the first of what’s expected to be many ways the restaurant supports school and youth organizations in the community.

“High schoolers are our best customers, so, this is a way we can give back,” said Alonzo Cudd, a representative of Chipotle’s marketing department. “We never stop, we do a lot of [the community fund raisers],” Cudd added.

The restaurant also “gave back” to the community in other ways during a two-day free food enticement leading up to the grand opening.

Lines of La Cañada residents and business people were treated to a sampling of burritos, tacos and salads last Wednesday and Thursday during the restaurant’s employee training and community food giveaway.

And, the sample evidently wasn’t enough Mexican food to adequately overstuff all of the community.

Additional enormous crowds gathered Friday for the official opening of the restaurant, which included a drawing for free burritos for a year for one lucky diner.

The three days of pre- and actual opening went beyond expectations, Cudd said.

“It was amazing, we’re so happy; it went really, really well,” he said.

“This was the third-best opening in the history of the Pacific region,” Cudd, said, adding that the region includes California, Nevada, Washington and Oregon.

“I don’t think anyone expected La Cañada to be such a big opening; it was crazy,” he said.

Cudd estimates about 1,750 people were served in a single day during the three-day burrito blitz. And, though he can’t estimate the amount of guacamole produced for the event, Cudd said he gave away four cases worth of samples of the almost addictive avocado substance in a two-hour period.

Although Chipotle is thought of by some as a fast-food restaurant, the chain restaurant offers what it terms naturally raised meats, “an increasing percentage” of organically grown beans, and hormone-free dairy products.

Chipotle Mexican Grills Chairman and CEO Steve Ells calls it “food with integrity.”

“We are changing the way the world thinks about and eats fast food,” Ells said, in a press release about the La Cañada opening. “For too long, great food has really only been available in high end restaurants and specialty food markets, but Chipotle is making the same gourmet quality food available and affordable so everyone can eat better.”