Chipotle Coming to Telegraph?
It appears from local recon that Chipotle is going to move into the old Greg’s Pizza location on Telegraph. Currently, the closest Chipotle location is down at Gilman and San Pablo, but I know students who are obsessed enough to drive down there and get it now.
Anybody see this having a positive impact on the previously discussed situation on Telegraph? I see throwing another fast food place in an area oversaturated with food simply displacing other competitors. Chipotle simply is not going to bring new business to Telegraph that wouldn’t already be there.
i’m located in a building on northside, and i’ll walk over to southside more often to get my chipotle fix for lunch. too bad the gap isn’t coming back too.
Comment by chipotle lover — June 7, 2006 @ 10:26 am
Commenter #1, I say again, as I have said before in Calstuff threads, that it is NOT too bad the Gap is gone. I worked there. It blew. The managers were basically all idiots, the customers were worse, and if it wasn’t for ganja I don’t think I could have even lasted the two months there that I did.
As for the impact of Chipotle - I think we’re going to just see one business come and another one go (La Burrita). The good news is that it might get La Burrita to lower its prices. The bottom line though is that while their veggie and guacamole burrito is bomb-diggity, a Chipotle on Telegraph is by no means a silver bullet.
The real silver bullet is whatever bullet is used to shoot all those filthy teenage drifters. It doesn’t even have to be made of actual silver. Although that would help if any of the meth-addled hobos happen to also be werewolves (which is possible).
Comment by John — June 7, 2006 @ 11:14 am
John: You’re one of my favorite people. I’ve got a little hearing to deal with later… but you want to hit the bars after? Probably around nine. My guess is that it will be a victory celebration.
Comment by Andy R. — June 7, 2006 @ 12:04 pm
Bringing in businesses that students will actually go to is the objective. Fast food (relatively) is something that students want/use, and the evidence for this is pretty overwhelming. I think the real problem lies in something my friend told me when I mentioned that telegraph needs more restaurants. He said, no, telegraph needs less hippies. I think there’s some truth in that too.
Comment by Megan — June 7, 2006 @ 12:44 pm
Telegraph definitely needs fewer hippies and teen burnouts.
Hell, all of Berkeley needs fewer hippies. The sixties are over, people.
Comment by Bhanu Singh — June 7, 2006 @ 12:50 pm
Comment #5, What hippies are you talking about? There are virtually no hippies left in Berkeley. Are you refering to the druggies and vagabonds that roam the streets of Berkeley or the vendors that are pseudo-hippies projecting an image to the tourists so they will buy their shitty merch.?
Teenie boppers from Berkeley High are problematic, but hippies, what hippies?
Comment by Anonymous — June 7, 2006 @ 2:15 pm
chipotle is amazing. this is the best thing telegraph could ever hope for. well, aside from the bullet to the bums suggestion…
Comment by chipotle lover — June 7, 2006 @ 2:16 pm
I do agree that this won’t bring much new business to the area, rather just shift the current food buyers to their store from others. I personally think Chipotle is “okay” but (considering I come from southern california) it ain’t the greatest Mexican food. I still think La Burrita is in a fine situation because the price difference is still significant.
What is significant about this store coming to Telegraph is that, whether it pulls a good profit or not, it will be able to withstand the ridiculous rent of the property. Large chains can afford this by making up for the loss with the profits of other locations. Tiny chains or single store establishments definitely cannot afford to be on Telegraph unless they have stellar sales. Gap has been there for at least 17 years, so I feel that is a slightly different case.
Comment by Eddy C — June 7, 2006 @ 3:07 pm
Who really cares who moves into Telegraph at this point? Putting a dent in the astronomical vacancy rate, by virtually any store, is probably a good thing.
That being said, I certainly think there are good and bad businesses. Cody’s was the best. Something should be done to save it, just as folks did for Kepler’s in Menlo Park.
Comment by Bhanu Singh — June 7, 2006 @ 3:14 pm
I’m Mexican, like from Mexico…and I say Chipotle is by far more authentic than La Burrita. When I saw that comming soon…damn that made my day…lol.
Comment by Anonymous — June 7, 2006 @ 3:17 pm
that coming soon sign*
Comment by Anonymous — June 7, 2006 @ 3:17 pm
I think it will help by getting rid of the unsightly vacancy, and actually fills a gap in food available on Telegraph if, as you say, you know people who drive down to a Chipotle elsewhere.
La Burrita always has a line, so it won’t be displaced. Also La Burrita will still get the late-night customers.
Greg’s was one of three pizza places along with Blondie’s and Fat Slice and so there was a bit of over-saturation there.
Comment by Jim Fung — June 7, 2006 @ 3:22 pm
Jim Fung makes the fine point that Chipotle will likely not stay open until 2 AM and, thus, La Burrita will definitely not be closing since it will continue to get the late night stoner/drunken munchie dollars.
Andy: While I am glad to be one of your favorite people and wish you luck at the hearing, I will not be able to bar it tonight due to summerschoolish bullshit.
Finally: This thread is making me really hungry.
Comment by John — June 7, 2006 @ 7:51 pm
I heard chipotle was moving in a year ago when Greg’s closed from a friend, but the nothing came from it till now. Perhaps the slow berkeley approval process at work?
Comment by Simon — June 7, 2006 @ 8:38 pm
Telegraph definitely needs fewer hippies and teen burnouts.
Hell, all of Berkeley needs fewer hippies. The sixties are over, people.
That’s what Berkeley is. That’s like complaining about Texas, because it has too many cowboys. If you don’t like hippies, just get your goddamn ass to Palo Alto. That’s all you conservative undergrads do anyway… bitch…bitch…bitch…
Comment by jonp — June 8, 2006 @ 8:17 am
Chipotle is owned by the McDonalds Corporation. Let the protests ensue…
Comment by Anonymous — June 8, 2006 @ 10:14 am
Chipotle was never a McDonalds company. McDonalds only invested heavily in it when it was still small, but never had much of a stake in its operations.
Very recently McDonalds has divested almost completely from Chipotle anyways…so now Chipotle is pretty much it’s own entity.
Comment by Eddy C — June 8, 2006 @ 12:57 pm
Gregs was the best slice of pizza of 3 very shitty selections. Chipotle will need to do a build out, which looks like it has not happened yet. They might be open for welcome week if they hustle. Telegraph needs to close the street to traffic. The Berkeley Planning commission should go visit State street in Madison.
Comment by odd beer — June 8, 2006 @ 1:53 pm
odd beer is right about gregs and traffic.
personally, i still think they need to go after the fucking landlords to get them to come down on rent. and bring in decent places… like a lanesplitter pizza, or an actual quality deli and/or bagel place.
Comment by mano — June 8, 2006 @ 4:10 pm
Daily Cal reported this a LONG time ago. Old news.
Comment by Happy Gilmore — June 8, 2006 @ 9:47 pm
calstuff sucks.
There are no hippies in Berkeley. Rent is sort of high. They are all in Humboldt county and the Santa Cruz mountains.
Comment by cp — June 9, 2006 @ 6:09 am
why did Mcdonald’s get out of chipotle? Where ever I’ve seen one it was doing well. Makes no sense.
Comment by anon — June 12, 2006 @ 3:46 pm
Here’s the answer to my own question. Even if they grow it to 1,000 restaurants it’s still a ‘drop in the bucket’ and they didn’t want to deal with it.
SMALL FRY. On Sept. 21, McDonald’s announced that it would spin off a minority stake with a Chipotle IPO. Neither Chipotle nor McDonald’s would give the size of the investment that McDonald’s has made, but analysts believe that an IPO would raise at least $1 billion.
So, if Chipotle is that hot, why does McDonald’s want to sell a portion of it? Because the burger behemoth is too busy focusing on its own kitchen, intent on maintaining the growth momentum of the last couple of years. Says McDonald’s CEO Jim Skinner: “We believe this action will highlight Chipotle’s performance and unique characteristics, which are currently overshadowed by the larger McDonald’s global business.”
Indeed, even if Chipotle were to more than double in size, to 1,000 restaurants, it would still be a drop in the bucket for McDonald’s, whose 30,000 restaurants worldwide have revenues of some $19 billion.
Comment by anon — June 12, 2006 @ 3:49 pm