We are gathered here today to mark the passing of one of the oldest Chipotle restaurants in Denver, the location at 13th and Pennsylvania streets.
One of the original, 15-20 pre-McDonald's Chipotles, the store opened in 1998, back before the big-burrito chain -- founded in Denver five years earlier -- became a 700-store conglomerate. (McDonald's invested in Chipotle in 1998 and pulled out in 2006.) It recently closed.
The Capitol Hill spot was “relocated” to the Lowenstein Theater complex on Colfax and Elizabeth Street where access and parking are better, says Chipotle spokesman Chris Arnold. “The lag time was because we got the Lowenstein space a year ago,” he says. But the company had to wait until its ten-year lease on Pennsylvania expired before it could shut down there. With another store at 6th Avenue and Broadway, the company feels like it has the neighborhood covered, he adds.
That’s a wrap. – Jonathan Shikes
