Chipotle Mexican Grill to open in Bend

Published 12:16 am Sunday, June 28, 2015

Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. is coming to Bend by the end of the year, a company spokesman stated Tuesday.

The restaurant under construction at 222 NE Emerson Ave., near NE Third Street and NE Franklin Avenue, should open by late fall or early winter, Chris Arnold, spokesman for the Denver-based company, wrote in an email. A San Francisco-based investment firm, which bought the property in August 2013, obtained a building permit June 16 for $334,000 worth of improvements to the structure.

A Jersey Mike’s Subs restaurant is also a tenant in the 8,000-square-foot building erected by general contractor Fortney Contractors LLC, of Portland. The restaurants are located next to Walgreens.

Chipotle would employ 25-30 people at the restaurant, Arnold wrote. Plans filed for the restaurant with the Bend Community Development Department indicate 2,200 square feet of space with indoor and outdoor seating for 94 people.

The company operates 1,755 restaurants throughout the U.S. and several in Canada and Europe. The next closest restaurant to Bend in the chain is in Eugene.

— By Joseph Ditzler