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Chipotle Mobile Ordering Comes to iPhone [Updated]

Monday January 12, 2009 6:55 am PST by Eric Slivka
Burrito restaurant chain Chipotle has launched a new free iPhone application, Chipotle Mobile Ordering [App Store], which builds upon their online ordering system launched in December 2005 and revamped this past October. The application allows iPhone and iPod touch users to customize orders from Chipotle's full menu, pay for their food via credit card, and find directions to their nearest location. The app also allows users to save their orders as "Favorites" to simplify future orders.

Apple's interest in the iPhone as a platform for wireless ordering extends back to a patent application filed by Apple in July 2006 and published in December 2007. The first widely-publicized concept images of how an online ordering app might work were published at about the same time by designer Phil Lu, whose mockups of a Starbucks iPhone ordering app drew significant media attention. While a number of restaurants and third-party ordering systems have deployed web applications compatible with the iPhone and iPod touch, Chipotle Mobile Ordering appears to represent the first major release of a native application for this purpose deployed through the App Store.

Update: Chipotle Mobile Ordering has been removed from the App Store for unknown reasons, although users have reported that the app suffered from a number of bugs that may have precipitated its removal.

Update 2: TechCrunch spoke with the app's developer, and learned that unexpected demand had overwhelmed their servers. The goal is to have the app back online in two weeks, with some bug fixes to help things perform even better.

As it turns out, the company decided to pull the application after a few hours because of unexpected demand that was overloading its servers. User requests were timing out with enough frequency that the team decided it would rather hold off until it could offer a more enjoyable and reliable experience. The current goal is to have it back on the App Store in two weeks, along with some cosmetic changes (many of the user reviews that were left while the app was still available had some complaints regarding the user experience).

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Avaj
Posted: 40 months ago
I saw that

Pretty cool, hopefully more restaurants will follow suit
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ArtOfWarfare
Posted: 40 months ago
Now if only, you know, Chipotle's food was, you know, eatable? Seriously, they may be okay if you're in an area with absolutely no other mexican restaurants, but really, On the Border and Loco Coco's Tacos both blow them away.

... I'd love it is LCT offered something like this.
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Slovig
Posted: 40 months ago
I am going to abuse this. I work next to Chipotle, and there is always a line out the door. And I always order food, almost every night I work.
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puckhead193
Posted: 40 months ago

Now if only, you know, Chipotle's food was, you know, eatable? Seriously, they may be okay if you're in an area with absolutely no other mexican restaurants, but really, On the Border and Loco Coco's Tacos both blow them away.

... I'd love it is LCT offered something like this.


granted its a fast food chain that is also owned by mc'donalds, i think the food is quite good. Granted its a not a real restaurant with waiters and waitresses...
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plumbingandtech
Posted: 40 months ago
Nice. Looking forward to more places using a system like this.
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scotty588
Posted: 40 months ago
I love this place. Their food is a bit expensive though.
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Applecababra
Posted: 40 months ago

granted its a fast food chain that is also owned by mc'donalds, i think the food is quite good. Granted its a not a real restaurant with waiters and waitresses...


Chipotle isn't owned by McDonald's. They were once a majority owner of Chipotle shares however they sold 100% of their stake in 2006.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chipotle_Mexican_Grill

And since it's not a 'real' restaurant, I guess I've been eating my meals at a fake restaurant all this time. :)
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tclary
Posted: 40 months ago
I think I'm going to cry.
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Koodauw
Posted: 40 months ago
This is going to be a great feature. Hopefully more places will adopt this technology.
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tobefirst
Posted: 40 months ago
Hmmm...I'm a bit conflicted about applications like this.

One part of me sees tremendous potential. I like the ability to have "favorite" orders and to pay via the application.

The other part of me thinks about how often I go to any single restaurant (and I do eat out quite a bit) and whether downloading the app would be worth it. In fact, how many different applications from different restaurants would I need *just* to cover the ones I eat at regularly?

The best thing would be a single application endorsed by and containing a wide variety of restaurants with the ability to "favorite" and pay via the application. I might even pay for such an application if it were done well.
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