Best quotes by Steve Ells on Food

Checkout quotes by Steve Ells on Food

• ‟ When our employees walk in in the morning, they see food. They have to cook. At the restaurants, we chop cilantro, onions, and limes two or three times a day. We make guacamole from fresh avocados.

  - Steve Ells
  

• ‟ One of the pivotal moments for me was realizing that our 'food with integrity' approach at Chipotle was satisfying my passion. That's about bringing the best quality, sustainably-raised ingredients to everyone: chicken without antibiotics; beef without hormones. These ingredients were only available in high-end restaurants, not mainstream places.

  - Steve Ells
  

• ‟ Our economic model allows us to invest a disproportionate amount in our food costs. We have a very efficient system: customers go through a single line, the people who serve you are the ones who make the food, and our menu board is not cluttered.

  - Steve Ells
  

• ‟ So much of today's food is based on the exploitation of animals and the environment. Yes, it's cheap, but at what cost?

  - Steve Ells
  

• ‟ The traditional fast food model is built on buying the cheapest ingredients - and that usually means poor-quality, heavily processed foods. But you can use quality ingredients, cook food using classic cooking techniques, and still serve something that's fast and inexpensive.

  - Steve Ells
  

• ‟ If we really want to change the way Americans eat, we need to make delicious, sustainably-raised food accessible to everyone. Most people are not willing to sacrifice taste or pay a lot more when it comes to eating better. That's why the Chipotle model is so important.

  - Steve Ells
  

• ‟ When I started Chipotle, I didn't know the fast-food rules. People told us the food was too expensive and the menu was too limited. Neither turned out to be true.

  - Steve Ells
  

• ‟ Chipotle was going to incorporate all the things I had learned at the Culinary Institute and Stars and really elevate typical fast food.

  - Steve Ells
  

• ‟ When I graduated from cooking school, I went to work at Stars, which was one of my favorite restaurants in the country at the time, and that's where I really learned to cook and to taste food in a discerning way.

  - Steve Ells
  

• ‟ The idea for Chipotle is a sort of combination of food borrowed from Stars and sort of a technique and a service format borrowed from the taquerias.

  - Steve Ells
  

• ‟ I'm very much looking forward to relentlessly focusing on ensuring an excellent guest experience, removing unnecessary complexity from our operations, championing innovation, and pursuing our mission of making better food accessible to more people.

  - Steve Ells
  

• ‟ We're not best in the world at burritos and tacos. What we're best in the world at is building a people culture, sourcing really great ingredients, cooking according to classic cooking techniques, understanding the corresponding economic model and how to tweak that and drive that and provide this really great, new fast food experience.

  - Steve Ells
  

• ‟ Chipotle is really showing that there's a better way to do fast food.

  - Steve Ells
  

• ‟ We want to make the old fast food model irrelevant. We want to make great ingredients and classic cooking techniques accessible to everybody.

  - Steve Ells
  

• ‟ 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.

  - Steve Ells
  

• ‟ Being in compliance with industry standards is less than 5 percent of what companies need to do to make food safe. Company after company finds that out after they have events.

  - Steve Ells
  

• ‟ We can assure you today that there is no E. coli in Chipotle. We have thoroughly tested our food, we have thoroughly tested our surfaces, and we are confident that Chipotle is a safe place to eat.

  - Steve Ells
  

• ‟ I started Chipotle with the idea to create an experience that's fast - and not fast food.

  - Steve Ells
  

• ‟ We have tacos and burritos and things that sound Mexican. But to me, it's about great-tasting food in an atmosphere sympathetic to the food, prepared freshly and served to the customer in a way that's customizable.

  - Steve Ells
  

• ‟ If food is processed - like canned or frozen - you can reduce the risks of pathogens.

  - Steve Ells
  

• ‟ Our commitment to serving produce from local farms and other sustainable sources is one of the ways we are changing the way people think about and eat fast food.

  - Steve Ells
  

• ‟ The bottom line - customers want delicious food served quickly in an interactive format, and they are increasingly unwilling to compromise.

  - Steve Ells