Chipotle Mexican Grill opens Richland Township restaurant
Nov. 8—JOHNSTOWN, Pa. — Chipotle Mexican Grill opened its first location in the Johnstown area on Wednesday at 1431 Scalp Ave., Richland Township, in the University Park Plaza.
The restaurant features a drive-thru pickup lane that allows guests to pick up digital orders without leaving their cars, but a line of customer on Wednesday wrapped around the restaurant as busy workers filled their orders.
The Johnstown restaurant is not franchised, but corporate-owned by Chipotle, said Ian Russ, director of real estate for Zamias Services Inc., which owns the University Park Plaza.
Chipotle is the newest business to lease space in the plaza, next to Dunkin' Donuts.
"For us, it's great to see the positive feedback from the community," Russ said.
He said that Zamias Services is working on more for the Johnstown community.
"Seeing in the comments online, we are looking at other things people would like and not like," he said. "You can't just put stuff in and maybe it will work or not work."
Chipotle's hours of operation are every day from 10:45 a.m. to 10 p.m. Chipotle is also hiring for the Johnstown location. There are an average of 25 jobs per location, a Chipotle press release said.
Landon Steinly, of Westmont, was among the throng of people in the restaurant on Wednesday afternoon.
"I'm a fan of Mexican food," he said, "and Chipotle is good-quality stuff. This is a great addition to Johnstown. I think it will be hopping all the time."
For the past month or so, general contractor Coby Jones, of Venture Construction, said people have been watching him work, asking questions and wandering up to the doors to see if the restaurant had been opened.
"Today, people are coming out happy and smiling," he said.
