Chipotle opens this weekend, leading new restaurants at Bremerton Station development

Elsie Carson-Holt
Updated ·2 min read
A new Chipotle Mexican Grill, at right, with an under-construction MOD Pizza franchise at left, will open in the Bremerton Station plaza along Wheaton Way at Riddell Road on Sunday, Dec. 31.
A new Chipotle Mexican Grill, at right, with an under-construction MOD Pizza franchise at left, will open in the Bremerton Station plaza along Wheaton Way at Riddell Road on Sunday, Dec. 31.

BREMERTON — The first new restaurant in the Bremerton Station development along Wheaton Way will open on New Year's Eve.

Chipotle Mexican Grill, now visible along Riddell Road on the northernmost corner of the parking lot where a dilapidated complex was razed several years ago, will open Sunday, the latest step in MAJ Development Corporation's plan that began with a 2022 property purchase for $12.5 million and rebranding of the area as “Bremerton Station.”

The plaza, with several parcels still under construction, has already transformed the stretch of once vacant big box stores with a Planet Fitness and Wilco Farm Store, which opened in 2015 and 2018, respectively. Two new big-box-style storefronts — Grocery Outlet in a renovated building and a Food & Decor flooring store in a brand-new building — will soon join. Neighboring the Chipotle, a MOD Pizza is currently under construction nearest the Shari’s Restaurant, and a construction site between Shari's and Aceituno’s Mexican Restaurant will be home to a Wendy's, planned as the second of that franchise to open in Bremerton in less than year.

More: Two Wendy's restaurants slated to open in Bremerton in 2023

MAJ Development did not return inquires from the Kitsap about construction timelines for the buildings still in the works.

The Chipotle is the first site for the franchise in Bremerton and the third one in Kitsap, adding to one at Silverdale’s Trails shopping center and a location in Poulsbo that opened earlier in 2023. Chipotle is a favorite of fast food fans, offering build-your-own burritos, tacos, and bowls. The company indicated the store would employ 25 workers, and is currently hiring.

The Wheaton Way corridor in East Bremerton is a highly trafficked area, and growing with developments beyond the restaurants and retail at Bremerton Station. Also coming soon to the immediate area is a major housing development, with an apartment project of more than 300 units nearing completion just east of the retail center on Riddell Road, and homes under construction behind the Goodwill Petco shopping center across Wheaton Way, also known as Highway 303, to the west.

Editor's note: This story has been corrected to reflect the total number of Chipotle restaurants in Kitsap County.

This article originally appeared on Kitsap Sun: Chipotle opens at Bremerton Station, MOD Pizza, Wendy's next