After delays, area’s newest Chipotle opens today in Middletown

In a 2017 survey, Middletown residents identified Chipotle as a highly desired restaurant for the the city.

Today, city officials can check Chipotle Mexican Grill off that list when the restaurant opens at 3445 Towne Blvd.

The new Chipotle is located in an outlot of the Towne Mall Galleria in front of the Gabe’s store. The restaurant was slated to open last month but was delayed due to construction delays and other interior finishing work that had not been completed.

Credit: Nick Graham

Credit: Nick Graham

Tyler Benson, corporate spokesman for Chipotle, said the restaurant will have between 25 to 35 employees and all job openings will be listed on its website.

The building features a pick-up window. However, Chipotle’s pick-up window is different from other restaurants as customers have to order their food by a mobile or online device before it’s pick-up.

“Everybody is excited about this project and it is one of the few with a drive-thru,” Tom Harb of Byblos Development Ohio based in Orlando, Fla. said in June. “It’s a good investment.”

The project was approved by the Middletown Planning Commission in February 2019 but was delayed for the outlot at 3455 Towne Blvd. after the developer decided to change the orientation of the building. Instead of facing Towne Boulevard, the entrance was turned facing the other outlot businesses such as Buffalo Wild Wings, Sport Clips, GNC and Aspen Dental.

Gabe’s officials also requested revision to Chipotle’s plans due to the location of the dumpster in the original plan. City officials said the only other change was a reduction in the building size from 2,400 square-feet to 2,314 square-feet. The planning commission approved that change in September 2019.

There are two Chipotle locations near Middletown along Interstate 75 — one at the Ohio 63 exit in Monroe and another at the Ohio 73 exit for Franklin/Springboro.

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