LED Lights at Local Chipotle Restaurant

Chipotle: Early Adopters of LED Lighting, More Locations Going Green. A first to adopt LED lighting, Lifespec finds local establishment with Eco-Story LED lights.

Chipotle’s nationwide have been serving up giant burritos for over 10 years now and they’re still popping up in strip malls today.  But back in 2008, Chipotle opened its first “restaurant” designed with LED lighting from inception located at the Mall of America.  Working with LED manufacturer Eco-Story, they collaborated to develop a 5 watt LED lamp that replicated Chipotle’s signature ambience of a standard 50 watt bulb.  Chipotle estimated it would only take 12 months for the energy cost savings to pay for the LED technology.  Being green for over 4 years now, the Mall of America location is definitely rolling in the green as well.  Being fans of burritos ourselves at Lifespec, we wandered into a local Chipotle recently in Lafayette, CA.

Walking into the restaurant, you smell the simmering meats, hear the chatter of hungry customers and see the usual crisp but not overly bright lighting Chipotle is known for shed down upon you.  You know all the things you expect when you walk into a Chipotle.  But this time there was something slightly different.  Looking directly at the light bulbs, we noticed the very familiar shapes and construction of LED bulbs.