Chipotle shuts down all Denver Chipotle Pizza shops. Workers offered positions at other locations. Pizzeria Locale rebranded as Pizzeria Alberico.
Chipotle gambled and diversified from its original burrito business some years ago. The company put money into Pizzeria Locale, a Neapolitan pizza business based in Colorado. That risk did not pay off, unfortunately. Recent news articles have said that all remaining Chipotle Pizza shops in Denver, Colorado will be closing permanently.
In 2003, Boulder was home to the debut of Pizzeria Locale. The investment from Chipotle in 2013 allowed the chain to open restaurants in both Kansas City, Missouri, and Cincinnati, Ohio. However, in 2018, Chipotle stated it will be closing all of its Pizzerias outside of Colorado, signaling early symptoms of problems for the brand.
Chipotle has expanded its presence in the Denver area with the opening of several new restaurants in the years following Pizzeria Locale’s departure from the Midwest. KUSA reports that the most recent of these opportunities occurred in January of 2023.
It was unclear why Chipotle decided to close the last five Pizzeria Locale restaurants. Chipotle confirmed the closures in a statement, but did not provide any explanation for why they were discontinuing the pizza chain altogether.
We will be dissolving Pizzeria Locale and closing all five locations on July 10. Chipotle’s chief corporate relations officer Laurie Schalow stated in a statement that affected workers would be offered positions at other Chipotle locations in the Denver region.
If you’re a fan of the original Pizzeria Locale, you’ll be happy to know that it’s still in business—under a new name, Pizzeria Alberico.
Over the years, Chipotle has backed a number of various restaurant concepts, many of which have failed. Due to declining revenues, the company closed all 15 locations of its fast-casual ShopHouse Asian Kitchen business in 2015. Chipotle also decided it wasn’t profitable to keep open its lone Tasty Made burger location in the state of Ohio in 2018, thus it closed its doors that year.
Farmesa is the newest restaurant from the successful Mexican business, and it can be found in California. They serve meals in bowls that include protein, grains, and veggies.
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