See, there is this perpetuation of an idea within startup restaurants that food alone will make a restaurant successful. “If I build it, they will come” is a phrase that has crossed the lips of many doomed would-be restaurant tycoons in training out there. With a total of 60 percent of restaurant failing within the first 3 years, and high as 80 percent within independent restaurants, they don’t need to have their head filled with, “It’s the food, stupid”, as it most certainly isn’t the food that is going to make them successful, it’s their ability to communicate with their target market, and if they are looking to take that next step into multiple units, it’s going to take a very strong business model. As far as the food goes, you can have completely average food, and still have a successful concept. Take for example McDonalds and Applebees, where they word “fresh” is like garlic to a vampire, yet they are each the most successful concepts in their sectors. Though I’m sure Steve Els would take issue with my saying that food quality isn’t what makes Chipotle successful, I still stand by my opinion.

As far as cinnamon and meat go, I have many Mexican counterparts that would take issue with you saying cinnamon is not used as a component for meat dishes outside of mole and desserts. I didn’t learn my Mexican cooking from chain restaurants, I learned it from employees from Mexico, who contend that it is the pinch of cinnamon in their burrito and taco meat, along with the clove, fresh thyme, oregano, and reconstituted dehydrated chile peppers (instead of powder) that make their carne asada, ground taco meat, chicken and pork better than Chipotle’s.

You may not think Chipotle’s are competing with independent restaurants, but there isn’t a chain restaurant in existance that isn’t. The truth is that there are many more independent restaurants than chains, and anywhere you put a Chipotle, there are going to be independent restaurants, and considering the mass migration of Mexican nationals to the U.S., it’s pretty likely there is an authentic Mexican restaurant pretty close, even a fast food one, in a shopping mall or near a college campus.

Great, fast, Mexican food is readily available now in many, many communities, and there are a lot more independent Mexican fast food restaurants than there are Chipotles. It’s great for Chipotle that their business model and marketing make the difference between the independents and them, but don’t credit the food. We don’t need future restaurateurs betting their life savings that their food is better than everyone else’s, because great food is not one of the “5 lessons” to have a successful restaurant. By claiming their restaurant has great food, and providing great food to their customers, a restaurant has only met the minimum expectations of their market, not given them a reason to visit them instead of their competition. For that, you need smart marketing.

When I wrote that Chipolte’s “food tastes better than the competition’s,” I wasn’t comparing it with small independents, but rather with big chains like Baja Fresh and Qdoba, which are its major competition. Chipotle’s dramatic expansion has not been in San Francisco’s Mission District or New York City’s East Village, but rather in shopping malls and near college campuses, where they frankly don’t compete with mom-and-pops. Indeed, the company’s biggest success has come in places like Minneapolis, which is largely terra incognita for the burrito.

I don’t doubt that you can find an “authentic” burrito that tastes better, but I seriously doubt it will be spiced with cinnamon, which is not typically used in meat dishes, especially the sort of grilled steak, chicken or pork that Chipotle sells. (You’re thinking of mole sauces, Mexican Chocolate and other desserts.)

If you bothered to read my entire story, (http://www.usnews.com/articles/business/best-in-business/2008/01/09/chipotles-secret-salsa.html) , rather than just the short sidebar, you’d have seen me go into great detail about the company’s business model, which is based on the idea of a simple menu, fresh, high-quality ingredients and fast throughput by a loyal, full-time workforce. The result: an average annual store volume of about $1.7 million, about 50% higher than the competition.