[ALERT] Chipotle At it Again with Plans for New Unit in Augusta

Chipotle Mexican Grill, which has in recent years added dozens of new locations in Georgia including those in Commerce, Oakwood and Braselton, is at it again with a new restaurant planed for Augusta.  

The new Chipotle, at 2999 Washington Road, may be familiar to some as the 3,300 square foot building it will occupy was constructed about a decade ago for PDQ, a Florida-based chicken chain. (A former Circle K gas station and convenience store was demolished to make way for the restaurant.) PDQ opened in the building in March 2016 but was closed by December 2017.  A Whole Foods that anchored the revamped Washington Crossing shopping center behind which the Chipotle is opening, opened in September 2014 but shuttered in February 2017.  

A vehicle buying facility from Charlotte-based EchoPark Automotive opened in the former PDQ in late 2021 but closed in June 2023.  

A second PDQ in nearby Evans closed in 2019 and later reopened as a new location of Slim Chickens, yet another growing chicken franchise.  

Although it's in a separate outparcel, Chipotle's opening in front of Washington Crossing comes at a time of renewed excitement for the center following the January debut of FreshTake Grocery in the former Whole Foods space.  The new independent grocery is owned by Jackson Mitchell, a fourth-generation grocer whose family owns Albertville, Alabama-based Mitchell Grocery Corp. and runs five Little Giant Farmers Market stores in greater Atlanta.  In a nod to the Augusta National Golf Club less than two miles away, the store even includes a putting green.  

Chipotle's opening and its accompanying "Chipotlane" will likely be a welcome addition to the area for busy families, but likely not as welcome to the owners of Surcheros Fresh Mex, a similar restaurant with an existing endcap location within the shopping center that opened in July 2022.  

Currently, Chipotle has three locations in the Augusta area: on Washington Road in Evans, Robert C. Daniel Parkway in West Augusta, and East Martintown Road in North Augusta.

Georgia and its 117 Chipotle locations is the chain's eighth largest market by unit count, close behind Maryland's 119, but far from the national leader, California and its 499 locations.  

Are you excited for the opening of Chipotle in Augusta? What is your favorite quick serve chain?  Have you been to FreshTake Grocery?  

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