Steve Ells Pivots from Burritos to Sandwiches with Counter Service

The New York-based shop, which launched last year, represents a significant departure from the standardized textures of mainstream fast food. Ells emphasizes that his new menu relies on slow-roasted meats, house-made bread, and scratch-made sauces. He argues that the market has become saturated with uniform, machine-processed food, and his current focus is on the imperfections of artisanal production.

Counter Service is scheduled to expand into Charlotte and Dallas next year. Behind the rustic branding, the operation utilizes a sophisticated backend system to predict sales volume based on local traffic, weather, and transit patterns. The technology also flags assembly errors, ensuring that the labor-intensive kitchen maintains consistency despite the complexity of its menu. For Ells, who consumed his own Chipotle creations for 27 years, this shift is a personal evolution toward a model that prioritizes the craft of food preparation over sheer volume.