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Steve Ells

22 statements across 4 episodes · 10 bullish · 3 bearish · 2 people on the record · first statement Oct 30, 2017 by Steve Ells · said 6 times in 4 episodes since 2019 · across every show →

On the record as a speaker too: Steve Ells's record, appearances and statements → this page counts the times other people say the name.

Mentions by year

brought up most by Guy Raz (6)

tap a year for its mentions
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0112019202020212022202320242025episodes it came up in
001.50.5312019202020212022202320242025episodesmentions per episode
2025 1 mention in 1 episode
2024 1 mention in 1 episode
2020 3 mentions in 1 episode
2019 1 mention in 1 episode

every mention, scene by scene, with the transcript →

Everything said about Steve Ells, oldest first

Oct 30, 2017
Assertion Supported
Ells: My father invested $85,000 because I couldn't raise the money
“I was lucky to have a father who could invest 85,000 dollars in my first restaurant because I couldn't have raised that money myself.”
Steve Ells Oct 30, 2017 ▶ 43:55 Chipotle: Steve Ells
Oct 30, 2017 positive
Insight
Ells: Chipotle's open kitchen mimics how people gather at dinner parties
“Every time you have a dinner party, people are in the kitchen. People want to be in the kitchen. And so, so Chipotle was designed to invite people in, to bring them close to where the action is.”
Steve Ells Oct 30, 2017 ▶ 17:34 Chipotle: Steve Ells
Oct 30, 2017 neutral
Assertion Partly supported
Ells: Chipotle's peak market valuation reached $21 billion
“Yeah, 21, twenty-one billion, I think, was the highest.”
Steve Ells Oct 30, 2017 ▶ 41:37 Chipotle: Steve Ells
Oct 30, 2017 positive
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Ells: Chipotle funded its second location mostly from cash flow
“So I think maybe he put in a little bit more money, but it was mostly cash flow that opened the second restaurant, and that opened about a year and a half later, and it opened up much busier than the first one.”
Steve Ells Oct 30, 2017 ▶ 24:15 Chipotle: Steve Ells
Oct 30, 2017 positive
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Ells: The first Chipotle location was profitable within months
“Oh, I was profitable in the first few months.”
Steve Ells Oct 30, 2017 ▶ 22:34 Chipotle: Steve Ells
Oct 30, 2017
Disclosure
Ells: Chipotle was originally intended to fund a fine-dining restaurant
“These burrito shops, these taquerias were small the investment would be low the rent certainly was low, and there were lines out the door, and I thought that, that I could make enough money to fund my full-scale restaurant.”
Steve Ells Oct 30, 2017 ▶ 8:48 Chipotle: Steve Ells
Oct 30, 2017
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Ells: I developed Chipotle's original menu the day before we opened
“The menu was developed the day before I opened.”
Steve Ells Oct 30, 2017 ▶ 18:14 Chipotle: Steve Ells
Jun 15, 2020 positive
Opinion
Meyer: Chipotle was the first national chain to offer real gastronomy
“Well, Chipotle, I think Steve and Chipotle really deserve an enormous amount of credit for really being the first national chain to break the barrier that fast food could not be It's gastronomic. There's real cooking that takes place in real time”
Danny Meyer Jun 15, 2020 ▶ 41:10 Shake Shack: Danny Meyer
Nov 9, 2023 neutral
Insight
Ells: Fast-casual hospitality does not require face-to-face interaction
“While hospitality may not be face to face, With the customers, it's providing a really good experience through the app. It's providing reliability on service times. It's making sure that everything that we serve is delicious.”
Steve Ells Nov 9, 2023 ▶ 38:23 When a robot cooks your lunch with Steve Ells of Chipotle and Kernel
Nov 9, 2023
Disclosure
Ells: Kernel will centralize food prep and deliver hourly via bicycle
“So we do all of our preparation, all of the food prep in a central kitchen, and that will service a couple of handfuls of restaurants within a, Five to 10 minute bicycle ride. And we'll put this prepped food into totes and load the totes onto a wagon and pull …”
Steve Ells Nov 9, 2023 ▶ 16:04 When a robot cooks your lunch with Steve Ells of Chipotle and Kernel
Nov 9, 2023 positive
Disclosure
Ells: Kernel needs only three peak-period workers versus twelve at typical restaurants
“And so where a typical fast casual restaurant might have, you know, a dozen folks at peak period Colonel would have three.”
Steve Ells Nov 9, 2023 ▶ 17:25 When a robot cooks your lunch with Steve Ells of Chipotle and Kernel
Nov 9, 2023 neutral
Disclosure
Ells: Founder of plant-based chain Kernel still eats meat and fish
“So Guy, I'm not I don't adhere to a plant-based diet. I still eat meat. I still eat fish. But I've noticed over the years I eat less and less meat.”
Steve Ells Nov 9, 2023 ▶ 11:39 When a robot cooks your lunch with Steve Ells of Chipotle and Kernel
Nov 9, 2023 neutral
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Chipotle Allowed Steve Ells to Launch Plant-Based Chain Despite Non-Compete
“No, I was speaking with Chipotle. Of course I have a non-compete in, in place, but I asked them, I said, well, what do you think if I started a plant-based restaurant, have nothing to do with Chipotle or the fast casual format that Certainly something complete…”
Steve Ells Nov 9, 2023 ▶ 8:20 When a robot cooks your lunch with Steve Ells of Chipotle and Kernel
Nov 9, 2023 negative
Assertion Supported
Steve Ells: Fast-food industry turnover is typically around 165%
“One of the problems is that we see extraordinarily high turnover in the industry. I think it's something like a 165% is, is typical.”
Steve Ells Nov 9, 2023 ▶ 30:05 When a robot cooks your lunch with Steve Ells of Chipotle and Kernel
Nov 9, 2023 positive
Disclosure
Steve Ells: Kernel will offer restaurant workers stock options and full benefits
“And since we only have three people we'll be able to afford those higher wages. Plus I think our Purpose is bigger than our product. Being able to address global warming, being able to address some of the inequality with pay for folks in, in, in the world of f…”
Steve Ells Nov 9, 2023 ▶ 31:08 When a robot cooks your lunch with Steve Ells of Chipotle and Kernel
Nov 9, 2023 positive
Disclosure
Ells: Kernel uses off-the-shelf KUKA robot arms with custom programming
“We bought an off-the-shelf KUKA robot. It's a robot that's typically used on assembly lines. They work 24 seven for years. They're very reliable. Of course, we custom program that. We use an impingement oven that we took and modified.”
Steve Ells Nov 9, 2023 ▶ 22:16 When a robot cooks your lunch with Steve Ells of Chipotle and Kernel
Nov 9, 2023 positive
Disclosure
Steve Ells: Kernel raised $36M Series A to open 15 restaurants
“I just completed my series a round and raised thirty six million. And so, so, you know, that'll take us through the next couple of years and that will be a lot to open up 15 restaurants.”
Steve Ells Nov 9, 2023 ▶ 26:40 When a robot cooks your lunch with Steve Ells of Chipotle and Kernel
Apr 9, 2026 negative
Disclosure
Steve Ells shut down both Kernel restaurants after less than a year
“So we closed down the two Kernel restaurants after less than a year spent a couple of months you know, retooling, and opened counter service”
Steve Ells Apr 9, 2026 ▶ 2:10 Advice Line with Steve Ells of Chipotle
Apr 9, 2026 neutral
What-if
Steve Ells believes Chipotle might have grown larger with better work-life balance
“Maybe it could have been even bigger had I been more balanced.”
Steve Ells Apr 9, 2026 ▶ 40:29 Advice Line with Steve Ells of Chipotle
Apr 9, 2026 bearish
Prediction Not checkable as stated
Steve Ells: Robots will not displace restaurant cooking anytime soon
“And so the, your question, will robots displace that? I mean, maybe someday, but certainly not Not anywhere in the near future.”
Steve Ells Apr 9, 2026 ▶ 4:56 Advice Line with Steve Ells of Chipotle
Apr 9, 2026 positive
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Steve Ells: Chipotle succeeded by ignoring industry demands for broader menus
“In the early days of Chipotle, when I presented the offerings, people said, well, Steve, you just, you're not offering enough to people. They want more variety. And I said, no, no, no, people can make all different kinds of combinations of the base ingredients…”
Steve Ells Apr 9, 2026 ▶ 12:17 Advice Line with Steve Ells of Chipotle
Apr 9, 2026 positive
Assertion Supported
Steve Ells: Chipotle served over one million customers daily upon his retirement
“By the time I retired, 27 years later, I think we had well over a million customers a day.”
Steve Ells Apr 9, 2026 ▶ 33:22 Advice Line with Steve Ells of Chipotle
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