Chipotle eyes Irwin site for new restaurant

Chipotle, a Mexican food restaurant chain, plans to open a new eatery in Irwin.

The Irwin Planning Commission is scheduled to review a land development plan at 6 p.m. Dec. 15 that Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. has filed with the borough for a restaurant at 9174 Route 30 . The site is near the borough’s border with North Huntingdon, along the eastbound lanes of the highway, about a ½-mile west of the Pennsylvania Turnpike entrance.

Zachary Kansler, borough solicitor, told borough council this month that the plans could be available for review and possible approval by council in January.

The 1.2-acre parcel is owned by Betty G. Ratner as the trustee, with a business address in Penn Hills, according to documents filed with the Westmoreland County Recorder of Deeds.

Erin Wolford, a spokeswoman for Chipotle Mexican Grill of Newport, Calif., could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

Chipotle already has two restaurants along the Route 30 corridor in Hempfield — one at the Westmoreland Mall and the other across from Greengate Centre. Both restaurants are along the eastbound lanes of Route 30.

Chipotle is an international chain with more than 3,900 restaurants in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and the Middle East as of Sept. 30. It has more than 130,000 employees, according to its website.

It posted $3.0 billion in revenue in the third quarter and is in an expansion mode, opening 84 restaurants in the three-month third quarter ending Sept. 30, according to its most recent earnings report.