A nationwide Mexican food chain is planning to make Irwin the first site in Pennsylvania with an updated interior design for its restaurants.

Chipotle Mexican Grill plans to build a restaurant next year at the site of the Denny’s along Route 30, said Bill Zuccarello, construction manager for Chipotle. The proposed site at 9174 Route 30 is about a half-mile west of the Pennsylvania Turnpike’s Irwin exit.

The Irwin Planning Commission voted unanimously to recommend approval of the land development plan presented by Chipotle and Bohler, a Pittsburgh-based engineering firm.

Irwin council could vote on the land development plan at its January meeting, contingent on Chipotle meeting all requirements from PennDOT and from the Westmoreland Conservation District for its stormwater management plan.

Depending upon when Chipotle obtains necessary approvals, the company could start site preparation in February and have the restaurant open in fall 2026, said Caterina Pagano, an engineer with Bohler.

The new restaurant will be slightly more than half of the size of the Denny’s, which will be demolished, Zuccarello said.

Annie Gradinger, a spokesperson for the Chipotle chain, said the Irwin location would feature “the latest interior design style, which includes new materials, textures and artwork” that honors the company’s history. Zuccarello described the interior design as using more wood; in addition, the kitchen will have more efficient equipment.

The nearest Chipotle with the new design is in Steubenville, Ohio.

A view of the new Chipotle in Manhattan, Kansas — the 4,000th location in the chain — that shows the new interior design. (Courtesy of Chipotle)  

The restaurant, which will employ about 30 people, will have seating inside as well as an interior and exterior pickup line for online orders, Zuccarello said.

The site will have less asphalt than what’s at the Denny’s restaurant and will feature more landscaping, Pagano said.

Chipotle’s practice is to sign a ground lease for the property it occupies, but not acquire the real estate, Zuccarello said. Betty G. Ratner owns the Irwin property as the trustee. The company lists a Penn Hills motel as its business address, according to documents filed with the Westmoreland County Recorder of Deeds.

Zuccarello said Chipotle also is looking at a site along the eastbound lanes of Route 30 in Unity, where extensive site preparation for retail stores has been ongoing for the past few months.

Founded in 1993 in Denver, Chipotle today is based in Newport Beach, Calif. Earlier this month in Manhattan, Kansas, the chain opened its 4,000th location.

Denny’s restructuring

The proposed change in the property from a Denny’s restaurant to a Chipotle comes at a time when the Denny’s franchise is undergoing a restructuring and is being purchased by private equity investment firms.

Denny’s announced last month it reached an agreement on a $620 million deal to be acquired by three private equity investment firms — TriArtisan Capital Advisors LLC, which owns the P.F. Chang’s and TGI Friday’s restaurant chains; Treville Capital Group; and Yadav Enterprises, which owns Denny’s franchises.

Denny’s said it expects the sale to be finalized in the first quarter of next year.

The company also has been closing what it has termed underperforming restaurants, with a goal of eliminating 150 restaurants from a portfolio of about 1,550 restaurants last year. That restructuring began in 2023, according to Denny’s.

As of late June, the company had 1,484 restaurants worldwide, 1,422 of which were franchised and the handful of others were company-owned.

Along the Route 30 corridor, Chipotle has a restaurant west of Greensburg across from the Greengate Center and one east of the city, outside the Westmoreland Mall.

In that same corridor, Denny’s also has a restaurant near the Chipotle west of Greensburg and one in Unity. Denny’s previously closed one of its restaurants at the Smithton truck stop off Interstate 70 in South Huntingdon.

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