Chipotle’s new delivery option, Zipotle, will use Zipline’s fleet of quiet, zero emissions aircraft, to make deliveries. [Photo: Chipotle Mexican Grill]

Keller Rinaudo Cliffton
Co-Founder and CEO
Zipline
.…on partnering with Chipotle on full-menu “Zipotle” drone deliveries, starting with a location in Rowlett, northeast of Dallas.

Burrito bowls by drone? Oh, it’s a thing—and it launched today in North Texas. California-based Chipotle has begun flying out its full-menu in a new drone delivery service called Zipotle, starting with a single Chipotle location at 3109 Lakeview Parkway in Rowlett, northeast of Dallas.

In a partnership with the drone delivery company Zipline, “Zip” drones will travel directly to customers’ houses, delivering digital Chipotle orders in just a few minutes of flying time. 

“A small number” of Zipline users will have access to Zipotle starting today, with a broader service launch following in the coming weeks, Chipotle said.

“Zipotle is a quick and convenient source of delivery that lets guests enjoy our real food from places that are traditionally challenging to serve, including backyards and public parks,” Curt Garner, president and chief strategy and technology officer at Chipotle, said in a statement. “Zipline’s commitment to building an efficient, environmentally friendly delivery experience is synonymous with our mission to Cultivate a Better World.”

How Zipotle works

Here’s how Zipotle works, per the company:

:: Customers in the Rowlett area can download the Zipline app on the Apple store or Android store and, if eligible, place their Chipotle order.

:: Employees will place the order into a Zipping Point, which allows Zips to autonomously pick up the order for delivery.

:: After flying to its destination, the aircraft will hover about 300 feet in the air, while the Zip lowers to the ground. The Zip automatically avoids obstacles and gently and precisely places the order at the guest’s address.

:: Starting with the Rowlett location, Zipotle will operate seven days a week, initially from noon to 8 p.m. CT, and will soon expand to 10 p.m. CT.

“With Zipline, you tap a button, and minutes later food magically appears—hot, fresh, and ultra-fast,” Zipline’s Cliffton said. “Starting today, families in the Dallas area can have food delivered by Zipotle and served for lunch or dinner.”      

For more of who said what about all things North Texas, check out Every Last Word.

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R E A D   N E X T

  • Autonomous ground vehicles from Arlington-based Mozee and delivery drones from Miami’s Aerialoop are fanning out across Arlington this week, delivering around 150 boxes of nonperishable food from the Tarrant Area Food Bank to participating Arlington households.

  • PepsiCo’s free Party Pack—which will include Doritos, Tostitos dips, and Pepsi Zero Sugar—will be delivered to eligible Frisco residents by Wing drones Feb. 8-9, in time for the Super Bowl matchup of the Chiefs vs. the Eagles.

  • Fast food keeps getting faster. Thanks to a new partnership between California’s Serve Robotics and Wing, robots will soon be rolling down Dallas-area sidewalks, taking restaurant orders to be plucked skyward by a hovering Wing drone for deliveries “as much as 6 miles away.”

  • Launching at Brookfield Properties’ Stonebriar Centre in Frisco and Hulen Mall in Fort Worth, the service is said to be the first of its kind for shopping malls in the U.S., following a recent pilot program in Virginia.

  • Editor’s update: Sky Elements Drones, which was set to perform in Dallas on Dec. 31, has “informed Reunion Tower that they will not be able to fly their New Year’s Eve show,” Reunion Tower President Dusti Groskreutz said in a statement on Thursday, Dec. 26. “They are doing this out of an abundance of caution following a recent incident as they carefully review their processes for future shows,” he added. The decision follows a Dec. 21 event in Orlando, Florida, where some of the North Texas company’s drones collided mid-air and fell during a light show.  Earlier this week, Sky…