One of Peter Lynch's tactics in "One up on Wall Street" was to watch what his wife and daughters bought and where they shopped. I guess it is no secret that teens love Chipotle and just about everybody else I know loves it too. But I may have underestimated just how much.

I live in Denver, birthplace of Chipotle, and ate in the very first store.
So, I guess I live in the most mature Chipotle market there is. What I am seeing here is nothing short of amazing.

My son just graduated from High School and Chipotle gift certificates were de riguer as graduation gifts. I quiz his friends about how many times they eat there per week...."two or three"...would you eat there more if you could?..."I'd eat there every day if I could"

Chipotle just did a promotion for the local food banks. Bring in a non-perishable food item and get a free burrito. We have three Chipotle's very close to our house. The first one? Line waaay too long, out the door and down the street. The second worse than the first. The third and last, just as bad, line down the side of the building around the corner past the smelly, over-stuffed dumpster and curling along the wall of the next building over. The buzz in the crowd? One hour from the smelly, over-stuffed dumpster 'til burrito heaven. How many left? None.
Got there at 7:00 had my burrito at 8:00 and the line was still at the dumpster.

How many were there supporting a good cause? Some probably, but it would have been much easier to just find a food bank and donate. How many wanted free food? A few, but wait for upwards of an hour? Nope, they wanted Chipotle burritos for free.

I think we got us quite a convergence here. Wildly popular product, loyal customers, great marketing, community minded, innovative promotions, on the leading edge of the organic movement at just the right time. Healthy, (if you choose it to be) great tasting, fast food.

Bill Mann speaks of Buffalo Wild Wings as the next Starbucks. My intuition tells me that Chipotle's prospects in that regard are at least as good, if not better. Think McDonald's in 1955. I will be adding to my position on the inevitable dips and holding this one for a very long time.