How Much Are Chipotle's Menu Prices Increasing?

No, you are not imagining that higher total on your Chipotle receipt. The Tex-Mex chain says it is raising its menu prices by 2%. "For the first time in over a year, we have taken a modest price increase of approximately 2% nationally to offset inflation," Laurie Schalow, Chipotle's chief corporate affairs officer, said in a statement (via NBC). While the price increases are primarily in response to rising expenses due to inflation, they may also address the trend of people walking out of Chipotle mid-order because of shrinking portion sizes.

Even with higher prices, many restaurants are able to remain profitable — if the customers consider what they are ordering worth the cost they are paying. Despite meeting previous quarters showings of strong earnings and a steady flow of customer traffic for Chipotle, the most recent financial report reveals that the restaurant chain did not meet its predicted target revenue.

It is important to note that food prices in the farm and wholesale areas of the market are  fluctuating even more rapidly than retail prices. Still, just as the prices for some Thanksgiving meal ingredients this fall were higher and others lower than usual, the rise in costs of individual ingredients on the Chipotle menu contributes to the bigger picture.

While poultry prices were 4.5% lower this year than in October 2023, beef and veal prices were 1.9% higher over the same period and are anticipated to increase. Aside from the proteins, dairy and avocado prices are key forces in the increasing food expenses.

Dining out, even at fast casual restaurant chains like Chipotle, has become noticeably more expensive since spring 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic changed how people dine out and how restaurants provide services. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in the years following spring 2020, the price of eating out has increased by 28%, and in the year leading up to October 2024, it increased by 3.8%.