Sometimes the future tastes like guac dropped from above.
As Delish reports, Chipotle has announced a new partnership with Zipline—the world’s largest autonomous delivery system—to launch Zipotle, a drone-powered delivery service that brings fast-casual Mexican cuisine straight out of the sky.
Now, select customers in the Dallas-area suburb of Rowlett can order the entire Chipotle menu straight to their backyard via autonomous aircraft called Zips. (Yes, that’s an actual burrito with flight privileges.) All they need is the Zipline app, and if they’re lucky, their food lands gently at their doorstep.
Here’s how it works in five tasty steps:
- Order on the Zipline app.
- Chipotle staff place your meal into a “Zipping Point.”
- A Zip picks it up, takes off into the sky, and hovers at around 300 feet.
- A drone descends, lowering your Chipotle bag with pinpoint precision.
- Voilà: real food, in minutes, with zero traffic.
“As soon as you tap a button, food magically appears—hot, fresh, and ultra-fast,” Keller Rinaudo Cliffton, Zipline’s CEO, said in a press release. Chipotle echoed the vibe: “Zipotle lets guests enjoy our real food from places that are usually drone-resistant, like backyards and parks,” said Curt Garner, Chipotle’s CTO.
And no, (double-checks calendar) this isn’t a delayed April Fools’ joke. Zipline’s delivery tech is battle-tested—100 million autonomous miles flown, 1.6 million completed deliveries, and zero-emission aircraft. Initially, Zipotle can carry orders up to 5.5 pounds (encompassing all the meat, cheese, sour cream, and salsa you can imagine), with plans to raise that limit to 8 pounds. It costs $2.99, plus a service fee of up to $6, and will operate from 12–8 p.m. CT, soon expanding to 10 p.m.
Chipotle may have “the burrito experience,” but now they mean it literally. While it’s only available in the Dallas, Texas area for now, if this new delivery service flies (pun intended), then you may well start seeing the sky raining chips and guac in your neck of the woods.
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