Chipotle opens new Fayetteville store with first Chipotlane

Chipotle opened its new 3702 W. Wedington Dr. restaurant in Fayetteville on June 23, and the store arrived with the city’s first Chipotlane, the drive-thru pickup lane for digital orders. The unit still has a walk-in ordering counter and seating area, and it operates daily from 10:45 a.m. to 10 p.m. That mix matters on the floor: one more lane of demand means the line, bagging station, and handoff point all have to move in sync.

The Wedington site adds to a Fayetteville market that already includes Chipotle restaurants at 3379 N. College Ave. and 550 W. Dickson St. A March 10 report described the project as the chain’s third location in the city, a sign that Chipotle is building a local bench as much as a new building. For crews, that can mean more chances to move between stores or move up within the market. Chipotle says more than 85% of restaurant leadership started as crew members, crew can reach Restaurateur in as little as three and a half years, and five regional vice presidents began that way too.

The new format also fits where the company is putting its money. Chipotle reported $3.1 billion in first-quarter 2026 revenue, with digital sales making up 38.6% of total food and beverage revenue. The company opened 49 company-owned restaurants in the quarter, and 42 of them included a Chipotlane. Chipotle first introduced the format in the U.S. in early 2018, then hit its 500th Chipotlane in 2022 and its 1,000th in November 2024.

For workers, that history points to a changing job, not just a changing footprint. Chipotlanes reward teams that can keep make-line speed high without losing accuracy, then bag, stage, and hand off orders quickly enough to protect the promise of digital pickup. That raises the bar on staffing plans around lunch and dinner, and it puts a premium on managers who can schedule, train, and redeploy people fast when the order board starts filling up. In Fayetteville, the Wedington opening is another test of that operating model, and nearby fast-casual employers will be watching the same peak hours.