Fire marshal wrangles crowd at Chipotle

ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) - The new Chipotle restaurant is so popular, it's a problem. It's crammed inside, and the outside the lines snake around the building. That prompted a visit from the fire marshal.

Albuquerque Fire Marshal, Curtis Green, said his inspector, “He said the majority of the people were lined up in line waiting for food”.

The long line was expected on opening day Tuesday. But video shows a long line at the Mexican Grill at Louisiana and Menaul Wednesday night.

Lobo receiver Ty Kirk loves Chipotle. He said he knew the wait for food would be long.

“I heard like on twitter that the lines were out the door and people were waiting 2 1/2 hours for a burrito.”

He says his wait wasn't outrageous Thursday but, “There is a lot of people in there.”

A sign clearly states there are only supposed to be 62 people inside. When the fire marshal got wind of the burrito back up, he sent an inspector to check it out.

“When the inspector showed up he did find that there was a lot of people in the building,” said Green.

The inspector and management came up with a plan. For the past few days the line has snaked around the inside and out a side door. That's now marked exit which means the line to get a burrito is now staying outside.

Green said that side door had too much traffic and that the new exit-only system is safer.

“It keeps people from fighting each other going in and out at the same time," Green said.

The burrito joint has also stationed a worker at the front door to keep a head count.

“Now that we know Chipotle is a big hit we will send somebody back to just to monitor make sure they are complaint with our orders,” said Green.

The fire marshal said Chipotle's managers were helpful and made changes instantly to get into compliance. Now that he knows Chipotle is a hit, AFD will be sure to work out a plan ahead of time for handling the crowds if another location opens.