National restaurant chain Chipotle Mexican Grill is testing drone delivery, starting here in Dallas. The company is partnering with Zipline, the world's largest autonomous delivery system, on a new service offering called Zipotle, that will drop burritos and a side of guacamole right onto customers' front doors.
According to a release, the service starts on August 21 at 12 pm, with the first location in Rowlett, at 3109 Lakeview Pkwy., when a small number of burrito lovers in the area can access the Zipotle service, with a broader launch in the coming weeks.
The new Zipotle delivery option will use Zipline's fleet of quiet, zero-emissions aircraft, to make fast, convenient deliveries — saving' time and keeping orders "dine-in fresh."
The Zipline procedure is as follows:
- Eligible customers in the Rowlett area can download the Zipline app on the Apple store or Android store and place their Chipotle order.
- Chipotle employees place the prepared order into a kiosk-like "Zipping Point," which allows Zips to pick up the order for delivery.
- After flying to the customer address, the aircraft will hover about 300 feet in the air, while the Zip lowers to the ground.
- The Zip automatically avoids obstacles and gently and precisely places the order at the guest's address.
They use cameras, sensors, and Nvidia chips to avoid obstacles while making a delivery. There's a video of it here.
Zipline droneZipline
Zipline is a San Francisco-based startup that's been working with chains like Sweetgreen and Panera Bread, as well as hospitals and medical companies to deliver medicine and other products. According to the release, they began making autonomous deliveries of medical products to rural hospitals in Rwanda and deliver to roughly 5,000 hospitals and health facilities around the world. Their electric drones can carry up to 8 pounds, travel up to 24 miles, and deliver up to seven times faster than cars stuck in traffic.
This is not the first time that Chipotle has made efforts to deliver by drone: In 2016, they experimented with a similar venture, partnered with Google's parent company, Alphabet, which was only able to make deliveries to a centralized site on the campus of Virginia Tech.
Zipline has already been in Dallas-Fort Worth since March in a partnership with Walmart, when it launched its first full-service operation in Mesquite. Customers within a two-mile radius of the Walmart Supercenter on Highway 80 in Mesquite have been able to receive drone deliveries of over 65,000 products. The service has expanded locally to places like Fort Worth and Waxahachie.
"With Zipline, you tap a button, and minutes later food magically appears - hot, fresh, and ultra-fast," says Zipline CEO and co-founder Keller Rinaudo Cliffton. "Starting today, families in the Dallas area can have food delivered by Zipotle and served for lunch or dinner. What once felt like science fiction is soon going to become totally normal."
Zipline designs, manufactures and operates its autonomous aircraft, pioneering the use of physical AI in commercial last mile logistics. Zipline delivery is extraordinarily quiet and barely noticeable, and food arrives restaurant-fresh – even in wind, rain, cold or Texas summer heat – thanks to its speed and built-in insulation.
Initially, Zipotle will carry orders up to 5.5 pounds and will increase to 8 pounds over time.
