Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc (CMG) SEC Filing 10-K Annual report for the fiscal year ending Thursday, December 31, 2015

Exhibit 99.1

PRESS RELEASE

Investor Relations:

Mark Alexee

303-605-1042

Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. Announces Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2015 Results;  

CDC Investigation Over; Chipotle Welcomes Customers Back to Restaurants

Denver, Colorado  – (Business Wire)  – February 2, 2016  – Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (NYSE: CMG) today reported financial results for its fourth quarter and full year ended December 31, 2015.

Highlights for the fourth quarter of 2015 as compared to the fourth quarter of 2014 include:

Highlights for the twelve months ended December 31, 2015 as compared to the prior year include:

“The fourth quarter of 2015 was the most challenging period in Chipotle’s history, but the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has now concluded its investigation into the recent E. coli incidents associated with Chipotle. We are pleased to have this behind us and can place our full energies to implementing our enhanced food safety plan that will establish Chipotle as an industry leader in food safety. We are extremely focused on executing this program, which designs layers of redundancy and enhanced safety measures to reduce the food safety risk to a level as near to zero as is possible. By adding these programs to an already strong and proven food culture, we strongly believe that we can establish Chipotle as a leader in food safety just as we have become a leader in our quest for the very best ingredients we can find,” said Steve Ells, founder, chairman and co-CEO of Chipotle.

Fourth quarter 2015 results

Revenue for the quarter was $997.5 million, a 6.8% decrease compared to the fourth quarter of 2014. The decrease was due primarily to a 14.6% decrease in comparable restaurant sales.  The decrease in comparable restaurant sales was due to publicity during the