Chipotle is expanding its Zipline drone delivery network to Fort Worth and Houston, CEO Scott Boatwright confirmed on the company’s Q1 2026 earnings call — the first growth beyond the Rowlett, Texas pilot that launched in August 2025.
North Fort Worth residents within roughly three miles of the 7400 block of North Beach Street can now order delivery via the Zipline app. Houston expansion details were not specified. The Rowlett pilot used Zipline’s Platform 2 drones — fixed-wing aircraft capable of operating in rain, heat, and cold — with a payload limit of 5.5 pounds and a $2.99 delivery fee plus a service charge capped at $6.
How Zipline’s delivery model works in practice
The system routes orders through what Zipline calls Zipping Points, where restaurant staff load food into the drone before dispatch. The aircraft flies to the delivery location, hovers at approximately 300 feet, and lowers a container to the customer on a tether rather than landing. The approach avoids the ground-level logistics complications that have challenged other last-mile delivery models and keeps the drone out of pedestrian traffic entirely.
Payload capacity is currently capped at 5.5 pounds, with plans to raise that ceiling to 8 pounds as the program scales — a constraint that limits order size but covers the majority of Chipotle’s menu combinations.
Zipline already operates across a cluster of North Texas cities including Mesquite, Waxahachie, Lewisville, and Bedford, most of which have existing Chipotle locations. The Fort Worth and Houston expansions draw on that established operational infrastructure rather than requiring new regulatory groundwork in unfamiliar markets.
Further city expansions are planned for the second quarter. Chipotle described its early results as encouraging without disclosing order volumes or completion rates.
