There’s a certain aligning of the planets of a hugely popular holiday, a glorious culture, and much loved cuisine on May 5.
That date is Cinco de Mayo, a festive day that recalls a momentous 19th century Mexican military victory that brings folks together to celebrate Mexican-American and Mexican culture.
The date also happens to be National Chipotle (the pepper) Day.
The day refers to the smoked-dried jalapeno chili pepper – but it’s pretty hard to separate the reference from the eponymous Mexican restaurant chain that has been in business nearly three decades and has almost 3,200 locations.
The restaurant company aims to increase its locations to 7,000, or double the current footprint in the U.S. and internationally. So we at BetMaryland.com – the home of information and reviews of Maryland sportsbook apps – were wondering: Who loves Chipotle (meaning the restaurant) the most in the United States?
As it turns out, Maryland ranks No. 2.
Using consumer data from ScrapeHero, BetMaryland.com took time out from covering Maryland sports betting to determine how many Chipotle restaurants operate per 1 million people in each state. We also calculated the percentage share of restaurants in each of the United States.
Then we used search data from Google Trends for “Chipotle near me” in the past 90 days to determine relative interest in the chain, with a score of 100 being the most and zero the least. Each category was then weighted, and each state ranked accordingly.
Using those calculations, Maryland ranked No. 2 overall in the country for showing some love for Chipotle.
In individual categories, Maryland was No. 2 in Chipotle restaurants per 1 million people (17.1). The state has 3% of all the Chipotles in the country, trailing population behemoths such as California (15%), Texas (9%), Florida (7%) and Ohio (also 7%). And Maryland’s Google Trends Search Volume was an exceptional 72.
In the overall rankings for states that love Chipotle, Ohio was No. 1 and Maryland No. 2 followed by (in order): Arizona, Florida, Illinois, Virginia, California, Texas, Pennsylvania, New York, and Florida.
And the historically significant military conflict that inspired Cinco de Mayo in the first place was Mexico’s victory over the French (Second French Empire) at the Battle of Puebla in 1862. A few years later, the French began a retreat from Mexico for good.
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Author
A longtime reporter and editor who began writing on casinos and gaming shortly after Atlantic City’s first gambling halls opened, Bill covered the World Series of Poker and wrote a syndicated column on travel to casino destinations for a decade.
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