Counter Service
Dining · 5+ locations · NYC
A chef-driven sandwich shop that reads like a neighborhood deli. It's actually Steve Ells' venture-funded second act after Chipotle, running on over $57 million raised across two rounds and a New Jersey kitchen. The robots it opened with are gone; the expansion plan isn't.
The Big Picture
Counter Service reads as a neighborhood deli, but it's Steve Ells' venture-funded second act after Chipotle: over $57 million raised across two rounds, and a professional CEO in the operating seat. Posted pay runs above both local minimums and the national median, but it publishes nothing about who supplies its food or its environmental footprint. Ells still sets the concept; how fast it spreads answers to the investors.
The Dirty Details
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Company data last updated September 2026
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