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 $55 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, with over $55 million raised across two rounds and a professional CEO in the operating seat. It pays and insures its staff better than fast casual usually does, but publishes nothing about who supplies its food or what its environmental footprint is. Ells still sets the concept; how fast it spreads answers to the investors who funded it.
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Company data last updated August 2026
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