America runs to the border

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Americans can't get enough of the spicy stuff.

The number of Mexican restaurants has jumped in the Washington area in the past five years as the Hispanic population booms and American palates crave tacos, fajitas and other Southwest cuisine.

Mexican fast-food restaurants have taken a place among the top restaurant chains in the country, wiggling into a space between precooked hamburgers and sit-down fare.

Taco Bell is still the top Mexican restaurant chain, bringing in $5.7 billion in sales annually. Behind it are Chipotle Mexican Grill, the West Coast's Del Taco chain and Baja Fresh Mexican Grill.

"People have come to really admire the cuisine because it's fresh and has a nice flair to it," said Eric Hahn, founder of RestaurantEdge.com, a Charlevoix, Mich., restaurant consulting company. "Spicy foods are quite popular. There's going to be a solid market share available for quite a while."

Restaurant analysts point to the growth of the U.S. Hispanic population from 12.5 percent in 2000 to 14.2 percent in 2004 as part of the reason behind the growth of Mexican cuisine. With the growing population comes growing interest and familiarity with Mexican foods.

"It's just become a more accepted, more mainstream culinary choice in this country," said Chris Arnold, a spokesman for Chipotle.

Chipotle, which owner McDonald's Corp. plans to spin off as an independent company this year, has grown to include 47 locations in the Washington area -- the most of any Mexican restaurant chain -- since it was founded in 1993.

Chipotle's closest competitor in this market is Baja Fresh, a Wendy's International Inc. subsidiary with 30 restaurants in the Washington area. Baja Fresh Chief Executive Officer Brion Grube says the growth of Mexican restaurants and chains is meeting demand.

He doesn't think the market is oversaturated with Mexican options.