Chipotle and Taco Bell are both Mexican-inspired quick service brands, but for net lease buyers they represent opposite ends of the QSR underwriting spectrum. We did not identify a public agency credit rating for Chipotle as of October 8, 2026, so it sits outside the rated investment grade universe, yet it owns and operates its U.S. restaurants rather than franchising them (14 international restaurants were partner-operated at the end of 2025), so its U.S. restaurant leases are generally held by Chipotle or a subsidiary rather than a franchisee. Taco Bell’s parent, Yum! Brands, Inc., is rated BB+/Ba2; Taco Bell had about 7,800 U.S. restaurants at the end of 2025, and Yum! owned only 8% of them, so the name on the building often is not the name on the lease or the guarantee.
That difference, who actually signs and guarantees the rent, is central to QSR net lease underwriting, and this pair illustrates it clearly. We compare credit, cap rates, lease structure, guarantee quality, store growth, and the bond angle below. For how the rating scale itself works, from A- down through the BBB-/Baa3 cutoff, see our investment grade guide.
Chipotle vs Taco Bell: Head-to-Head NNN Metrics
| Metric | Chipotle | Taco Bell |
|---|---|---|
| S&P / Moody’s Rating | no verified rating | BB+/Ba2 |
| Operating Model | Company-owned, except 14 international partner-operated (Dec. 31, 2025) | 93% franchised (Taco Bell Division, Dec. 31, 2025) |
| Locations | 3,938 U.S. company-owned; 4,042 including international (Dec. 31, 2025) | 9,030 worldwide, 14% international (Dec. 31, 2025) |
| 2025 Sales | $11.9B total revenue (FY2025) | $18.4B system sales, including franchised restaurants (Taco Bell Division, 2025) |
| Median asking cap rate | See the live table below | See the live table below |
| Average Remaining Lease Term (listings that state one) | 13.4 years (36 of 88 listings) | 13.6 years (14 of 54 listings) |
| Rent Schedules in Listings We Track (as of October 8, 2026) | 10% every 5 years in 39 of the 42 listings whose schedule we could review | Varies; examples among 20 reviewable schedules include 1% to 1.5% annual, 7.5% to 10% every 5 years, and CPI-linked annual increases capped at 1.5% |
| Lease Obligor and Guarantor | Chipotle or a subsidiary on U.S. company-owned stores; confirm the tenant entity and any parent guaranty in each lease | Varies: a franchisee or a Yum! entity; Yum! reports it is secondarily liable on certain franchisee leases, including some it guaranteed; confirm in each lease |
| Stock Ticker | CMG (NYSE) | YUM (NYSE) |
Company data from the Chipotle and Yum! Brands 2025 Form 10-K filings. Remaining lease terms update from the listings InvestmentGrade.com tracks. Rent schedules are from those listings as of October 8, 2026; they are examples, not a brand standard, and are not available for every listing. Taco Bell pricing can vary with the strength of the guarantor.
Credit Comparison: Chipotle Without an Identified Rating vs Taco Bell’s Yum!-Rated Parent
We did not identify a public agency rating for Chipotle as of October 8, 2026. Its 2025 Form 10-K reports $11.9 billion of revenue and no outstanding debt, and Chipotle owns and operates its U.S. restaurants rather than franchising them, so its U.S. restaurant leases are generally held by Chipotle or a subsidiary rather than a franchisee. Chipotle files audited financial statements with the SEC. Confirm the tenant entity and whether Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. guarantees the lease; company ownership of a store does not by itself establish a parent guaranty.
Taco Bell’s BB+/Ba2 ratings belong to Yum! Brands, Inc., which also owns KFC; Yum! completed the sale of Pizza Hut in two transactions, the second closing on September 1, 2026. The ratings sit below investment grade. About 93% of Taco Bell restaurants were franchised at the end of 2025, but franchise status alone does not identify who guarantees a lease: as of October 8, 2026, our listing data names no guarantor entity for any of the 60 Taco Bell listings we track, and Yum! reports that it is secondarily liable on certain franchisee leases, including some it guaranteed. A Taco Bell lease guaranteed by Yum! Brands, Inc. carries the credit of that rated entity (BB+ from S&P); a lease backed only by a franchisee rests on the franchisee’s own credit, which may be unrated. Where each entity sits on the full scale is tracked in our credit tenant ratings index.
The logo is not the credit. With franchise-heavy brands, always underwrite the guarantor entity on the lease, unit count, fee structures, and financials, not the sign on the building. This is a central diligence item on Taco Bell deals; on Chipotle deals the tenant is generally a Chipotle entity because U.S. stores are company-owned, but still confirm the tenant entity and any guaranty in the lease.
Cap Rate Analysis: Asking Cap Rates and Pricing Factors
Live asking cap rates for Chipotle, Taco Bell and comparable tenants:
| Tenant | S&P / Moody’s | Median asking cap rate | Middle half of listings | Listings | Median vs. 10-year Treasury |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| McDonald's | BBB+ / Baa1 | 4.00% | 3.75% to 4.24% | 46 | −124 bps |
| Chipotle | n/a / n/a | 5.00% | 4.75% to 5.25% | 87 | −24 bps |
| Taco Bell (rated entity: Yum! Brands, Inc.) | BB+ / Ba2 | 5.50% | 5.00% to 5.96% | 54 | +26 bps |
| Starbucks | BBB+ / Baa1 | 5.75% | 5.35% to 6.15% | 117 | +51 bps |
Active listings InvestmentGrade.com tracks with an asking cap rate (stated in the listing, or computed from its stated income and price when no rate is stated), listings last observed October 19, 2026. Asking cap rates are not closed-sale cap rates. The middle half is the range from the 25th to the 75th percentile of listings. The 10-year Treasury yield is 5.24% as of October 1, 2026 (FRED series DGS10). Ratings are the agency ratings in our ratings database for the entity shown, which may be a parent company; the rating type (for example issuer, senior unsecured debt, long-term debt or revenue bond ratings) varies by company and is shown on each tenant page. A rating applies to a lease only if the rated entity signs or guarantees it, so confirm the tenant and any guarantor in the lease. n/a means no verified rating is on file.
As of October 8, 2026, in the Chipotle listings InvestmentGrade.com tracks, the median asking cap rate was 5.00% for the 71 buildings built in 2024 or later and 4.95% for the six built before 2018. The older group is small and the comparison does not show that building age drives pricing, so compare remaining term and real estate quality deal by deal. Taco Bell pricing can also vary with the strength of the guarantor.
Escalations can be closer than they first appear. As of October 8, 2026, 39 of the 42 Chipotle listings InvestmentGrade.com tracks whose rent schedule we could review describe 10% increases every five years. Taco Bell schedules vary; examples among the 20 Taco Bell listings with a reviewable schedule include fixed annual increases of 1% to 1.5%, steps of 7.5% to 10% every five years, an annual increase of 1.25 times the change in CPI capped at 1.5%, and a single step during the initial term. Over a 15-year term, two 10% steps (at the start of years 6 and 11) raise rent 21% above the starting rent, and 1.5% increases at each of the 14 anniversaries raise it about 23.2%, so read each lease rather than assuming a brand standard.
Lease and Real Estate Structure
In the listings InvestmentGrade.com tracks, the average remaining lease term is 13.4 years for Chipotle (among 36 listings that state one) and 13.6 years for Taco Bell (among 14 listings that state one); confirm the original and remaining term in each lease. As of October 8, 2026, the median building is 2,350 square feet for Chipotle (90 listings that state a size) and 2,346 square feet for Taco Bell (59 listings that state a size). Chipotle’s growth format is the Chipotlane, its drive-through format for pickup of digital orders. The company opened 334 company-owned restaurants in 2025 and expects about 350 to 370 openings in 2026, including 10 to 15 international partner-operated restaurants. In the listings InvestmentGrade.com tracks that state an asking price, the median asking price is $2.51M for Taco Bell and $3.64M for Chipotle; a lower price can suit a smaller exchange balance, but it says nothing about the strength of the lease.
Residual value depends on the site: a small drive-through building on a well-located pad may be re-leasable to another restaurant user, but confirm with local market evidence. Taco Bell has the larger installed base (9,030 units at the end of 2025, against Chipotle’s 4,042 company-owned restaurants). As of October 8, 2026, 77 of the 88 Chipotle listings and 22 of the 59 Taco Bell listings InvestmentGrade.com tracks with a known build year were built in 2022 or later.
Growth Trajectory
Chipotle owned 4,042 restaurants worldwide at the end of 2025, 3,938 of them in the U.S., and is working toward a long-term goal of 7,000 restaurants in the U.S. and Canada. Taco Bell’s system was 93% franchised at the end of 2025. For landlords, the difference is who signs the lease: a new company-owned Chipotle is leased by Chipotle or a subsidiary, while a franchised Taco Bell may be leased by its franchisee, with or without a Yum! guaranty. Neither brand’s growth by itself establishes a parent guaranty, so confirm the tenant and any guarantor in each lease.
Bond-to-NNN Pivot: Two Different Answers
Chipotle reported no outstanding debt at the end of 2025 and no outstanding borrowings under its credit facility at June 30, 2026; we identified no outstanding public Chipotle bonds and no public agency rating as of October 8, 2026. A lease gives exposure to Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc.’s credit only when that company is the tenant or guarantor; a subsidiary tenant without a parent guaranty is a different credit. Yum! Brands, Inc. does issue debt, including senior unsecured notes, and its S&P corporate credit rating of BB+ is below investment grade, in the high-yield range rather than investment grade bond territory. The ICE BofA BB US High Yield Index yields 7.03% as of October 1, 2026, against a median Taco Bell asking cap rate of 5.50%, a spread of −153 bps. For a Yum!-guaranteed Taco Bell, what the real estate can add over the bonds includes scheduled rent increases, residual land value and, depending on the owner’s tax situation, depreciation of the building but not the land (IRS Publication 946) and possible deferral of gain under Internal Revenue Code section 1031 when real property held for business or investment use is exchanged for like-kind real property to be held for business or investment use (general information, not tax advice); for a franchisee deal, the bond comparison does not apply because the bond and the lease are different credits entirely.
Verdict: Which NNN Investment Wins?
Consider Chipotle if the lease names Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. as tenant or guarantor and you want a company that reported no outstanding borrowings at June 30, 2026, owns and operates its U.S. restaurants and expects 350 to 370 restaurant openings in 2026; compare its asking cap rate with the live table above before accepting the price. Consider Taco Bell if a property at a lower price suits your exchange balance (compare the median asking prices above) and you are prepared to underwrite the specific guarantor rigorously. Purchase price and credit are separate questions: a Taco Bell may cost less to buy, while the value of any lease depends on the strength of its tenant and guarantor, the rent and the real estate.
Chipotle vs Taco Bell NNN: Frequently Asked Questions
Is Chipotle or Taco Bell a better NNN credit?
We did not identify a public agency rating for Chipotle as of October 8, 2026, while Yum! Brands, Inc., Taco Bell’s parent, is rated BB+/Ba2, below investment grade. Chipotle’s U.S. stores are company-owned, so U.S. leases are generally signed by Chipotle entities (confirm on each lease). Many Taco Bell restaurants are franchised, and a franchisee lease may or may not carry a Yum! guaranty. Which lease is the better credit depends on the named tenant and any enforceable guaranty: a lease backed by Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. rests on that company’s financial statements, while a lease backed only by a franchisee rests on the franchisee’s.
What are typical Chipotle and Taco Bell cap rates in 2026?
Current median asking cap rates for both tenants are shown in the live table on this page. As of October 8, 2026, in the Chipotle listings we track, the median asking cap rate was 5.00% for the 71 buildings built in 2024 or later and 4.95% for the six built before 2018; that is a sample result, not a market rule, so compare remaining term and real estate deal by deal. Taco Bell pricing can also vary with the strength of the guarantor. Asking cap rates are not closed-sale cap rates.
Does Yum! Brands guarantee Taco Bell leases?
Sometimes. About 93% of Taco Bell restaurants were franchised at the end of 2025, and Yum!’s 2025 Form 10-K says it is secondarily liable on certain franchisee restaurant leases, including some it has guaranteed. Franchise status alone does not identify the guarantor. As of October 8, 2026, one of the 60 Taco Bell listings we track is titled as a Taco Bell corporate guarantee and several listing titles describe the franchise operator, but our listing data names no guarantor entity for any of them. Verify the guarantor entity and its financials in the lease before pricing the deal.
What escalations do Chipotle and Taco Bell leases include?
As of October 8, 2026, 39 of the 42 Chipotle listings we track whose rent schedule we could review describe 10% increases every five years. Taco Bell schedules vary; examples in the listings we track include fixed annual increases of 1% to 1.5%, steps of 7.5% to 10% every five years, annual increases tied to CPI and capped at 1.5%, and a single step during the initial term. Over a 15-year term, two 10% steps raise rent 21% above the starting rent, and 1.5% increases at each of the 14 anniversaries raise it about 23.2%. Confirm the schedule in each lease.
Can I buy Chipotle bonds instead of Chipotle real estate?
We identified no outstanding public Chipotle bonds as of October 8, 2026, and Chipotle reported no outstanding borrowings under its credit facility at June 30, 2026. A lease gives exposure to Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc.’s credit only when that company is the tenant or guarantor. Yum! Brands does issue bonds, which makes a bond-versus-real-estate comparison possible on Taco Bell leases that Yum! itself guarantees.
Evaluating a QSR pad right now? We verify guarantor entities, benchmark cap rates against live comps, and model escalation math side by side. Request a buyer consultation before you go hard on any Chipotle or Taco Bell deal.
