Good morning. Chipotle Mexican Grill customers have a hankering for burritos and burrito bowls, and more of them are coming in person to get them.

The fast-casual restaurant reported earnings this week for the fourth quarter and fiscal year ending Dec. 31. Total revenue in the fourth quarter was $2.5 billion, an increase of 15.4% compared to the fourth quarter of 2022. Comparable restaurant sales increased 8.4% from the same time a year ago, driven by a 7.4% increase in foot traffic and an increase in average check of 1%. This all contributed to a boost in total revenue. The company had fourth-quarter net income of $282.1 million, up from $223.7 million the same time last year.

What’s causing the boost in foot traffic? “We had to basically get back to our standards of running great restaurants,” Jack Hartung, CFO and administrative officer at Chipotle told me.

During the pandemic, much of the business was digital, and it was difficult to get the right number of crew members to come in, he said. For the past 18 months, the team has been working on returning to best practices. “That means having a team that's fully staffed, making sure you've got the right number of people deployed on the front line, making sure you don't run out of things like chips, and you've got enough guacamole for the day.” The teams have been highly effective in making sure that there’s enough chips and enough food prepped in the morning, he said.

Hartung also attributes traffic to what he said is the restaurant’s value proposition of quality food made from fresh ingredients. “It's hard to find an entree for lunch or for dinner of the quality you get at a Chipotle for under 10 bucks,” he said.

Hartung did note that Chipotle “costs a little bit more than traditional fast food.” (Well, maybe not since a McDonald's Big Mac meals are priced at nearly $18 at some locations.)

Chipotle attracts customers across income levels, he said. “We have increased customer visits at the lowest income level that we track, under $40,000 [a year.]” Hartung said. The other yearly income ranges tracked are from $40,000 to $100,000, from $100,000 to $150,000 and over $150,000. “Every single income level came to us more often,” he said.

In October Chipotle raised prices by 3% after pausing hikes for over a year. I asked Hartung if he foresees any price hikes this year as it’s uncertain when the Federal Reserve will lower interest rates. “We don't have any current plans to raise prices right now,” he told me. But there’s one exception.

“We do, in California, have a very significant increase in our wages coming up, and it's going to be in the ballpark of a 20% increase due to the FAST Act,” he said. “That is likely to lead to some pricing action, but only in California.” The FAST Act, California’s new minimum wage law, which goes into effect in April, pays fast food workers $20 an hour.

Positioned for growth

During the fourth quarter, Chipotle opened 121 new restaurants with 110 locations including a Chipotlane—a digital order drive thru pick-up lane. What’s Hartung’s advice about growth during uncertain times? “Make sure you're constantly working on strengthening and protecting your unit economic model,” he said. At Chipotle, that means building a business around transaction growth because that strengthens the company’s margins and returns, he said. And at Chipotle, technology plays a role as well, Hartung said.

“Technology investments need to be made over a long period of time, but the right investments will lead to better productivity and results in the restaurant,” he said. For example, Chipotle is investing in Hyphen, an automated assistant or a “collaborative robot” currently being fine-tuned to work alongside human employees to help prepare burrito bowls and salads.

The company announced last month that it’s staffing up for “burrito season,” adding as many as 19,000 employees, which would be about five or six additional people per restaurant. Isn’t burrito season every season at Chipotle? Well, technically, yes. However, “we call it burrito season affectionately, as it's when the weather starts to get nice, especially in more of the northern climates around mid-March, and that's when our sales really start to pick up,” Hartung said.

Have a good weekend.

Sheryl Estrada
[email protected]

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com