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June 17, 2025

Alumni spotlight: Adam Cohen

2023 graduate maximizes calories-per-dollar

Adam Cohen '23 is the creator of chipotlecost.com, which examines prices at the restaurant's national sites. Adam Cohen '23 is the creator of chipotlecost.com, which examines prices at the restaurant's national sites.
Adam Cohen '23 is the creator of chipotlecost.com, which examines prices at the restaurant's national sites. Image Credit: Contributed photo.

Were paying more and getting less. Having read such comments online especially from Taco Bell customers Adam Cohen 23 was curious about what was going on at his favorite fast-casual chain: Chipotle.

I played on the Ultimate Frisbee team at Binghamton and, after tournaments, wed get Chipotle on the way back, Cohen says. It was the best meal in terms of calories-per-dollar. Youd get two meals if you kept asking for extra stuff.

Although Cohen never felt Chipotle was ripping him off, he decided it would be fun to map out prices at Chipotle locations across the U.S. That led him to create chipotlecost.com. Cohen developed an algorithm that would scour the Chipotle website and pull prices from locations offering online ordering.

I studied economics as a minor at Binghamton in addition to majoring in computer science, says Cohen, a software engineer for CVS in the Boston area. People could say its unfair that one Chipotle a few miles away prices things differently than a location theyre at, but its smart pricing and knowing your markets, that you can charge X here, and X plus three there.

He found one of the most expensive locations was in the Parkchester section of the Bronx, and one of the lowest was near Purdue University in Indiana.

I have a friend at Purdue, and he was happy to hear that he was getting a good deal, Cohen says.

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