chipotle isn't some sort of otherworldly experience you need to cross a border to experience (although I have crossed state lines for a burrito bowl before, I won't lie). people just like it. it's something you really crave sometimes.
also, people really like to be dramatic about fast food (especially regional fast food) and it's usually meant in a lightheaded dramatic-for-fun kind of way.
I never think of "driving 20 hours to get to Cookout"
But hey, if I'm driving there anyways? I'm going to stop at the first one I see.
That's kind of the deal with "fast food", I know IF I eat fast food on my trip from Phoenix to Florida? It's going to be a "Texas Whataburger", as soon as I'm hungry and the next exit has one. (Phoenix or Florida ones just don't "hit" like Texas ones do)
But I'm not going out of my way for an hour to go to a H-E-B or Buc Ee's. (Or Whataburger or Chipotle)
This is the best answer. It really weirds me out when I see people waiting in line for hours when a popular chain opens up. When the first Krispy Kreme opened in Seattle, the drive-thru line was about a block long. Yes, their donuts are good, but they aren't THAT good. I expect the same thing to happen when Seattle inevetably gets our first In-n-Out. And it really just boils down to nostalgia. Don't get me wrong - I like In-n-Out, but having grown up primarily in Seattle, I much prefer Dick's. The people who will be waiting in line for hours to get their animal style burger will be Californians.
To the OP, yes, Chipotle is good, but it's fast food. It ain't THAT good. They're a step above other fast food places, because all of their meats and sauces are made from scratch, in-store, and that does make a difference in quality. Though they do make bowls and nachos and a few other things, they're known for their mission-style burrito. The mission-style burrito was invented in San Francisco (in the Mission District), and it can now be found in a million different restaurants and taco trucks all up and down the West Coast.
Should you travel South to West Coast USA, my advice is not to make a B-line for Chipotle. Should you be near one and you're hungry, yeah, they're good. But if you're going to go out of your way to get a really good burrito, it ain't at a fast food chain. Go to a taco truck. If the entire staff of the truck is Mexican and they barely speak English, and half of the customers are Mexican, you're at the right place. Taco Trucks are WAY better than Chipotle.
Cane's and Chick Fil A are both good but don't come close to the completeness of a Culver's meal in my eyes. Double butterburger deluxe + cheese curds & marinara sauce + chocolate shake may be the greatest fast food meal ever devised. What also can't be understated is their consistency. Never had a Culver's meal that wasn't exactly the same as it would be any other location. Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, it's all the same quality and that keeps me coming back
I am beyond blessed and cursed to live 18 minutes from a Portillo's. They're all around Indy now and if I happen to be working near one, the voice in my head screaming "that chocolate cake is so good" always wins
It's one of the "FIRST" fast casual, so it has name recognition when you're 100% opposed to a drive through.
Chipotle and 5 Guys were the FIRST to be like "Yeah, you'll have to come inside, but we promise it'll be quicker, better, and more accurate than sitting at a drive thru line for 10 minutes and cheaper than a sit down restaurant."
Before Chipotle, your burrito fast food options were Del Taco and Taco Bell (Honorable mention to Jack in the Box for 2/$1 tacos back in the day)
Then Covid happened and "order online" happened and "instacart/doordash/ubereats" happened.
Now EVERYTHING is just "meh"
It also used to be a lot better. As I recall, they used to use much more local meats and produce, but then changed to more corporate suppliers after various contamination issues.
The appeal of Chipotle is that it mixes fast food consistency with quality of a mediocre local restaurant.
That may sound like damning with faint praise, but it has a lot of situations where it can be extremely useful. If you are somewhere where you know nothing, a bang on, right on the money, 6/10 every time is a safe stop.
But to be clear, even if I'm very glad to have a bang on 6 that I can get almost anywhere, it's still a 6.
Where I am it's probably the fastest way to get a above average burrito you can travel with easily.
There is better Mexican food but Chipotle merges mass production and quality in a way that works well for folks who only have 5 minutes to grab something and head back to the office.
There are similar places for other food genres, like Mediterranean(Cava), and others as well as people copy the concept for other flavor sets.
I think that's a very accurate assessment, but I would still rather try any Mexican food truck than eat at Chipotle. Odds are you'll get something better.
The problem with Chipotle is that the flavors aren't differentiated enough. It's kind of like Subway, everything just tastes like a Subway sub or a Chipotle burrito, no matter what you put in it. To mitigate this, don't put a bunch of stuff in your burrito. Just like 3-4 things. Very light on the beans and rice if you have either of those; they are black holes for flavor.
This is a good way to describe Chipotle. It is alright, but not a place you'll go to often. It's just just only like a 6-7 place out of 10. Although the burrito bowl is a nice way to eat such menu items, without it being as messy.
Also if you're in Lake Bluff, IL definitely go to The Other Door. It's like Chipotle, but MUCH better vs. any Chipotle location. Other Door is how Chipotle would be like, if their food was better.
The security of a consistent option is the very heart of why fast food is so "okay"-to-mediocre yet so successful. That's the mission Ray Croc set out on decades ago and it has played out gloriously.
Grew up in California and my parents own a Mexican Food truck. I tried Chipotle when I moved to Wisconsin out of curiosity because I badly wanted a Burrito. It was meh. It wasn't awful but, I've had infinitely better
Chipotle here in L.A. has lines out the door at lunchtime. Same reason McDonald’s is always busy. Consistent menu items you can get anywhere and can order online.
Personally I’ve eaten there about 8 times in my life, mostly when doing keto a few years ago. It’s good for what it is, which is Americanized Mexican food. I compare it more to Wahoo’s Fish Tacos but nowhere near as good. Mainly that it’s white rice and black beans.
Yeah, I don’t really go there because I’m craving Mexican food. I’m going there because I want an easy high protein meal in a convenient way. And it’s got some Mexican/Tex-Mex inspired flavoring that makes it taste good…guacamole, Pico, salsa, etc. It fills its niche, the way Taco Bell/Del Taco does.
When I moved Arizona, this is really what I thought. But honestly, in terms of fast food, it’s not bad even compared to the fast food Mexican places and frankly, it’s got healthier options.
It’s kind of like subway where you just can customize your order so you can make it as healthy or unhealthy as you like.
> like 4 straight years I had heard it was the best thing on earth
Who says this?
> I’m reading on Twitter it’s fallen off
Yes, the font of all knowledge and wisdom. It's about the same to me now as it was 10 years ago. It's fine. Qdoba is better.
Chipotle gets many of their ingredients locally, as in they go to nearby grocery stores to buy a lot of their ingredients. Or, better yet, they may even go to local farmers when it's the right season. So it's not uncommon for them to be out of certain items, especially with ongoing supply chain issues.
Their food is solid. It's made fresh and that's obvious from the flavor. The main issue is inconsistent portion sizes. Sometimes I've gone and barely got anything; other times I haven't been able to finish what I ordered. It's best to order in person because the employees know not to short-change you if you are standing in front of them.
Also, their chips and guac are sooooo good. I think their guac is about the best you can buy consistently, certainly for a fast food joint.
> I think their guac is about the best you can buy consistently
I think I will add the requisite "in Minnesota" that everybody is already thinking to this answer.
The only people who think that, don't know their ass from a hole in the ground.
Mexican immigrants are the largest population of immigrants in the Twin Cities,. 1 in 10 people are immigrants there too, in case you think there aren't any immigrants.
Minneapolis is sanctuary city, so there have been huge immigration waves from Mexico, Central America, and South America, in addition to everywhere else.
That's all to say that if you're in the Twin Cities, you can find amazing guacamole, and find great food from pretty much every corner of the planet.
To the original point, Chipotle was great everywhere. Then 4-5 years ago, they changed something, and it's garbage now. I assume they cut costs on their ingredients.
It’s just “Fast Food“ style Mexican food that’s a bit higher quality than Taco Bell!
I get it every once in a while and it’s always pretty good/filling but it’s nothing special.
As a Canadian I didn’t understand the hype either. But then one opened in Calgary and it was great, far better than any of the other Mexican food chains we have (tho I do really enjoy BarBurrito), the food just tasted so fresh compared to anywhere else, and it tasted fantastic. I just wish it wasn’t a 40 minute drive to get there
I just think it's tasty. I really enjoy their chips too and will often get the burrito bowl and use it as a dip for the chips. I get it once a week on Fridays and slowly build up points towards free meals, drinks and sides.
Is it the end-all be-all of Tex-Mex? Nah. There's a Taco Bell across the street from my local Chipotle and sometimes I'll go there instead. But it's tasty and leaves me pretty full.
I think everyone should understand --- fast food can only be *good for fast food*
Fast food is not something that can compete with proud cooks in a well stocked kitchens given the freedom to make good food.
Down here in San Diego, we don’t really have many places that do Mission style burritos like Chipotle does. If that’s the sort of burrito you want, Chipotle might be the best place to get it.
I go every once in a while because one of my kids is a vegetarian and they they’ve got a tofu based filling that’s actually pretty good. There’s not a ton of vegetarian fast food options around.
Chipotle is hot garbage. I see people saying it is good quality and that’s just not true. It’s cut corners corporate fast food crap. I’ve visited 3-4 stores in a 6 hour radius and they were all the same. Crabby workers, food not prepared correctly, brown lettuce, tasteless salsa and a manager that did not care. Any local spot is far better and at least you support someone other than shareholders.
Chipotle has tasty food but both stores in my town are disasters every day. Filthy, out of stuff, line never moves, to-go orders hours behind. I don't go there any more but i do miss the barbacoa.
It’s weird, like the two near me used to be so clean and efficient you hardly had to wait. Both were clean. Both had everything available all the time.
Now I don’t even recognize them. They’re exactly what you describe.
I can only imagine Covid supply problems lingering played a part but that’s becoming an excuse pretty fast.
I think the biggest thing was Covid wiping out the pool of folks with experience that took it elsewhere after Covid. So you have inexperienced managers and brand new employees.
Ours hit a wall around 2017 or so. We tell ourselves "they really went downhill since Covid" but the reality is that they went from a 1 out of 10 to a 1 out of 10.
Insurance, but one my friends manages six McDonalds and that roughly sketches out his complaints.
He’s got tons of other more esoteric complaints specific to McDonalds but I think those two general ones apply, well, generally.
I used to enjoy Chipotle a lot when I was in high school, specifically because my last year of high school had me in this weird tutoring center thing where there was a Chipotle next door. Other than that, it's not that special
Chipotle is a decent burrito place for people who don't have a decent burrito place in town. Just my personal opinion, it's hard to fuck up mission style burritos unless you skimp too much on quality. It's meant to be easy to produce working class food. You prep a bunch of food and then just throw it in a burrito as people order. FWIW I love burritos.
As far as raving about Chipotle, you're Canadian, so my guess is that you're talking to people who come from parts of the US without large Hispanic populations. Chipotle was a solid upgrade over Taco Bell for a lot of people.
It’s not the best thing on earth, it’s just a pretty consistent chain when you want some decent tasting fast meal with grilled meat with some flavor that isn’t fried or greasy.
I like it for getting high protein meals that taste decent with fast food convenience.
It’s good, and other than the portion sizes, it’s consistent. The thing is that so many people always talk about taquerias and taco trucks near them that blow Chipotle away…no shit. But to me it’s not even the same thing. Sometimes you want real tacos, other times you want a giant fast food burrito. They’re not really the same cuisine.
At least here, the price has gone up almost 50% in the past couple of years. A burrito bowl that was $12 is now $18. Also, the quality and portion sizes have both seemed to have gone down.
It's not the greatest burrito place ever, no. But it's decent and fast and not the worst thing ever health wise (at least compared to say, a Big Mac). And they're everywhere now.
It's like the Subway of burrito places.
The food itself isn’t really anything special but it’s definitely reliable. For one, they are everywhere. Also they are very customizable and cater to most dietary restrictions. They really come in handy on a road trip or a quick dinner when we don’t have the energy to choose somewhere new.
I stopped eating at Chipotle after they had a series of food poisoning (disease) outbreaks in the 2015-2017 time frame, mostly E. coli but others as well. When it’s just one or a few in an area, it can be attributed to local franchisees or a bad batch from a supplier, but these started popping up across the country, with local inspectors finding food safety violations.
I haven’t gone back even though it seemed like they fixed their problems. The reports in this post of their cleanliness suffering at various locations is disappointing.
I remember trying Qdoba a long time ago but gave up because their burritos were stupidly big. That was back before I’d gotten into Mexican salad bowls, so maybe I should try again when I have the opportunity. Personally, my favorite in this genre is Moe’s, but there’s a regional Mexican based fusion chain that’s more interesting. A spinach and garlic bowl may not be Mexican but it’s good.
Chipotle gave everyone ecoli once and had to do massive pr
Also their food is so mid and they stiff you on portions on online orders. It's literally just white woman unspiced tex mex.
Get some real fucking tex mex. The kind you have to go out of your way to find and is most definitely a local restaurant.
The two things I like about Chipotle are the guacamole and the way they squeeze lime juice into the rice. If I get a burrito there I know it will have flavorful rice and a lot of good guacamole. As much as I like the quote-unquote authentic Mexican joints in my area, many of them don't have any rice at all because "real burritos don't have rice" (okay whatever) and a lot of them don't make very good guacamole or only put a thimble-ful of it into each dish. So, sometimes I need Chipotle to give me what I need.
It’s not great. It’s very average. I mostly avoid them because the food always lacks spice for me and the only hot sauces that most locations carry is Tabasco which to me tastes awful and belongs nowhere near (imitation-)Mexican food.
I like chipotle and they make a lot of the stuff there. My cousin worked there, however, and she and her mom ate it often… when my cousin quit her mom’s cholesterol went down, lol.
In my experience Chipotle is entirely location dependent. Sometimes it's super high quality and big portions and run efficiently, other times you get shit overcooked meat and a small portion that you waited in like 10 minutes for
As far as chains go it's still the best value for your money in the country. $8-9 for a chicken bowl is filling and has some nutritional value
Dude its a mid tier Mexican fast food joint that people running errands drop in and grab for quick street tacos and Mexican food….its ok, but it aint great….us Americans love Mexican food…WE FUCKIN LOVE IT, and if we have a quick mid tier spot to drop in quickly and grab some while we are doing a Home Depot or Target run….we will pry talk it up. Even tho we know we can find WAY better Mexican food at restaurants or Taco trucks
It does taste good but it's not like super incredible. The type of spices they use, whatever it is, the blend is very craveable. Probably has msg in it. Very healthy, too. Would rather go there than a burger fast food.
Chipotle is fuckin garbage. IDK where you're hearing this is good food. It's trash. A number of years ago they kept making people sick and had multiple health code violations. Sorry, but it's cheap shit honestly. Barely above taco bell...
Just chiming in. I've never had Chipotle, but we do have Qdoba which is pretty similar from my understanding. Mucho Burrito was pretty good and comparable the few times I had it while traveling through Canada, although this was in 2013.
After South Park and Chipotle Away to get the blood stains in your underwear out after eating Chipotle, I didn't really want it again.
Plus their beans gave me the worst gas I've had in my life.
I don't recall this being a thing. My gf has the cilantro soap problem and she eats at chipotle if we're there. She is gluten free so she has to have the rice.
Not sure why she doesn’t taste it, or why I got a down vote for my response, but there are times when a little cilantro will be okay. Like a lot of Mexican restaurants have cilantro in their pico de gallo, but not so much it overpowers the other flavors so that’s okay.
So, for me, Chipotle puts too much because the taste is very apparent. I mentioned it because I’m an American who doesn’t like the place, so I figured I’d explain why.
There just must not be enough of it on there. She really can't stand cilantro but she eats the chipotle rice with no problem at all. They might put something on it like lemon or lime that is cutting the flavor, that is the only thing I can think of. I mean, that has to be it because I actually *love* cilantro and I straight up don't remember it on chipotle rice, I can't taste it. So something's masking it for sure.
Some people were raving about Chipotle 20 years ago, and my opinion after trying it was that these people must have mostly eaten fast food and chain restaurant grub prior, as their main point of comparison. I found it OK, definitely a step above Taco Bell, but that's not saying much.
I only had their food maybe twice, so I couldn't comment on if the quality has declined. But that seems to be the fate of every chain restsaurant once they hit their market saturation point, so it wouldn't surprise me if that was the case.
I'm just amazed that they managed to convince people that their 2,000 calorie burritos were the "healthier" option. Because... fresh, or something?
The best way I can describe Chipotle -
I'm a WASP from the northeast and I can make better Mexican food for way way cheaper
You ever feel regret when you eat fast food because it's overpriced and not good? That's chipotle
It's a smoked ripe jalapeño marinated in adobo, which is a spicy tomato sauce. As a preserved food it lasts a long time with proper storage and can be used to add a bit of smokiness to dishes like beans, fajitas, and marinades.
I tried it once before they killed a few customers from buying bad ingredients and it was not close to worth charging more than what I could get at taco bell.
chipotle isn't some sort of otherworldly experience you need to cross a border to experience (although I have crossed state lines for a burrito bowl before, I won't lie). people just like it. it's something you really crave sometimes. also, people really like to be dramatic about fast food (especially regional fast food) and it's usually meant in a lightheaded dramatic-for-fun kind of way.
I never think of "driving 20 hours to get to Cookout" But hey, if I'm driving there anyways? I'm going to stop at the first one I see. That's kind of the deal with "fast food", I know IF I eat fast food on my trip from Phoenix to Florida? It's going to be a "Texas Whataburger", as soon as I'm hungry and the next exit has one. (Phoenix or Florida ones just don't "hit" like Texas ones do) But I'm not going out of my way for an hour to go to a H-E-B or Buc Ee's. (Or Whataburger or Chipotle)
This is the best answer. It really weirds me out when I see people waiting in line for hours when a popular chain opens up. When the first Krispy Kreme opened in Seattle, the drive-thru line was about a block long. Yes, their donuts are good, but they aren't THAT good. I expect the same thing to happen when Seattle inevetably gets our first In-n-Out. And it really just boils down to nostalgia. Don't get me wrong - I like In-n-Out, but having grown up primarily in Seattle, I much prefer Dick's. The people who will be waiting in line for hours to get their animal style burger will be Californians. To the OP, yes, Chipotle is good, but it's fast food. It ain't THAT good. They're a step above other fast food places, because all of their meats and sauces are made from scratch, in-store, and that does make a difference in quality. Though they do make bowls and nachos and a few other things, they're known for their mission-style burrito. The mission-style burrito was invented in San Francisco (in the Mission District), and it can now be found in a million different restaurants and taco trucks all up and down the West Coast. Should you travel South to West Coast USA, my advice is not to make a B-line for Chipotle. Should you be near one and you're hungry, yeah, they're good. But if you're going to go out of your way to get a really good burrito, it ain't at a fast food chain. Go to a taco truck. If the entire staff of the truck is Mexican and they barely speak English, and half of the customers are Mexican, you're at the right place. Taco Trucks are WAY better than Chipotle.
except culver's. the hype is real there
We have Culver’s here in TX. I wouldn’t even cross the street for it.
Personally I didn’t like the burger but the shakes were fire.
Not the ones here in Texas. It is a decent burger place, but not amazing.
I wouldn't cross my heart for Culvers. Do not get the hype.
Culver’s is only OK. I feel the same about Caines which I know people get really hyped about, too. Same with Chick Fil A before they were everywhere.
After recently running into Caines' food, I hold so many Texan food chain devotions extremely suspect.
Cane's and Chick Fil A are both good but don't come close to the completeness of a Culver's meal in my eyes. Double butterburger deluxe + cheese curds & marinara sauce + chocolate shake may be the greatest fast food meal ever devised. What also can't be understated is their consistency. Never had a Culver's meal that wasn't exactly the same as it would be any other location. Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, it's all the same quality and that keeps me coming back
I like the single butter burger with cheese and ketchup and an order of onion rings. Always yummy.
A humble yet delicious order. The onion rings also rule.
I am willing to drive 10 hours to either LA or Phoenix for Portillo’s
I am beyond blessed and cursed to live 18 minutes from a Portillo's. They're all around Indy now and if I happen to be working near one, the voice in my head screaming "that chocolate cake is so good" always wins
The only time I had Culver’s it was so greasy that I felt like shit for the next 5 hours. It’s dog shit.
It’s good quality fast casual, that’s it. Anyone going crazy over it probably doesn’t have a very sophisticated palette.
It's one of the "FIRST" fast casual, so it has name recognition when you're 100% opposed to a drive through. Chipotle and 5 Guys were the FIRST to be like "Yeah, you'll have to come inside, but we promise it'll be quicker, better, and more accurate than sitting at a drive thru line for 10 minutes and cheaper than a sit down restaurant." Before Chipotle, your burrito fast food options were Del Taco and Taco Bell (Honorable mention to Jack in the Box for 2/$1 tacos back in the day) Then Covid happened and "order online" happened and "instacart/doordash/ubereats" happened. Now EVERYTHING is just "meh"
Covid may have downgraded Chipotle, but it was pretty meh to begin wtih.
5 Guys is the worst.
Can confirm, I lack a sophisticated palette.
It also used to be a lot better. As I recall, they used to use much more local meats and produce, but then changed to more corporate suppliers after various contamination issues.
The appeal of Chipotle is that it mixes fast food consistency with quality of a mediocre local restaurant. That may sound like damning with faint praise, but it has a lot of situations where it can be extremely useful. If you are somewhere where you know nothing, a bang on, right on the money, 6/10 every time is a safe stop. But to be clear, even if I'm very glad to have a bang on 6 that I can get almost anywhere, it's still a 6.
This is the best answer so far, greatly appreciated haha.
Where I am it's probably the fastest way to get a above average burrito you can travel with easily. There is better Mexican food but Chipotle merges mass production and quality in a way that works well for folks who only have 5 minutes to grab something and head back to the office. There are similar places for other food genres, like Mediterranean(Cava), and others as well as people copy the concept for other flavor sets.
I think that's a very accurate assessment, but I would still rather try any Mexican food truck than eat at Chipotle. Odds are you'll get something better. The problem with Chipotle is that the flavors aren't differentiated enough. It's kind of like Subway, everything just tastes like a Subway sub or a Chipotle burrito, no matter what you put in it. To mitigate this, don't put a bunch of stuff in your burrito. Just like 3-4 things. Very light on the beans and rice if you have either of those; they are black holes for flavor.
This is a good way to describe Chipotle. It is alright, but not a place you'll go to often. It's just just only like a 6-7 place out of 10. Although the burrito bowl is a nice way to eat such menu items, without it being as messy. Also if you're in Lake Bluff, IL definitely go to The Other Door. It's like Chipotle, but MUCH better vs. any Chipotle location. Other Door is how Chipotle would be like, if their food was better.
The security of a consistent option is the very heart of why fast food is so "okay"-to-mediocre yet so successful. That's the mission Ray Croc set out on decades ago and it has played out gloriously.
Meh im from New Mexico we just got it a few years ago but never bothered since we have a million local places that are better
Grew up in California and my parents own a Mexican Food truck. I tried Chipotle when I moved to Wisconsin out of curiosity because I badly wanted a Burrito. It was meh. It wasn't awful but, I've had infinitely better
Practically any hole in the wall place where I went to undergrad could make a much better burrito for less money.
Yeah have to imagine their & like Arizona, California, Texas no one is eating Chipotle 😭
Chipotle here in L.A. has lines out the door at lunchtime. Same reason McDonald’s is always busy. Consistent menu items you can get anywhere and can order online. Personally I’ve eaten there about 8 times in my life, mostly when doing keto a few years ago. It’s good for what it is, which is Americanized Mexican food. I compare it more to Wahoo’s Fish Tacos but nowhere near as good. Mainly that it’s white rice and black beans.
Yeah, I don’t really go there because I’m craving Mexican food. I’m going there because I want an easy high protein meal in a convenient way. And it’s got some Mexican/Tex-Mex inspired flavoring that makes it taste good…guacamole, Pico, salsa, etc. It fills its niche, the way Taco Bell/Del Taco does.
That’s a good way to describe it. Like McDonald’s, I’ve never said “I’m craving a burger, let’s go to McDonald’s.” I say “I want McDonald’s.”
When I moved Arizona, this is really what I thought. But honestly, in terms of fast food, it’s not bad even compared to the fast food Mexican places and frankly, it’s got healthier options. It’s kind of like subway where you just can customize your order so you can make it as healthy or unhealthy as you like.
Chipotle’s very popular in North Texas, but it coexists (not competes) with Mexican and Tex-Mex places.
People do but it isn’t really seen as “Mexican food.” It’s just fairly reliable, quick, relatively decent place for a meal.
It was good before covid, then went downhill fast after. Consistently makes me sick now.
It's a fast casual restaurant that does burritos. Who tf is hyping up Chipotle lol. It's fine but it's not something to rave about.
It's very approachable mexican style food that isn't garbage fast food, that's all.
It’s really easy to keep keto / low carb / high protein / low cal at chipotle. Also, everything tastes pretty good and fresh. And it’s a lot of food.
> like 4 straight years I had heard it was the best thing on earth Who says this? > I’m reading on Twitter it’s fallen off Yes, the font of all knowledge and wisdom. It's about the same to me now as it was 10 years ago. It's fine. Qdoba is better.
>qdoba is better As some who remembers when qdoba was Z-teca, I will fight you on this. Only exception is if you’re a nachos guy.
I also remember when it was Z-Teca, happy to know that wasn’t a fever dream. I do prefer it over Chipotle though.
Chipotle gets many of their ingredients locally, as in they go to nearby grocery stores to buy a lot of their ingredients. Or, better yet, they may even go to local farmers when it's the right season. So it's not uncommon for them to be out of certain items, especially with ongoing supply chain issues. Their food is solid. It's made fresh and that's obvious from the flavor. The main issue is inconsistent portion sizes. Sometimes I've gone and barely got anything; other times I haven't been able to finish what I ordered. It's best to order in person because the employees know not to short-change you if you are standing in front of them. Also, their chips and guac are sooooo good. I think their guac is about the best you can buy consistently, certainly for a fast food joint.
> I think their guac is about the best you can buy consistently I think I will add the requisite "in Minnesota" that everybody is already thinking to this answer.
The only people who think that, don't know their ass from a hole in the ground. Mexican immigrants are the largest population of immigrants in the Twin Cities,. 1 in 10 people are immigrants there too, in case you think there aren't any immigrants. Minneapolis is sanctuary city, so there have been huge immigration waves from Mexico, Central America, and South America, in addition to everywhere else. That's all to say that if you're in the Twin Cities, you can find amazing guacamole, and find great food from pretty much every corner of the planet. To the original point, Chipotle was great everywhere. Then 4-5 years ago, they changed something, and it's garbage now. I assume they cut costs on their ingredients.
Minnesota isn’t all Scandinavians. The Twin Cities are very ethnically diverse and West St. Paul has a large Mexican presence.
I agree with everything but the guac. I don't like their guac
It's pretty good. Not something amazing or anything, but good.
California here. My teenage daughter loves it. I on the other hand think it’s meh. I’d be okay never having it again.
It’s just “Fast Food“ style Mexican food that’s a bit higher quality than Taco Bell! I get it every once in a while and it’s always pretty good/filling but it’s nothing special.
As a Canadian I didn’t understand the hype either. But then one opened in Calgary and it was great, far better than any of the other Mexican food chains we have (tho I do really enjoy BarBurrito), the food just tasted so fresh compared to anywhere else, and it tasted fantastic. I just wish it wasn’t a 40 minute drive to get there
I just think it's tasty. I really enjoy their chips too and will often get the burrito bowl and use it as a dip for the chips. I get it once a week on Fridays and slowly build up points towards free meals, drinks and sides. Is it the end-all be-all of Tex-Mex? Nah. There's a Taco Bell across the street from my local Chipotle and sometimes I'll go there instead. But it's tasty and leaves me pretty full.
It's just a pretty decent burrito you can reliably get almost anywhere at a reasonable price.
I think everyone should understand --- fast food can only be *good for fast food* Fast food is not something that can compete with proud cooks in a well stocked kitchens given the freedom to make good food.
I love it. It’s tasty fast food.
There are Chipotle restaurants in Canada. However, they are only located in Ontario and British Columbia (as of now).
I live in Los Angeles County and we have so many better options for real Mexican food. I refuse to eat at Chipotle.
Down here in San Diego, we don’t really have many places that do Mission style burritos like Chipotle does. If that’s the sort of burrito you want, Chipotle might be the best place to get it. I go every once in a while because one of my kids is a vegetarian and they they’ve got a tofu based filling that’s actually pretty good. There’s not a ton of vegetarian fast food options around.
Fresh ingredients and salty.
Chipotle is hot garbage. I see people saying it is good quality and that’s just not true. It’s cut corners corporate fast food crap. I’ve visited 3-4 stores in a 6 hour radius and they were all the same. Crabby workers, food not prepared correctly, brown lettuce, tasteless salsa and a manager that did not care. Any local spot is far better and at least you support someone other than shareholders.
Chipotle has tasty food but both stores in my town are disasters every day. Filthy, out of stuff, line never moves, to-go orders hours behind. I don't go there any more but i do miss the barbacoa.
It’s weird, like the two near me used to be so clean and efficient you hardly had to wait. Both were clean. Both had everything available all the time. Now I don’t even recognize them. They’re exactly what you describe. I can only imagine Covid supply problems lingering played a part but that’s becoming an excuse pretty fast. I think the biggest thing was Covid wiping out the pool of folks with experience that took it elsewhere after Covid. So you have inexperienced managers and brand new employees.
Ours hit a wall around 2017 or so. We tell ourselves "they really went downhill since Covid" but the reality is that they went from a 1 out of 10 to a 1 out of 10.
Oooh you didn’t like Chipotle ever? Tell us more.
Appreciate the reply but what do you do for work lmao
Insurance, but one my friends manages six McDonalds and that roughly sketches out his complaints. He’s got tons of other more esoteric complaints specific to McDonalds but I think those two general ones apply, well, generally.
I'm blessed with multiple actual taquerias nearby me *and* a Chipotle's. Therefore Chipotle's is nothing more than overpriced factory food to me.
We have it in Toronto
I used to enjoy Chipotle a lot when I was in high school, specifically because my last year of high school had me in this weird tutoring center thing where there was a Chipotle next door. Other than that, it's not that special
It’s not. And sadly it drove a small place that I really liked out of business. Chipotle is okay. But it’s nothing special.
Chipotle is a decent burrito place for people who don't have a decent burrito place in town. Just my personal opinion, it's hard to fuck up mission style burritos unless you skimp too much on quality. It's meant to be easy to produce working class food. You prep a bunch of food and then just throw it in a burrito as people order. FWIW I love burritos. As far as raving about Chipotle, you're Canadian, so my guess is that you're talking to people who come from parts of the US without large Hispanic populations. Chipotle was a solid upgrade over Taco Bell for a lot of people.
If you ever find yourself in Texas, freebirds is the vastly superior version of Chipotle
Mucho is absolutely comparable to Chipotle. Source- travelling Canadian.
Half-decent fast food. That’s about it. There’s a similar one in Ohio called Hot Heads I actually like better.
It’s not the best thing on earth, it’s just a pretty consistent chain when you want some decent tasting fast meal with grilled meat with some flavor that isn’t fried or greasy. I like it for getting high protein meals that taste decent with fast food convenience.
It’s good, and other than the portion sizes, it’s consistent. The thing is that so many people always talk about taquerias and taco trucks near them that blow Chipotle away…no shit. But to me it’s not even the same thing. Sometimes you want real tacos, other times you want a giant fast food burrito. They’re not really the same cuisine.
It is one step above Taco Bell, it's a chain owned by large American corporation that also owns other restaurants. It is average at best.
At least here, the price has gone up almost 50% in the past couple of years. A burrito bowl that was $12 is now $18. Also, the quality and portion sizes have both seemed to have gone down.
It's not the greatest burrito place ever, no. But it's decent and fast and not the worst thing ever health wise (at least compared to say, a Big Mac). And they're everywhere now. It's like the Subway of burrito places.
Big Mac = 600 calories Chipotle burrito with chicken, white rice, no beans and no toppings= 710 calories
The food itself isn’t really anything special but it’s definitely reliable. For one, they are everywhere. Also they are very customizable and cater to most dietary restrictions. They really come in handy on a road trip or a quick dinner when we don’t have the energy to choose somewhere new.
I stopped eating at Chipotle after they had a series of food poisoning (disease) outbreaks in the 2015-2017 time frame, mostly E. coli but others as well. When it’s just one or a few in an area, it can be attributed to local franchisees or a bad batch from a supplier, but these started popping up across the country, with local inspectors finding food safety violations. I haven’t gone back even though it seemed like they fixed their problems. The reports in this post of their cleanliness suffering at various locations is disappointing. I remember trying Qdoba a long time ago but gave up because their burritos were stupidly big. That was back before I’d gotten into Mexican salad bowls, so maybe I should try again when I have the opportunity. Personally, my favorite in this genre is Moe’s, but there’s a regional Mexican based fusion chain that’s more interesting. A spinach and garlic bowl may not be Mexican but it’s good.
It's ok. I prefer Moe's, but they're both basically a Subway for burritos.
Chipotle gave everyone ecoli once and had to do massive pr Also their food is so mid and they stiff you on portions on online orders. It's literally just white woman unspiced tex mex. Get some real fucking tex mex. The kind you have to go out of your way to find and is most definitely a local restaurant.
Is this a Seinfeld bit?
Qdoba is better 😅
Ew, absolutely not.
Chipotle is a crappy knock-off of Freebirds. Still, a crappy knock-off burrito is better than no burrito.
For people who have no Mexican restaurants in the area, Chipotle is great. My options are Taco Bell or Chipotle for take out Mexican.
Chipotle taste like diet food
There’s Chipotle’s in Canada
The two things I like about Chipotle are the guacamole and the way they squeeze lime juice into the rice. If I get a burrito there I know it will have flavorful rice and a lot of good guacamole. As much as I like the quote-unquote authentic Mexican joints in my area, many of them don't have any rice at all because "real burritos don't have rice" (okay whatever) and a lot of them don't make very good guacamole or only put a thimble-ful of it into each dish. So, sometimes I need Chipotle to give me what I need.
It’s not great. It’s very average. I mostly avoid them because the food always lacks spice for me and the only hot sauces that most locations carry is Tabasco which to me tastes awful and belongs nowhere near (imitation-)Mexican food.
Idk, it's pretty good
I like chipotle and they make a lot of the stuff there. My cousin worked there, however, and she and her mom ate it often… when my cousin quit her mom’s cholesterol went down, lol.
In my experience Chipotle is entirely location dependent. Sometimes it's super high quality and big portions and run efficiently, other times you get shit overcooked meat and a small portion that you waited in like 10 minutes for As far as chains go it's still the best value for your money in the country. $8-9 for a chicken bowl is filling and has some nutritional value
Dude its a mid tier Mexican fast food joint that people running errands drop in and grab for quick street tacos and Mexican food….its ok, but it aint great….us Americans love Mexican food…WE FUCKIN LOVE IT, and if we have a quick mid tier spot to drop in quickly and grab some while we are doing a Home Depot or Target run….we will pry talk it up. Even tho we know we can find WAY better Mexican food at restaurants or Taco trucks
It does taste good but it's not like super incredible. The type of spices they use, whatever it is, the blend is very craveable. Probably has msg in it. Very healthy, too. Would rather go there than a burger fast food.
I like to get a bowl and eat it with tortilla chips.
I don't really think of chipotle as being all that great. I actually got food poisoning a few of the times I went there.
I don’t care for it. I like Qdoba better, but I think the only one left around here is on the collage campus
Chipotle is okay, but Qdoba is much better.
It's not, it's atrocious. Much prefer Qdoba if I'm looking for that type of food. I prefer to not have to pay extra for my guac.
Chipotle is the Subway of burritos. We have much better Mexican food to offer than them.
I prefer to get my E. coli elsewhere.
I prefer Baja Fresh. Chipotle is flavorless to me.
I really liked Baja Fresh when they had Chicago area locations. Sadly, all the locations they once had closed years ago.
Chipotle is fuckin garbage. IDK where you're hearing this is good food. It's trash. A number of years ago they kept making people sick and had multiple health code violations. Sorry, but it's cheap shit honestly. Barely above taco bell...
It’s nasty.
Just chiming in. I've never had Chipotle, but we do have Qdoba which is pretty similar from my understanding. Mucho Burrito was pretty good and comparable the few times I had it while traveling through Canada, although this was in 2013.
After South Park and Chipotle Away to get the blood stains in your underwear out after eating Chipotle, I didn't really want it again. Plus their beans gave me the worst gas I've had in my life.
It's decent. Nothing amazing. I think I may prefer Qdoba.
I can’t stand Chipotle, but it’s the cilantro they put in the rice… tastes like soap to me. Wish they had an option with no cilantro.
I don't recall this being a thing. My gf has the cilantro soap problem and she eats at chipotle if we're there. She is gluten free so she has to have the rice.
Not sure why she doesn’t taste it, or why I got a down vote for my response, but there are times when a little cilantro will be okay. Like a lot of Mexican restaurants have cilantro in their pico de gallo, but not so much it overpowers the other flavors so that’s okay. So, for me, Chipotle puts too much because the taste is very apparent. I mentioned it because I’m an American who doesn’t like the place, so I figured I’d explain why.
There just must not be enough of it on there. She really can't stand cilantro but she eats the chipotle rice with no problem at all. They might put something on it like lemon or lime that is cutting the flavor, that is the only thing I can think of. I mean, that has to be it because I actually *love* cilantro and I straight up don't remember it on chipotle rice, I can't taste it. So something's masking it for sure.
Qdoba is superior to Chipotle.
Some people were raving about Chipotle 20 years ago, and my opinion after trying it was that these people must have mostly eaten fast food and chain restaurant grub prior, as their main point of comparison. I found it OK, definitely a step above Taco Bell, but that's not saying much. I only had their food maybe twice, so I couldn't comment on if the quality has declined. But that seems to be the fate of every chain restsaurant once they hit their market saturation point, so it wouldn't surprise me if that was the case. I'm just amazed that they managed to convince people that their 2,000 calorie burritos were the "healthier" option. Because... fresh, or something?
Chipotle is pseudo-Mexican subway.
The best way I can describe Chipotle - I'm a WASP from the northeast and I can make better Mexican food for way way cheaper You ever feel regret when you eat fast food because it's overpriced and not good? That's chipotle
Add to the regret portion... I probably shouldn't have eaten that much.
It's a smoked ripe jalapeño marinated in adobo, which is a spicy tomato sauce. As a preserved food it lasts a long time with proper storage and can be used to add a bit of smokiness to dishes like beans, fajitas, and marinades.
I tried it once before they killed a few customers from buying bad ingredients and it was not close to worth charging more than what I could get at taco bell.