That's right, I did it, and I won't apologize either. I'm not going to cower behind the label of "guilty pleasure" like Harry Potter/Twilight/The OC fans do either. I legitimately think the food here is tasty. Chipotle is a cult that I'm proudly a member of, I CRAVE the food here which means one of two things:
1)the food is good
2)Soluble-meth-food-infusion
I'll let you decide which has a greater probability.
The food here is always FRESH, the burritos are always filling, and the hot salsa is actually HOT (this is more than I can say for 99% of "Mexican" places, actually...I've always wondered why Mexican food even has a reputation for being "hot"...but that's for another time). The MEATS are incredibly tasty, I almost never get chicken anything when there are tortillas involved but the chicken here is so delightfully crisp around the edges and perfectly seasoned. (chicken at most Mexicanish places tastes like it was cooked in sea water)
OK sheeple, can you honestly look at yourself in the mirror and tell me that you'd be dinging the shit out of Chipotle if it were a mom and pop burrito cart in the SE area? What about if a friend of yours invited you over for burritos and they tasted like this?
Come. Let's debunk some of the anti-Chipotle rhetoric that seems to be all the rage right now:
-Chipotle is owned by McDonald's: this is not true, at all. At one time Mickey D's (which I hate, btw) INVESTED capital into Chipotle, much in the same way that your 401k at work probably has you invested in all sorts of companies you may or may not like. Chipotle used this money to expand and grow to the point it is at today, McD's has since divested 100%. This was not the creation of the McDonald's corporation, it started as the baby of a chef who wanted to sell San Francisco-style burritos in Denver. It began with one single store opened with a $85,000 loan.. So when did McDonald's divestment occur? October 2006, which means everyone making a McBurrito-connection post this date (there is only one review from before this date) is INCORRECT.
-"Authentic", "fake Mexican", "white rice", etc: these are MISSION STYLE BURRITOS people, GOOGLE it. If everyone had your attitude we would've never discovered the miracle of the cheeseburger (WHAT?! A slice of CHEESE on a hamburger??!! WHY?!) or all the Americanized mayonnaise/cream cheese-infused sushi rolls some people seem to go crazy over (NOT me on this one). Chipotle isn't trying to be "authentic" (whatever THAT means).
-Chipotle has infinity calories: well, so do most of the places you eat, they just don't publish their numbers or they aren't as widely targeted/available. You eat two Big Mac's a day and I'll eat one Chipotle burrito, let's see who lives longer. This also isn't like eating X,XXX calories of trans fats and high fructose corn syrup either, there are also a lot of NUTRIENTS in these burritos as well. Chipotle doesn't claim to be "healthy" only "responsible" in that the cows and piggies aren't beaten as rigorously as they are at most other places...or something like that.
-NO CHIPS: cry me a fucking river people. So a 2lb burrito baby isn't enough, you HAVE to have chips n' salsa too? I go out to eat to...EAT, not to munch on chips. Are you the same people that are physically incapable of watching a movie without chomping on popcorn? I'll trade up more ACTUAL food for chips anyday. Which brings me to...
-COST: seriously it's around 6 bucks for two meals, that's $3/meal that's cheaper than most shit you could whip up at your house. If you want chips so bad take one home and use your own chips and favorite salsa.
-GUAC being extra: I'm not a huge avocado fan (I'm avocagnostic), so I don't feel any empathy for you here. But if you were one of the people above that moaned of health issues, maybe you should hold off on the guac or get it instead of meat. [insert passive-aggressive smiley here]
I'm done.
Also: the burritos here are way better than the bland ones at Cha! Cha! Cha! or Ole Ole, which offer a similar product but are locally owned (as far as I know). read more