There is a Chipotle near one of my clients, and so I've eaten there now several times, and I am truly impressed by both the yummy factor and the consistency of the yummy. I think my favorite so far is the barbacoa burrito with hot red salsa -- if i go for the green salsa I end up having to slather on lots of chipotle tabasco for spicy smoky goodness, which is certainly not BAD, but is more labor intensive. :-)
And it strikes me that the metal-and-wood industrial aesthetic is not just pretty but probably has a lower build-out impact (in both dollar and environmental costs) than your average plastic-coated fast food site. And if they really do use organic and small-farm sourced foods the way they say they do, then I don't care if McDonald's owns them. A company that gives me fast, cheap, unreservedly tasty meals, while being easier on the environment and the farmer, is certainly welcome to stay in my world. Now all we need is a few more Pret A Mangers and we're golden.
Posted by foodnerd at September 21, 2005 03:17 PMOi, you've got to be kidding!
Chipotle is complete and utter shite. I'll grant they use quality ingredients, but the preparation so bland and boring that it constitutes a moral hazard. Sure, there are spicy salsas to throw on but that is unsubtle, even by mass-market standards. There is more to a tasty meal than a few chilies.
When I see otherwise upstanding men and women debase themselves by eating at Chipotle, my heat aches for the fate of America.
Posted by: mkb at September 21, 2005 09:17 PMEr... heart, not heat. :)
Posted by: mkb at September 21, 2005 09:17 PMHeh, you're funny. Well, I suppose it depends on where you are and what you're used to.
I live in the SF Bay Area, over in the East Bay. In my little area that I frequent, I can get an outstanding mexican meal about every mile, usually more. Out of all of them, Chipotle rates pretty close to the bottom of the heap.
However, the place is usually packed with people. It's easy, accessible and if you need something right now and don't want to deal with another mile or two, there you are.
compared to what I can get at Perez, or at the corner dump in my neighborhood, or probably every second place in the Mission, yeah, Chipotle is shite. But when compared to the horrific blandness that one gets at Anna's Taqueria in Boston (which all the young white yuppies and hipsters rave ON AND ON about how awesome it is, gag me), the stuff I ate yesterday for lunch was pretty decent. When a mass-market meal doesn't suck when I'm forced by circumstance to eat it, I'm happy. And OK, it's not authentic, but that barbacoa with pinto beans and spicy sauce and crema was objectively pretty yummy.
Posted by: foodnerd at September 22, 2005 07:00 PMWait, did I miss something or did no one mention that Chipotle is owned by McDonalds? You know them right? Evil, low paying, earth hating corporate slime? Chipotle=BAD.
On the other hand, I love your blog! Hee hee.
Rachael
Posted by: Rachael at September 22, 2005 09:02 PMWhen you say Chipotle, do you mean a large bowl of it? Right there in Chicago? On the Loop? I'm fairly convinced that too much Chipotle will make you GASSY - http://www.jeffcutler.com/jblog/?p=39 - but maybe that's just me.
Posted by: Jeff at September 23, 2005 08:56 PMfunny, when pret made their big push into nyc, mcdonald's owned a chunk of it, too. i guess they divested, which is the reason pret isn't moving through to other cities (yet).
Posted by: santos. at September 23, 2005 11:21 PM