Chipotle Mexican Grill

[JPW]

Ya want edge, Don?

Request a nutritional breakdown from them via e-mail (unlike the other chains they don't have it on their website).

They put enough sodium in everything so that they don't EVER have to worry about spoilage.

Maybe a little less fat and better quality of meat, but Chipotle (and Baja Fresh) are not really any better for you than grabbing some McD's.

OK, sorry but it was the best I could come up with. I like the place, but won't eat there very often.

[PoorLawyer]

My favorite at Chipotle is the Vegetarian Fajito burrito....and I am no vegetarian! However, with the veggie version you can get the beans and the peppers and onions and the guacamole all for the 5.50 price without having to pay any upcharges like you do when you get any of the meats. The guac and peppers more than makes up for their so-so beef IMO, and I like pay 5 bucks for lunch instead of 8

[bbq4meanytime]

Chipotle is good for that new-fresh-mexi food, but I prefer Baja Fresh. Even in California (where mexican joints abound like cicadas in DC) the locals were impressed with Baja Fresh when it debuted in the mid-90s.

Wendy's may have some ownership in Baja Fresh, but you can franchise a store for a cool $2M+ (at last check 2 years ago).

There's local taco joint called Teocalli Tamale in Herndon that is very similar to Chipotle but 10x better in flavor.

[hjshorter]

Carnitas

no rice

pinto beans

medium salsa

guacamole

Mmmmmmmmm. Sodium.

Ten years ago, I used to mail order my coffee beans from Starbucks in Seattle, and they were pretty darned good, too.

I think we must have been their DC base, Don. And I was soundly ridiculed for mail-ordering coffee.

[JennyUptown]

I like Baja Fresh except for their tortillas which I think are pretty awful in terms of bland-ness. And with Mexican food...well, I don't need to tell you that the tortilla is pretty important to a lot of dishes.

[bergerka]

oooh I love Chipotle. I may have to have lunch there tomorrow and it's ALL YOUR FAULT. There's one right near the office...Slkinsey and I call it "the 'potle," as in totally potley.

My usual order:

barbacoa burrito (I like the carnitas too, but prefer the barbacoa)

NO rice. Rice makes burritos too filling, IMHO, although Chipotle's rice is quite tasty.

Pinto beans

pico de gallo (mild)

corn salsa (medium)

a LITTLE cheese

a LITTLE sour cream

lettuce.

a diet coke. (NO, not to counter the calories in the burrito, just because I don't like regular coke and I DO like Diet Coke).

How are their margaritas? I usually go on a workday...wouldn't be prudent to have one then, usually.

K

[Mulcahy]

I really like Chipotle, salt and all, and it is a welcome change from the regular lunchtime tedium of the area around my midtown office.

My regular order:

Carnitas Burrito

Rice

Black Beans

Hot Salsa

Mild Salsa

Sour Cream and Cheese

Yummy.

[Stone]

I also have to give Chipotle credit for the tasteful signage. Unlike Subway's uniform garish yellow plastic signs assaulting our senses everywhere, Chipotle seems to design their signs and store fronts to fit each location. There's one around the corner in mid-town Manhattan that has a wood/brushed steel motiff that fits tastefully (and subtley) with the front of the building.

[CarrotStick]

I, too, like Chipotle.

Barbacoa Burrito

Rice

Pintos

Hot salsa and the one with corn

guacamole

cheese

lots o' napkins.

Now, thinking about it, the Chipotle in Rosslyn has a patio. I wonder if I can take my dog there to eat

[hannnah]

Gotta love those carnitas. What I think is coolest, though, are the semi-industrial aluminum and plywood Mayan petroglyphs. I want one for my house.

[JennyUptown]

I also have to give Chipotle credit for the tasteful signage. Unlike Subway's uniform garish yellow plastic signs assaulting our senses everywhere, Chipotle seems to design their signs and store fronts to fit each location. There's one around the corner in mid-town Manhattan that has a wood/brushed steel motiff that fits tastefully (and subtley) with the front of the building.

And appropriately enough, the one I saw on the strip in Vegas had a sign full of lights.

Still, when I was in NYC this past weekend it was weird to see Chipotle there. I walked by the one in the East 40s and gasped on St. Mark's Place (even though I had 1. received advance warning and 2. really like Chipotle).

[JPW]

Unfrotunately, I can't find the pdf from Chipotle with their nutrition info, but I wanted to put some numbers to my earlier post.

A chicken burrito with rice and salsa = @2500 mg of sodium or 100+% RDA.

The tortillas had around 800 mg (up there with the worst of the supermarket brands).

The chicken was the least salty of the meats at about 400 mg.

The RICE had 800 mg of sodium per serving.

I e-mailed for another copy of the nutrition sheet and will post additional details later.

[Al_Dente]

I'm a barbacoa man. With hot sauce (and Tabasco), pintos, cheese, lettuce, rice.

Gotta love a burrito as big as your head!

[bilrus]

Gotta love a burrito as big as your head!

My favorite is when they actually have to use TWO tortillas to wrap the sucker.

[eunny jang]

Re: Baja Fresh, dig the black salsa there. Dig the thoughtful molcajete of fresh, chopped cilantro, but not so able to dig the fact that it's always composed soley of mangled stems

[JennyUptown]

Unfrotunately, I can't find the pdf from Chipotle with their nutrition info, but I wanted to put some numbers to my earlier post.

A chicken burrito with rice and salsa = @2500 mg of sodium or 100+% RDA.

The tortillas had around 800 mg (up there with the worst of the supermarket brands).

The chicken was the least salty of the meats at about 400 mg.

The RICE had 800 mg of sodium per serving.

I e-mailed for another copy of the nutrition sheet and will post additional details later.

This is another reason I'm glad:

1. it takes me two sittings to finish the sucker

2. I have low blood pressure (not that too much sodium is a good thing, but it's also less of a problem).

But damn! I sure could go for a burrito tonight, but instead I'll be having mini burgers or pizza.

[syzygy8]

I prefer the soft tacos - 1 each of chicken, barbacoa and carnitas -

I'm a soft taco person too, but didn't know they'd divvy them up like this. What do they charge you for that? Is there even a button for such a mix on their registers???

Usually I just get chicken, w/tomatoes, corn, lettuce, sour cream and then add the hot sauce on my own. Sometimes grab some of the lime wedges by the drink dispensers and squeeze them on.

[hillvalley]

When I went back to school last year I had Chipolte every Tuesday night. Barbacoa, no beans with guac.

If I needed variety I had the soft tacos instead.

Wish the rice had more taste and there was a salsa bar ala BF.

The only time I finish one is when I missed the previous meal. I have a friend that eats two at a time.

[DonRocks]

I'll piss on the party, and come right out and say it:

McDonald's!

The sodium comment is noteworthy, and I do think the food lacks depth and soul, though I admit to having enjoyed it in the past.

The uncritical acceptance of Chipotle Grill in this thread is troublesome to me, but you need to remember where I'm coming from.

Cheers,

Rocks.

P.S. To avoid being labeled a nattering nabob of negativism, I enthusiastically concur with recommendations of The Well-Dressed Burrito!

[bilrus]

I'll piss on the party, and come right out and say it:

McDonald's!

The sodium comment is noteworthy, and I do think the food lacks depth and soul, though I admit to having enjoyed it in the past.

The uncritical acceptance of Chipotle Grill in this thread is troublesome to me, but you need to remember where I'm coming from.

Cheers,

Rocks.

Chipotle is what it is - convenient and pretty tasty. It is the only place that is in my direct route home that serves burritos and tacos that doesn't share space with a KFC.

If there were some tacqueria (sp?) truck in the parking lot of my office or anywhere along the Dulles Toll Road - I'd probably stop there first. But there isn't so...

[bilrus]

I prefer the soft tacos - 1 each of chicken, barbacoa and carnitas -

I'm a soft taco person too, but didn't know they'd divvy them up like this. What do they charge you for that? Is there even a button for such a mix on their registers???

It never seems to cause them any consternation at the register. I think they just charge for whatever the most expensive of the three is. I think they are all within $.20 of each other.

[astacy]

Repost of (accidentally) deleted post:

I freely admit to loving both Baja Fresh and Chipotle, especially the Baja salsa at BF (the black salsa mentioned above). I've been walking by the new Georgetown Chipotle every day, checking to see if it's open yet (it's not), since my inexpensive lunch options in G'town are so grim. One can only eat so many Booeymonger sandwiches.

The chicken flautas from the Well-Dressed Burrito are a whole 'nother story. I miss working in Dupont Circle.

[Steve Klc]

Don, you're usually much better at stirring the pot than this. It's OK for merely good food to lack depth and soul--great food has depth and soul, merely good food doesn't--and while the salt thing has prompted me to...become more curious...it's not a deal-breaker because Chipotle nails so many other things I appreciate. In true eG fashion let's bring the salt thing under increasing scrutiny, but Antoine Westermann has a heavy hand with salt everywhere he cooks or has consulted for. If it is OK for a Michelin 3 star, it might be OK for an occasional soul-less soft taco.

[DonRocks]

Don, you're usually much better at stirring the pot than this.  It's OK for merely good food to lack depth and soul--great food has depth and soul, merely good food doesn't--and while the salt thing has prompted me to...become more curious...it's not a deal-breaker because Chipotle nails so many other things I appreciate.  In true eG fashion let's bring the salt thing under increasing scrutiny, but Antoine Westermann has a heavy hand with salt everywhere he cooks or has consulted for.  If it is OK for a Michelin 3 star, it might be OK for an occasional soul-less soft taco.

Hidden salt often serves as the devil's mask.

I won't overstir this pot because I don't have anything bad to say about Chipotle Grill, but I do think a healthy degree of skepticism about the future is in order.

Look at this article. Can this level of care be exercised when the chain grows tenfold?

Double, double, foil and trouble,

Rocks.

[Steve Klc]

Hidden salt often serves as the devil's mask.

Wise words these. Sugar serves the same function as well--can it be a coincidence savory cooking continues to become sweeter?

Add all the fat some of our most famous chefs are adding or cooking in these days, poached lobster a la Keller anyone?-- and we may have just formed the holy trinity of eG skepticism.

The Devil has been busy.

He probably hates this Chipotle/Niman Ranch story you linked to: buy a better product which costs more, pass the increase on to your customers, market it well, sales go through the roof, try to improve other aspects of your operation similarly.

The Devil can't win them all.