Chipotle sucks.

it's not about NYC, but it is about Chipotle sucking

As you now know, Todd Barry is a big fan of Chipotle, and he’s not the only one that considers it one of New York’s “great restaurants.” The Tex-Mex chain is just one of five joints (along with Tia Pol, wd-50, Hearth, and the Spotted Pig) that Momofuku lists as “friends” on its Website, and in this magazine’s profile of David Chang, he makes clear that it influenced Ssäm Bar:

“I tried to get a job at Chipotle when I got back from Japan, but they wouldn’t hire me,” he says. “They knew what I was up to.” It’s easy to see the parallels between Ssäm Bar and the Tex-Mex monolith that’s invaded Manhattan. “A lot of this is premised on what Chipotle’s done: Make affordable, good food, and do it with integrity.”

We've noted that Bobby Flay is also possibly a fan of Chipotle (indeed Bret Thorn overheard him calling it "good food"). And we're sure Chang and Flay aren't the only ones. So when will Chipotle’s founder, Steve Ells, finally be nominated for a Beard Award?

They're all burritoerias. Also, tortaerias, tostadaerias... They have better hot sauce too.

it's good but it's def not as great as people make it out to be

-- J0rdan S., Monday, 31 March 2008 19:40

how dare you

Grand Opening of the BurritoVille in Westbury, Long Island

WHAAAAT!?

this place is fucking nasty

how dare you

-- BIG HOOS aka the steendriver, Monday, March 31, 2008 3:01 PM (2 minutes ago) Bookmark Link

^likes "anything but country"

I can imagine lots of vague and tiresome "not as good as this mom n' pop taco stand right by my 400 sqft apartment in upper west hipland" arguments against chipotle but "fucking nasty" was not something I expected. explain?

it's not even better than other huge mexican subway chains like moe's or qdoba

whoa whoa whoa there son it is approximately 400x better than qdoba

it's certainly no worse, i was ultimately saying that both leave me full but usually unsatisfied

yah dude moe's not even on chipotle's radar

and i don't even really like chipotle's

moe's > chipotle and i don't even think it's close

i'm an og moe's stan and an ex-employee though, so grain of salt

the problem is the ingredients are so compartmentalized. i take one bite, all rice. another bite, all beans. another bite, all meat. might as well wrap each ingredient seperately

^tb

that's why i only eat the burrito bowls at chipotle

some coworkers took me there once and the line was super long and the food was whipped out in like 15 seconds and there was too much sour cream and flavorless salsa and it was just a lot of mass produced yuckiness. McD's owning it makes total sense. and yes I live in a latino neighborhood lovingly referred to by the locals as "upper west hipland" and heavily populated with roach coaches that are 9,000x tastier and better for you than this glop.

x-post

guys can we at least agree none of these various burrito establishments are all that good and that they tend to lead to other taco mistakes

Qdoba is like an MBA grad's idea of ripping off Chipotle in red-state areas, doing something with more familiar beige colors and Fleetwood Mac on the sound system instead of steel and Orchestra Baobab. They do have pesto, though, and mole, so that's a little something, but they're much more of a traditional, unimaginative fast-food joint. (And do any off the non-Chipotle places offer organically raised meats?)

McDonald's sold their share of it years ago.

I'm guessing the companies that distribute meat to the taquerias are no more appealing than Chipotle is as a company in the food industry.

I had Burritoville recently and it was Not Good -- I mean, edible but srsly not a burrito I'd go out of my way for. Will try once more, maybe, but when there's Taco Santana in Wburg and LA Taqueria in the Slope I don't know why you'd get yr fix anywhere else?

as far as i know mcdonald's no longer owns it. in fact, i don't think it was ever an "ownership" as much as a partnership.

but in any case i heard maybe a year or two ago that chipotle was successful enough that they were able to break ties with mickey d's.

oh okay, wikipedia sez:

In the past, McDonald's Corporation owned a majority interest in Chipotle. McDonald's has since sold their entire stake in Chipotle; full divestment was completed in October of 2006.

Will try once more, maybe, but when there's Taco Santana in Wburg and LA Taqueria in the Slope I don't know why you'd get yr fix anywhere else?

-- Laurel, Monday, March 31, 2008 3:19 PM (12 seconds ago) Bookmark Link

BECAUSE WE DON'T LIVE IN NYC

The online ordering is bullshit. Tried it twice for family meals, neither time had they noticed the order at the store when I called to confirm (bullshit in the first place) and the second time they hadn't even bothered to make it by the time I got there.

in any case, i like chipotle. it's fairly inexpensive, the food generally tastes pretty fresh, and it's by far the best fast food place for a good, solid vegetarian option.

There's no Burritoville anywhere else, though, is there? I guess I was swinging a wide cat, there, but I was mostly badmouthing Bville for cutty's benefit.

never heard of burritoville. i wasn't a fan of qdoba and i thought california tortilla was pretty gross.

if you are asking for sour cream on your burrito you deserve to hate your life

california tortilla has okay tacos for fast food

xp No, that's okay, I'll just take it on the side.

Taco Cabana is okay, kinda halfway in between Bueno and Chipotle/Qdoba

since clemente has testified to the veggie options I will now state for the record that barbacoa is king

I think Chipotle's an encouraging phenomenon, as reflected in mizzell's passage, and it's among the better greasy fast food options, but I can't deny that my limited experience hasn't been nasty-free.

I don't go to B'ville for mexican food, I go for merkin-style burritos. my local offers actual corn tortillas for the merkin-style tacos, tho.

tacos tom, I had tacos.

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yeah laurel eat one burrito and slander such a wonderful chain

do some more research

tacos > burritos

the barbacoa sucks ass, the chicken is usually overpowered by onions, steak is good if rare enough

I haven't tried the carnitas, as I don't dig pork.

I pity the fool

barbacoa + red chili salsa = awesome

i dont really order burritos at all any more ... two tacos is enough, and cheaper. i usually get two chile rellenos if i'm at pasadita, or steak if im at picante, and anywhere else i buy a torta

deej OTM, tortas ftw

all day i've been trying to decide if i'm having tacos (3) or a torta for dinner.

two tacos is enough, and cheaper

Me too

i made some tortas yesterday.so good

PS LAUREL:

http://nyc.everyblock.com/restaurant-inspections/by-date/2008/2/23/825117/

oh, i've seen that. doesn't bother me. the food is too good.

milaneza tortas <3

omg foodie lauren shows up

Those citations don't seem like the gross kind, really? I mean, how many times a day are you supposed to wash your utensils, when they sit in the pot of beans at a near-boil? And so delicious.

My problem with the Burritoville product was with general stuff like really starchy, tasteless rice, not specifically my variety of burrito. But I'll try again, sometime when it's less inconvenient.

SIGNS not posted? I'm hardly going to stop eating somewhere because their "International sign for choking" poster is missing.