Chipotle sucks.

it tastes bland af

i wish the situation was different but i don't have the money or usually the time to partake in the authenticish mexican restaurants that have survived late capitalism.

taquerias are not expensive

does chipoltle forego lard? maybe that's their problem.

they do bc lard is from animals and they are now a raw vegan burrito place thanks to me

im not angry, im concerned for man alive's health

― get a long, little doggy (m bison), Tuesday, March 22, 2016 12:28 AM (36 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

it turns out i'm talking about brimstead

There are not dozens of solid burrito places in NYC though, at least not in my part of midtown.

― human life won't become a cat (man alive), Monday, March 21, 2016 11:14 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark

dunno where you're at but oxido is pretty good as like an almost literal chipotle rip off

― J0rdan S., Tuesday, March 22, 2016 12:40 AM (6 hours ago) Bookmark

better than dos toros?

my boss reps dos toros but when i tried to go there was a line of startup dudes out the door. so i went to "desi shack," the kati roll fast casual place next door, which looked, felt and tasted exactly like a nyu business student's undergrad thesis.

so that's another non chipotle option for custom constructed food cylinders

i hope chipotle goes out of business

according to their store locator there are now 19 chipotles within a one mile radius of my office, that is a lot of chipotles!

interesting i thought desi shack would have been more than a kati roll clone (there's already a kati roll clone right across the street from the original kati roll!)

thelewala (the clone) is superior to kati roll co imo, improved chaat

Wasn't there a conspiracy theory that Chipotle was the victim of sabotage at the hands of pro-GMO bio-terrorists?

http://www.snopes.com/chipotle-gmo-bioterror/

^^

Why not just get like a wrap from Subway, which is basically a burrito.

idk, I'm actually a little disappointed -- they're never my first choice when there are options around, but it's really good to have a Chipotle in a pinch, like I was really happy to see it last time I was in an airport, and it stays open late near my office when I'm working late and most good options are closed.

― human life won't become a cat (man alive), Monday, March 21, 2016 9:57 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Sort of what Starbucks is to coffee imo -- not amazing but raised the game for areas that didn't have much to offer before.

― human life won't become a cat (man alive), Monday, March 21, 2016 9:58 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

agreed

people act like there aren't shitty taquerias! there are tons of shitty taquerias. at least in places where there are lots of taquerias.

there is a place around these parts that basically took the chipotle model wholesale and applies it to falafel. you can get a sandwich (pita) or a bowl. pick yer sauce, pick yer toppings, pick your slick shiny decor. very smart business plan, actually, as it's bringing the college kids in droves.

what's it called?

those have been around for some time eg maoz vegetarian

amsterdam falafel is another one, they have locations in dc, va, ma

http://nafnafgrill.com

they have a few locations in the midwest.

i believe it's run by an israeli arab guy who has lived in the US for a while... he got a huge influx of cash from some venture capital firm that specializes in fast-casual food (!).

Naf Naf and Roti Mediterranean are the two in Chicago in that mold. I like them all.

they seem to be concentrating largely on exurbs where there are significant middle-eastern communities, and college towns. but there's also one in downtown chicago.

tbh they do it pretty well. good ingredients, good pita, decent falafel. the only problem -- and this is likely not a "problem" at all for hungry college students -- is that they put way too much stuff in each sandwich/bowl. it's overstuffed and a little overwhelming. but i find the same to be true of chipotle burritos, so it's by design, surely.

i am a pro-gmo bio terrorist and eat my chipotle burrito really smugly

maoz & amsterdam falafel are self-serve toppings which is cool. they give you the pita and the falafel and you pick what you want from the toppings bar

i find the idea that these places are "healthy" a bit amusing. sure, nothing is deep-fried or smothered in chemicals, but one of those sandwiches is probably like 1,500 calories.

xposts

i'm plenty happy if it means that more people grow accustomed to middle eastern food. a lot of chinese students here seem to have really taken to naf naf, which is interesting. i can't imagine there are a ton of middle eastern restaurants in china (outside of maybe beijing and shanghai)--but i could be wrong.

i've seen gyro/shwarma food carts in shanghai and elsewhere - not very popular, but keep in mind that there is influence coming from the western part of China where there's a big Chinese Muslim population

chinese muslim noodle places were some of my favorite places to go when i lived there, would love to see something like that catch on here in the US

im not angry, im concerned for man alive's health
― get a long, little doggy (m bison), Tuesday, March 22, 2016 12:28 AM (36 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
it turns out i'm talking about brimstead
― qualx, Tuesday, March 22, 2016 12:04 AM (12 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

it's all good

There's a spec-your-own Indian place near me that gets good business. They've also have a self-serve condiment bar. Not bad though reeking of make-it-safe-for-whitey. Thought it was a chain but I don't see any other locations on their web site.

http://www.calichutney.com/

indian is a tough cuisine to pull off as make-your-own and/or fast-casual.

There's an Indian fast-casual wrap place in the Loop that I should try someday. I don't know how you keep a naan?/tortilla? tube filled with saag paneer out of your lap but it sounds potentially promising.

Their main offering is "naan tacos" and "roti burritos" but also do plates. They bake the wraps there and always keep a fresh-baked supply handy. It's more of a grilled meat stuffing (tandori chicken, etc) than paneer type thing.

my neighborhood is overrun with various kinds of would-be chain fast casual chipotle model places. Bunch of different middle-eastern/turkish/greek variations on it, falafel joints with the maoz system, chop't and similar salad places, "piada" restaurants (not really sure what this is and never been to one, but I think it's a chipotle model), kati roll, etc.

kind of depresses me the lunch indian restaurant aesthetic is this buffet of not-so-great food, even at the places that are good

amsterdam falafelshop is great theres one near my house. it's next to the chipotle

they have very good falafel imo

the local taquerias are almost all better than chipotle even the mediocre ones, and the price is about the same

the thing i always couldn't stand about chipotle was they keep their cold ingredients so chilled that your burrito ends up cold inside instead of warm just from the small amount of pico de gallo they throw in there. also they tend to not fill/wrap them well so you get a giant lump that's too wide to eat without spillage instead of a tight cylinder

but i realize i'm also biased since i had access to this stuff before chipotle moved in, other parts of the country people had practically never seen a burrito before so chipotle must have been a revelation

http://i.imgur.com/D5OqkXq.png

http://www.littlecurryshop.com
All u need in CO

Fuckin' chorizo GONE
Fuckin' bullshit queso IN

Chipotle sucks.

chipotle queso is garbage

yup

chipotle really does suck, it went downhill after the outbreaks and never came back

yeah the queso is bullshit

Seeing this thread up top made me realize I haven't eaten at a Chipotle in probably five years.

"It's on the web site" was their answer.

i was at a bar where the drink list was cycled through on a tv screen very slowly. i asked if they had a menu and that ^ was their answer

xp they have sofritas, barbacoa, and *throws up everywhere* queso now

i still love their chips