Chipotle: The Definitive Oral History
February 2, 2015 9:40 PM Subscribe
“So you have six years of pretty expensive schooling here, and it's going to be burritos and tacos?"
Steve’s parents provided funding for the first Chipotles, but it soon became clear that the business was going to need significant capital in order to grow. In 1996, Bob and Barbara raised $1.3 million from a handful of wealthy friends, Chipotle’s only private offering. Steve’s board, almost entirely family friends, began hunting for investors with deeper pockets.
The Chipolte founder sounds like a talented, hardworking guy, but I don't ever want to hear him used as an example of how all it takes to succeed is hard work.
posted by thelonius at 10:26 PM on February 2, 2015 [36 favorites]
The Chipolte founder sounds like a talented, hardworking guy, but I don't ever want to hear him used as an example of how all it takes to succeed is hard work.
posted by thelonius at 10:26 PM on February 2, 2015 [36 favorites]
that is the tiniest Chipolte I've ever seen.
It's about the size of our local downtown one; about as cramped and crowded too.
posted by We had a deal, Kyle at 10:39 PM on February 2, 2015
It's about the size of our local downtown one; about as cramped and crowded too.
posted by We had a deal, Kyle at 10:39 PM on February 2, 2015
This was a good read and now I'm hungry. Thanks for nothing!
posted by mazola at 11:26 PM on February 2, 2015
posted by mazola at 11:26 PM on February 2, 2015
I haven't complained about formatting of a page at all, but wow, i hate this "enhanced fake of medium" design. It lags out popping up those little chat heads even on my fairly high end laptop. Gah. It's just overly enthusiastic and busy to the point of being detrimental to getting out of the way and letting me read the actual content. Boo.
posted by emptythought at 11:42 PM on February 2, 2015 [5 favorites]
posted by emptythought at 11:42 PM on February 2, 2015 [5 favorites]
The Chipolte founder sounds like a talented, hardworking guy, but I don't ever want to hear him used as an example of how all it takes to succeed is hard work.
Hard work, an upper middle class background, people who'll bankroll your way through culinary school on a bet, and well-off parents with a network of wealthy friends who can afford to stump up over a million bucks in seed capital on a handshake. Bit more "born on third base and thinks he hit a home run" than Horatio Alger.
posted by Pseudonymous Cognomen at 12:32 AM on February 3, 2015 [8 favorites]
Hard work, an upper middle class background, people who'll bankroll your way through culinary school on a bet, and well-off parents with a network of wealthy friends who can afford to stump up over a million bucks in seed capital on a handshake. Bit more "born on third base and thinks he hit a home run" than Horatio Alger.
posted by Pseudonymous Cognomen at 12:32 AM on February 3, 2015 [8 favorites]
My Chipotle experience would be improved if they had touchscreen ordering like WaWa. Much quicker when you don't need a back and forth with the customer to get the order. It just works so perfectly for this sort food customization model.
Holy heck does ShopHouse look good. If they ever come to my town I might just quick cooking. Might have to hunt one down next time I'm in DC to try it. Oh wait, the spicy sauces aren't vegan? Stupid fish sauce, it's always the fish sauce. Well, still looks good, but I won't be able to quit cooking.
posted by Drinky Die at 12:34 AM on February 3, 2015 [2 favorites]
Holy heck does ShopHouse look good. If they ever come to my town I might just quick cooking. Might have to hunt one down next time I'm in DC to try it. Oh wait, the spicy sauces aren't vegan? Stupid fish sauce, it's always the fish sauce. Well, still looks good, but I won't be able to quit cooking.
posted by Drinky Die at 12:34 AM on February 3, 2015 [2 favorites]
I haven't been to a Chipotle in many years. But as I remember, their burritos were really crap compared to what I was used to getting from real taquerias in San Francisco. Did I just go to a bad location? Did they improve? Now that I no longer live in SF, should I give Chipotle another chance?
posted by ryanrs at 1:07 AM on February 3, 2015
posted by ryanrs at 1:07 AM on February 3, 2015
I don't ever want to hear him used as an example of how all it takes to succeed is hard work
No indeed, but at least they mention the money. I can't count the number of 'rags to riches' stories I've read with a strange lacuna, like: He arrived on the docks with one suitcase and half a crown in his pocket. Buying some run-down studios in Soho and a moribund film production company he quickly established a reputation for his lavish costume epics...
posted by Segundus at 1:21 AM on February 3, 2015 [21 favorites]
No indeed, but at least they mention the money. I can't count the number of 'rags to riches' stories I've read with a strange lacuna, like: He arrived on the docks with one suitcase and half a crown in his pocket. Buying some run-down studios in Soho and a moribund film production company he quickly established a reputation for his lavish costume epics...
posted by Segundus at 1:21 AM on February 3, 2015 [21 favorites]
That half crown in the pocket is often a signifier that daddy was a king.
posted by nfalkner at 1:23 AM on February 3, 2015 [3 favorites]
posted by nfalkner at 1:23 AM on February 3, 2015 [3 favorites]
No indeed, but at least they mention the money.
Yes, the piece is very forthright about this, which I appreciate. I suppose I should add that I didn't see any tendency to make Steve into some kind of libertatian hero. So maybe my pre-emptive scorn is misplaced. I'm just so tired of people who believe that the difference between succesful people and poor people is that poor people don't work hard, when it's more that successful people are working hard in a context of connections and opportunity, and poor people are working hard in dead end jobs that are incredibly hard to break out of.
Obviously you need more than money to start a business like this and make it a success - but you do need money. If his parents were broke, and had no connections, I wonder would a bank have lent it to him?
posted by thelonius at 1:33 AM on February 3, 2015 [2 favorites]
Yes, the piece is very forthright about this, which I appreciate. I suppose I should add that I didn't see any tendency to make Steve into some kind of libertatian hero. So maybe my pre-emptive scorn is misplaced. I'm just so tired of people who believe that the difference between succesful people and poor people is that poor people don't work hard, when it's more that successful people are working hard in a context of connections and opportunity, and poor people are working hard in dead end jobs that are incredibly hard to break out of.
Obviously you need more than money to start a business like this and make it a success - but you do need money. If his parents were broke, and had no connections, I wonder would a bank have lent it to him?
posted by thelonius at 1:33 AM on February 3, 2015 [2 favorites]
I haven't been to a Chipotle in many years. But as I remember, their burritos were really crap compared to what I was used to getting from real taquerias in San Francisco. Did I just go to a bad location? Did they improve? Now that I no longer live in SF, should I give Chipotle another chance?
Heavens no. Never settle. Demand nothing but the most authentic dining experience.
posted by dashDashDot at 2:38 AM on February 3, 2015 [8 favorites]
Heavens no. Never settle. Demand nothing but the most authentic dining experience.
posted by dashDashDot at 2:38 AM on February 3, 2015 [8 favorites]
I hope some of the soul searching McDonald's does about what Chipotle is doing right leads to things like including and marketing serious vegetarian options. Forget the McRib, I want to try a McSpicy Paneer.
posted by Drinky Die at 2:58 AM on February 3, 2015 [4 favorites]
posted by Drinky Die at 2:58 AM on February 3, 2015 [4 favorites]
Heavens no. Never settle. Demand nothing but the most authentic dining experience.
You do understand that, for vast swaths of the nation, that would mean never going out to eat anything beyond burgers, right? Or did I miss the {sarcasm} tag?
I have no qualms about Chipotle. As a quick workday lunch spot, it's a good deal better and tastier than most of the rest of what's available and affordable.
posted by Thorzdad at 3:14 AM on February 3, 2015 [4 favorites]
You do understand that, for vast swaths of the nation, that would mean never going out to eat anything beyond burgers, right? Or did I miss the {sarcasm} tag?
I have no qualms about Chipotle. As a quick workday lunch spot, it's a good deal better and tastier than most of the rest of what's available and affordable.
posted by Thorzdad at 3:14 AM on February 3, 2015 [4 favorites]
no mention of the workers. working at chipotle sounds more demanding then McDonalds.
its no coincidence that chpotle has grown during a period where career prospects for young people have collapsed.
posted by ennui.bz at 3:23 AM on February 3, 2015 [1 favorite]
its no coincidence that chpotle has grown during a period where career prospects for young people have collapsed.
posted by ennui.bz at 3:23 AM on February 3, 2015 [1 favorite]
You do understand that, for vast swaths of the nation, that would mean never going out to eat anything beyond burgers, right? Or did I miss the {sarcasm} tag?
It was sarcasm. Trust me, I understand. I'm in the middle of America's rust belt. I like Chipotle, and as a vegetarian, I too would eagerly try a McSpicy Paneer.
posted by dashDashDot at 3:26 AM on February 3, 2015 [4 favorites]
It was sarcasm. Trust me, I understand. I'm in the middle of America's rust belt. I like Chipotle, and as a vegetarian, I too would eagerly try a McSpicy Paneer.
posted by dashDashDot at 3:26 AM on February 3, 2015 [4 favorites]
$22B / 500 = $44M per store?
posted by StickyCarpet at 3:34 AM on February 3, 2015
posted by StickyCarpet at 3:34 AM on February 3, 2015
...its no coincidence that chpotle has grown during a period where career prospects for young people have collapsed.
Not sure this follows. After all, the diners at Chipotle skew young, too.
posted by sonic meat machine at 3:35 AM on February 3, 2015
Not sure this follows. After all, the diners at Chipotle skew young, too.
posted by sonic meat machine at 3:35 AM on February 3, 2015
I haven't been to a Chipotle in many years. But as I remember, their burritos were really crap compared to what I was used to getting from real taquerias in San Francisco. Did I just go to a bad location? Did they improve? Now that I no longer live in SF, should I give Chipotle another chance?
They're really really good for what they are. Every town worth a shit, even little college towns, have often had a better place. But it sets a pretty damn high baseline. If you're just showing up somewhere, and you want to eat something that isn't total garbage and get your bearings tomorrow(or are in the middle of a road trip and stopping off in some weird half-town "microurban" place for gas and grub, or to crash out) you know what you're going to get.
It's food, and it's a lot better than anything else you'd really call fast food that isn't a regional chain. Stuff like pita pit and taco del mar, which seem to be closing stores faster than they're opening them.
Even just in seattle, which isn't exactly mecca of tier 1 mexican food, there's better places. But they're often food trucks and shit and you have to know where to find them. If i was just showing up to some random, especially smaller town that i didn't know about anything in i would go there.
There's a cheaper, better place two blocks from the closest chipotle to me. Hell, one of the best taco trucks in town used to park across the street. But you'd have to, you know, know that. It sets a high bar for a "safe option".
posted by emptythought at 3:37 AM on February 3, 2015 [15 favorites]
They're really really good for what they are. Every town worth a shit, even little college towns, have often had a better place. But it sets a pretty damn high baseline. If you're just showing up somewhere, and you want to eat something that isn't total garbage and get your bearings tomorrow(or are in the middle of a road trip and stopping off in some weird half-town "microurban" place for gas and grub, or to crash out) you know what you're going to get.
It's food, and it's a lot better than anything else you'd really call fast food that isn't a regional chain. Stuff like pita pit and taco del mar, which seem to be closing stores faster than they're opening them.
Even just in seattle, which isn't exactly mecca of tier 1 mexican food, there's better places. But they're often food trucks and shit and you have to know where to find them. If i was just showing up to some random, especially smaller town that i didn't know about anything in i would go there.
There's a cheaper, better place two blocks from the closest chipotle to me. Hell, one of the best taco trucks in town used to park across the street. But you'd have to, you know, know that. It sets a high bar for a "safe option".
posted by emptythought at 3:37 AM on February 3, 2015 [15 favorites]
$22B / 500 = $44M per store?
posted by StickyCarpet
The had 500 stores in 2006, currently it's at 1600, and their market cap is 1.2 Billion, so about $750,000 per store. I think Bloomberg got a decimal point in the wrong place or something.
posted by Lanark at 4:59 AM on February 3, 2015
Their food at least has some flavor, though obviously not as much as a genuinely great place. But for fast food from a chain, Chipotle is about as good as it gets.
posted by Dip Flash at 5:35 AM on February 3, 2015
posted by Dip Flash at 5:35 AM on February 3, 2015
ryanrs: I haven't been to a Chipotle in many years. But as I remember, their burritos were really crap compared to what I was used to getting from real taquerias in San Francisco. Did I just go to a bad location? Did they improve? Now that I no longer live in SF, should I give Chipotle another chance?Chipotle is not authentic Mexican/TexMex. Chipotle has never claimed to be such. Burritos are no longer strictly "Mexican cuisine", just as "pizza" now includes the possibility of buffalo wing sauce, "sushi" includes California rolls, and "burgers" may contain salmon or tofu.
What Chipotle is is a slightly upscale fast-food cousin of Taco Bell (which does claim to be Mexican, but, hey, we'va alwayssknown that's marketing BS).
posted by IAmBroom at 6:14 AM on February 3, 2015 [2 favorites]
Everybody knows that the best burritos outside of San Francisco come out of the Alameda-Weehawken Burrito Tunnel.
posted by Tomorrowful at 6:51 AM on February 3, 2015 [12 favorites]
posted by Tomorrowful at 6:51 AM on February 3, 2015 [12 favorites]
From some high-up McDonalds guy:
posted by Dr Dracator at 7:00 AM on February 3, 2015 [1 favorite]
Greenberg also took 40 execs from around the world and put us in an incubator in a different building in downtown Chicago and said what could we do with our core competencies to build the next McDonald’s? Lining up a maid service, dry-cleaning, mowing the lawn, we explored all these different businesses. We looked at senior citizen places. It was a thrilling project.Maid services! Mowing the Lawn! SENIOR CITIZEN PLACES! It's all so thrilling !!!!1!!
posted by Dr Dracator at 7:00 AM on February 3, 2015 [1 favorite]
What's really an accomplishment to me, I think, is that a Chipotle burrito is leagues ahead of the sit-down Tex-Mex/Mexican restaurants that populate many small towns/cities and almost all of middle America -- I'm thinking everything from Chili's to Chevy's to On the Border and all of the smaller ones in between.
Of course there are more authentic options available, particularly in places with larger Mexican-American populations or larger populations in general, but Chipotle is doing it tastier than large swaths of the market, and it is cheaper and quicker to boot.
posted by likeatoaster at 7:42 AM on February 3, 2015 [2 favorites]
Of course there are more authentic options available, particularly in places with larger Mexican-American populations or larger populations in general, but Chipotle is doing it tastier than large swaths of the market, and it is cheaper and quicker to boot.
posted by likeatoaster at 7:42 AM on February 3, 2015 [2 favorites]
It was a very happy day for me when Chipotle opened up in my airport. Reliably tasty food that I can customize myself and pretend like it's healthier than giving into the temptation for fries and a shake elsewhere in the foodcourt.
posted by TwoStride at 7:46 AM on February 3, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by TwoStride at 7:46 AM on February 3, 2015 [1 favorite]
that is the tiniest Chipolte I've ever seen
Gnaaaahhh pet peeve eye twitch. I hate it when people say "Chi-POLL-tee".
Anyway, that was an interesting article and now I'm craving a big ol' burrito. Ain't no Chipotle near the food desert industrial area where I work, but I'm considering driving to the nearest Moe's for lunch.
posted by Fleebnork at 7:51 AM on February 3, 2015
Gnaaaahhh pet peeve eye twitch. I hate it when people say "Chi-POLL-tee".
Anyway, that was an interesting article and now I'm craving a big ol' burrito. Ain't no Chipotle near the food desert industrial area where I work, but I'm considering driving to the nearest Moe's for lunch.
posted by Fleebnork at 7:51 AM on February 3, 2015
Fleebnork--Just had to check out Moe's--I have no idea how the food is but they have a great nutrition calculator. Just ordered a nice breakfast burrito.
posted by rmhsinc at 8:34 AM on February 3, 2015
posted by rmhsinc at 8:34 AM on February 3, 2015
My daughter is in love with Chipotle. I used to visit one in the early days of their McDonalds-driven expansion back in 2001 and rather liked it, then moved away and didn't go back until the last couple of years. Their stores are SO loud and reverby that the assembly line ordering thing just doesn't work for me any more, which makes me feel old and unwelcome. I don't have this problem with Subway.
posted by drlith at 8:51 AM on February 3, 2015
posted by drlith at 8:51 AM on February 3, 2015
...its no coincidence that chpotle has grown during a period where career prospects for young people have collapsed.
Not sure this follows. After all, the diners at Chipotle skew young, too.
what Bloomberg elides is that Chipotle's business model (as versus McDonalds) requires much greater input from the workers. They have to complete more challenging tasks (i.e. chopping tomatoes) and more complicated interaction with customers in the line. You are probably better off working stoned at McD's but Chipotle requires more investment from the workers... which is why Chipotle has a "career" path for it's workers within the company.
The Bloomberg piece pretends to layout the historyof Chipotle's business model but neglects what is probably the most important factor in continued growth: being able to find workers willing to invest in their "career" in "upscale" fast food.
posted by ennui.bz at 8:59 AM on February 3, 2015 [2 favorites]
Not sure this follows. After all, the diners at Chipotle skew young, too.
what Bloomberg elides is that Chipotle's business model (as versus McDonalds) requires much greater input from the workers. They have to complete more challenging tasks (i.e. chopping tomatoes) and more complicated interaction with customers in the line. You are probably better off working stoned at McD's but Chipotle requires more investment from the workers... which is why Chipotle has a "career" path for it's workers within the company.
The Bloomberg piece pretends to layout the historyof Chipotle's business model but neglects what is probably the most important factor in continued growth: being able to find workers willing to invest in their "career" in "upscale" fast food.
posted by ennui.bz at 8:59 AM on February 3, 2015 [2 favorites]
Chain restaurants funnel money out of the community.
When I go to eat at my excellent local Chinese place, I know where my money is going. I've had the same waiters there for many years - I know the guy who owns the place, who grew up in that very building. Occasionally, I want something that's not on the menu and I just have to ask. Sometimes I get freebies.
The money I spend in that restaurant goes right to the people I see there. If I spend money at Chipotle, some portion of it goes to random strangers. More, if that store does particularly well, almost all of that windfall goes entirely to those strangers.
Our spending is one of the few ways we can make an impact these days. I choose to spend whenever I can at locally-owned businesses.
posted by lupus_yonderboy at 9:27 AM on February 3, 2015 [4 favorites]
When I go to eat at my excellent local Chinese place, I know where my money is going. I've had the same waiters there for many years - I know the guy who owns the place, who grew up in that very building. Occasionally, I want something that's not on the menu and I just have to ask. Sometimes I get freebies.
The money I spend in that restaurant goes right to the people I see there. If I spend money at Chipotle, some portion of it goes to random strangers. More, if that store does particularly well, almost all of that windfall goes entirely to those strangers.
Our spending is one of the few ways we can make an impact these days. I choose to spend whenever I can at locally-owned businesses.
posted by lupus_yonderboy at 9:27 AM on February 3, 2015 [4 favorites]
The tagline "Usually when you roll something this good, it's illegal" is pretty ironic now given that the first Chipotle is now next door to a legal dispensary.
posted by tau_ceti at 10:30 AM on February 3, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by tau_ceti at 10:30 AM on February 3, 2015 [1 favorite]
likeatoaster: " is that a Chipotle burrito is leagues ahead of the sit-down Tex-Mex/Mexican restaurants that populate many small towns/cities and almost all of middle America"
If you are in Denver, I encourage you to visit Viva Burrito. It's not a buffet style build-a-burrito deal, but they have some damn fine burritos.
posted by boo_radley at 11:03 AM on February 3, 2015 [1 favorite]
If you are in Denver, I encourage you to visit Viva Burrito. It's not a buffet style build-a-burrito deal, but they have some damn fine burritos.
posted by boo_radley at 11:03 AM on February 3, 2015 [1 favorite]
I'll admit that I love Chipotle. For a long time, the highest grossing Chipotle location was at my undergrad. When I went to visit friends as a pre-frosh (before I became a student), I had my first encounter with Chipotle. I had never heard of it, and it wowed me.
I'm sure it can't compare to real burritos, and any west coast person can't wait to tell you that, but in terms of quality, flavor, and quantity, it's leaps and bounds beyond other options. UMD doesn't have an official religion, but that Chipotle franchise would be its church.
posted by X-Himy at 11:18 AM on February 3, 2015
I'm sure it can't compare to real burritos, and any west coast person can't wait to tell you that, but in terms of quality, flavor, and quantity, it's leaps and bounds beyond other options. UMD doesn't have an official religion, but that Chipotle franchise would be its church.
posted by X-Himy at 11:18 AM on February 3, 2015
"If i was just showing up to some random, especially smaller town that i didn't know about anything in i would go there. "
That is certainly an argument for eating at a fast food chain.
But if I could I'd favorite Lupus Yonderboy's comment a dozen times.
"Chain restaurants funnel money out of the community."
That. Simple.
Look, twenty years ago, I'd understand about not wanting to try to engage in an unknown quantity/quality of local food, but these days there is the internet. It'll help you locate a place to eat, and probably give you a ton of reviews on it (heck, you can even search by distance, by cuisine type, whatever).
A good friend of mine loves long road trips. He has a rule of never going into a chain restaurant. Sometimes his meals aren't great, but the *experience* is something that makes his memories, makes his vacations. He has tales of folks literally handing him stuff from their walls (some picture he liked). He's a small business owner, so he certainly has empathy with other small business owners trying to make a go at it.
I spent a summer in NYC recently (and made it to a meetup!) and had a rule - no chain restaurants. I made one exception for one meal (Chipoltes, actually - my significant other had never been there).
And yeah, the dollar in my pocket makes more of a difference than my vote at the ballot box, as far as I'm concerned.
posted by el io at 11:57 AM on February 3, 2015 [4 favorites]
That is certainly an argument for eating at a fast food chain.
But if I could I'd favorite Lupus Yonderboy's comment a dozen times.
"Chain restaurants funnel money out of the community."
That. Simple.
Look, twenty years ago, I'd understand about not wanting to try to engage in an unknown quantity/quality of local food, but these days there is the internet. It'll help you locate a place to eat, and probably give you a ton of reviews on it (heck, you can even search by distance, by cuisine type, whatever).
A good friend of mine loves long road trips. He has a rule of never going into a chain restaurant. Sometimes his meals aren't great, but the *experience* is something that makes his memories, makes his vacations. He has tales of folks literally handing him stuff from their walls (some picture he liked). He's a small business owner, so he certainly has empathy with other small business owners trying to make a go at it.
I spent a summer in NYC recently (and made it to a meetup!) and had a rule - no chain restaurants. I made one exception for one meal (Chipoltes, actually - my significant other had never been there).
And yeah, the dollar in my pocket makes more of a difference than my vote at the ballot box, as far as I'm concerned.
posted by el io at 11:57 AM on February 3, 2015 [4 favorites]
I'm just glad that I don't have to rely on the unauthorized or incomplete oral histories of Chipolte any more - this one is definitive.
posted by thelonius at 12:14 PM on February 3, 2015
posted by thelonius at 12:14 PM on February 3, 2015
I enjoyed this article. It was a nice look into how a business is formed (how economy get pragnent?) They're smart as hell when it comes to the marketing side of their small farm/natural food/organic aesthetic.
San Franciscans are the only people I've heard consistently complain about Chipotle's quality, ryanrs, because ultimately it's a Mission burrito clone. I don't think you're off base - and I think more generally, it's not the case that Chipotle is going to be the best thing around, it's just something that will be consistent and consistently good wherever you go, as emptythought mentions. I think in addition to that though, their ingredients have a really distinct/unique flavor that makes them eminently "crave-able". DC isn't bad on the taco/burrito front but sometimes I just want Chipotle specifically.
Also yeah, the sofritas are indeed quite tasty, internet fraud detective squad, station number 9. I say this as an inveterate meat eater.
We do have at least two places that are trying to be the Chipotle of Greek/Mediterranean food - Cava Mezze Grill, which I love, and grk which I haven't tried yet and which has a couple NYC locations and one here in DC. It is a concept that's not too hard to carry over to different cuisines.
posted by capricorn at 12:36 PM on February 3, 2015
San Franciscans are the only people I've heard consistently complain about Chipotle's quality, ryanrs, because ultimately it's a Mission burrito clone. I don't think you're off base - and I think more generally, it's not the case that Chipotle is going to be the best thing around, it's just something that will be consistent and consistently good wherever you go, as emptythought mentions. I think in addition to that though, their ingredients have a really distinct/unique flavor that makes them eminently "crave-able". DC isn't bad on the taco/burrito front but sometimes I just want Chipotle specifically.
Also yeah, the sofritas are indeed quite tasty, internet fraud detective squad, station number 9. I say this as an inveterate meat eater.
We do have at least two places that are trying to be the Chipotle of Greek/Mediterranean food - Cava Mezze Grill, which I love, and grk which I haven't tried yet and which has a couple NYC locations and one here in DC. It is a concept that's not too hard to carry over to different cuisines.
posted by capricorn at 12:36 PM on February 3, 2015
I used to live within walking distance of the mission in SF, and when I did, I never really went to Chipotle, I was going to El Farolito and such. But that wasn't because mission burritos are dramatically better (well, maybe the salsa), it's that Chipotle is the same everywhere, whereas I could get some variety at the 50 different burrito / Hispanic restaurants in the area.
posted by MillMan at 1:27 PM on February 3, 2015
posted by MillMan at 1:27 PM on February 3, 2015
their burritos were really crap compared to what I was used to getting from real taquerias in San Francisco.
Isn't San Francisco like the mecca of burritos? Who would expect a chain to measure up?
posted by smackfu at 1:33 PM on February 3, 2015
Isn't San Francisco like the mecca of burritos? Who would expect a chain to measure up?
posted by smackfu at 1:33 PM on February 3, 2015
Even your favorite chinese place is buying ingredients off of a Sysco truck.
posted by JoeZydeco at 2:43 PM on February 3, 2015
posted by JoeZydeco at 2:43 PM on February 3, 2015
I lived in the SF Mission for many years and in places where I can't get a real Mission burrito I love a burrito bowl from Chipotle. I get that I'm not spending my dollars locally but on my scale of reprehensible corporations to visit Chipotle is more In 'n Out and significantly less McDonald's.
posted by bendy at 6:43 PM on February 3, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by bendy at 6:43 PM on February 3, 2015 [1 favorite]
Who would expect a chain to measure up?
Well it's not like making a genuine mission burrito is hard or some big secret. They're not that complicated.
Maybe Chipotle is doing something silly like not using lard?
posted by ryanrs at 7:23 PM on February 3, 2015
Well it's not like making a genuine mission burrito is hard or some big secret. They're not that complicated.
Maybe Chipotle is doing something silly like not using lard?
posted by ryanrs at 7:23 PM on February 3, 2015
Oh god, they don't use lard, they use rice bran oil. This explains everything.
posted by ryanrs at 10:55 PM on February 3, 2015
posted by ryanrs at 10:55 PM on February 3, 2015
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