Why bother?
Written: Jul 09 '02 (Updated Jul 10 '02)
|
Product Rating:
|
|
|
Pros: At least it is not loaded with saturated fats
Cons: Poor value received for the money; highly limited choices; lacks flavor
The Bottom Line: Highly limited choices, not really tasty and not a great value, so why go? Taco Bell is a better value.
|
|
|
| tennis_player's Full Review: Chipotle Grill |
Chipotle just came to our town. It is owned/operated by the same folks as McDonald's. That is a tipoff right off the bat. It is an incredibly limited offering of Mexican fast food. The concept is so limited and hazy that I don't know why they are able to generate any clientele or interest. but, judging by the other reviews, I am in the minority.
You only have three choices in format with a choice of one of 5 fillings per the printed menu:
Burrito
giant flour tortilla, cilantro-lime rice, choice of pinto or vegetarian black beans, choice of meat, choice of salsa, cheese or sour cream. The vegetarian burrito comes with guacamole.
Fajita Burrito
Just like a burrito but with sauteed peppers and onions instead of beans. The vegetarian fajita has both sauteed veggies and beans instead of meat, and comes with guacamole.
Burrito Bowl
Burrito or Fajita in a bowl, no tortilla,. Swap romaine lettuce rice and voila . . . . salad!
Tacos
Three soft flour or four crispy corn tortillas, choice of meat, salsa, cheese or sour cream and romaine lettuce.
The meat filling choices are:
Carnitas (supposed to spicy Mexican pulled pork)
Barbacoa (shredded beef in their special adobo seasonings)
Chicken (marinated in their chipotle pepper adobo)
Steak (marinated and grilled)
Vegetarian
Yes, there are 4 different salsas but they are not offered at a bar for your own personal use. It has to be chosen as you go through the burrito/fajita/burrito bowl building process. If you want more salsa, it is extra charge (55 cents). That struck me immediately as pretty chintzy!
The only extras offered are chips + guacamole ($1.65); chips + salsa ($.95); extra salsa ($.55).
Drink selection is not great, either. You can have the standard self-serve soft drinks, beer (domestic & imported) or Margarita.
OK, that's what's offered. Here's what we had:
1. Carnitas Burrito
1. Chicken Burrito Bowl without tortilla (becomes a salad)
1. small Diet Coke
The total tab came to $12.58, tax included.
How did it taste?
For Carnitas, it was amazingly bland. Carnitas is supposed to be tangy, full flavored and slow braised for deep flavor. I don't think this Carnitas qualified. My rice filling was supposed be cilantro-lime flavored. Nope - mine was pretty bland with almost no flavor of cilantro and only a hint of lime. And, there was not much pork. It was mostly filler - rice and beans. Worst of all, it was only tepidly warm (temperature) inside. Only the tortilla wrapper was hot! It was a major disappointment. I would not bother with another visit at this rate.
My wife had the chicken salad bowl. Again, it was pretty bland for Mexican food. She would not go back, either. We can make a better Mexican salad at home!
I fail to see the "draw" for Chipotle. The food is not all that great. The decor is trying hard to be contemporary chic but comes off as super hard and sterile - art deco metal fixtures, stainless steel table tops, hard floors, open ductwork, small, shiny, steel art-deco hanging light fixtures - all of it combines to make it a really noisy place with all the hard surfaces reflecting noise all about.
Yes, it is fairly cheap but that is relative. So are most other tacquerias that offer more choices and hot and tasty food. I don't think any of the local taquerias are in any danger of losing any of their regular clientele.
I fail to understand how the concept has seemingly become successful. But, they keep expanding and building more of them!
The best thing I can say about them is they have a decent paper napkin, not the standard skimpy, flimsy economy thing you see at most fast food places.
Recommended:
No
|
|
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2008 Shopping.com, Inc.