Yep. Despite being an incorrigble foodie, I inherited distaste for cilantro from my mum. Tastes metallic and nasty.
Those techniques work well everywhere, not just at companies that comp food by policy. I always chat with staff (unless they’re busy), and I’m recognizable enough, as amarinth suggests. I’ve gotten free food at two or three places, bus drivers would wait (or even stop away from the official stop) if I was a bit late, and I used to get nice informal discounts from the owner of a used-book store I used to go to. And everywhere I go regularly I get good service.
What goes around comes around, they say.
What? I served in the military, so you’re automatically more efficient at your job than I am in mine?
The great, vast, majority of soliders aren’t lifers; they’re there for 2 to 5 years, kind of like when you’re in school. But in school, you’re mostly just a parasite of society or your parents. You’re certainly not providing the same revenue as a working soldier is. You can compare taxes paid after you graduate and after the leave the service. But in the mean time, they contribute and you do nothing.
Oh, and without a military, we get overrun by the Canadian Mounties and their polar bear steeds, and what happens to your high-paying job then? 
Explain that to the Liberal Arts majors working in fast food! As a former officer with a BS and MS in nuc-u-lar engineering, I question your assumption that you will be more productive than me. The military teaches valuable job skills to many people who will be more employable and productive upon leaving the service than they may have otherwise.
Another possible factor in this case: At the end of the work day at a restaraunt, most of the food that hasn’t been used up will have to be thrown away. Of course, there’s no profit at all in throwing food away, so most restaraunts will try to get rid of things towards the end of the day. They might give larger portions, or give food away for free, or add extras for free which normally cost more. Since it would have been thrown out anyway, they don’t lose anything by doing this, and they gain customer goodwill, so it’s win-win for them. You mention that this was after a movie, so it was probably pretty late, and they might have just had a little more chicken and rice left over than they had planned for.
I’ve gotten this a couple times at Chipotles. 20 minutes to close gets me a lot more chicken in my burrito, and a little bigger dollop of guacamole.
Yeah, I pay for the guac. Really makes it worth it.
And is there anything on Og’s Geeen Earth better than those chips with lime juice??
My favorite restaurant, I actually brought a Chipotle Burrito to work with me today, Nya, Nya!
If you’re a regular, go at closing time every now and then. They are VERY generous. Especially, if they know and like you.
Haven’t been to another fast food place in three months. For the food you get, the prices can’t be beat.
I went to Chipotle once last summer, and wasn’t overly impressed. It didn’t seem very different from Moe’s or Baja Fresh, two similar “better than Taco Bell” fast food Mexican chains. From all these accounts, I think I need to give Chipotle a second chance, especially now that I live in a city that has one.
Baja Fresh has comped me twice now. Once I was just getting a burrito for myself, but the second time I had ordered a meal for five (wife, 2 kids, MIL, me) and the manager comped the whole thing. They weren’t busy but it was mid-day; a little after lunch. I was prepared to pay, and even offered to pay even after he told me it was free. If you think Baja Fresh is delicious, wait until you try FREE Baja Fresh. I just ate there again today. I love me some mexican food.
Chipotle’s is definitely not the greatest; Finding good burritos is a pretty important part of my job and in this part of the country, Freebirds and Atomic Burrito spank Chipotle in the tinfoil-wrapped-college-town-style burrito department. However I’ve only seen Freebirds in Texas, and last I heard Atomic went belly-up or got bought out a couple weeks ago.
Pistols at dawn!
Same thing happened to me. I tried one and it was meh. Then a bunch of folks on another MB I frequent went on a tear about how good it was so I figured I’d give it another shot. I have no idea what was wrong with me that first time, but this time it was grand. Since then I probably average Chipotle just under once a week. (Barbacoa fajita burrito, corn salsa, and cheese – I’m easy. And if I’m getting it to go and can therefore not use the provided bottles of McIlheney chipotle sauce, I also get red tomatillo – both taste equally great, but the red sauce is just slightly hotter than I’d like.)
–Cliffy
P.S. lou, I got your package. I’ve been too busy to write a proper thank you note, so Thank You!
If you’re ever in Bozeman, check out La Parilla’s (not a chain, just the one store in town). I don’t know most of the other establishments discussed here, but it sounds like they’re up the same alley (cilantro lime rice, grilled meats, variety of salsas, etc.).
Well, I once saw two guys walk into chipotle’s dressed as burritos. I would imagine they got discounts.
They were covered in tin foil, and had the letters written on, to indicate what kind of meat they were (and hopefully, what meat they ordered)