I second this. I’ve never claimed Chipotle to be authentic mexican. I’ve only claimed that I like their style of food wrapped in a tortilla. And for some reason, every now and then, you get an amazing tortilla-wrapped food to die for.
Though that Santacruz place linked to above does look pretty damn tasty too!
This is my goto place for authenticier Mexican burritos…The Chile Verde is one of the best things I’ve ever tasted. Plus it is stumbling distance to my house.
The one time I ate at a Chipotle, I got the most incompetent burrito I’ve ever had. I don’t mean bad - I mean incompetent. As in, it wasn’t so much a burrito as a tortilla wad. It wasn’t wrapped, it was bundled. It looked like it should be tied to the end of a stick and carried by a hobo.
Didn’t taste all that great, either. Probably not fair to write off the entire chain off of one bad experience, but considering I’d have to drive past five family owned Mexican restaurants just to get to the nearest Chipotle franchise, I’ve never bothered to try them again.
I ate Chipotle tonight. I don’t know what a burrito dragon is, but my burrito bowl, as usual, buckled my knees in delight. I had to sit down while I was sitting down.
Does it always do that to you? Or only once every 10th or so time? If the latter, then that’s what I’ve been yammering on about.
I would say once every tenth time I have a less-than-spectacular bowl. It’s that 1-in-10 that I always hope to avoid. Call it the burrito mosquito.
I sent my daughter to pick up Chipotle this evening. Pretty good burrito, even if I am paying for it with some heartburn.
Still, it’s the only way I’ll ever eat their food. I don’t have any patience with the idea that I need to personally supervise the construction of my burrito.
I have a similar attitude toward Subway and sandwiches.
It has never occurred to me to go to Chipotle, but reading all this about some kind magical burrito does have me curious.
Ah, there ya go.
I love Chipotle and agree that snubbing it because it isn’t ‘authentic’ is fairly pointless. I’m in Ohio so there isn’t exactly “authentic” Mexican food available here. I don’t know anyone who thinks “Oh, a burrito bowl with chicken from Chipotle is just like being in Mexico!”. It is damn a delicious, filing, and fairly reasonably priced restaurant.
I also find the comments about empty stores due to the e-coli stories, etc., to be interesting. We get food from Chipotle once or twice every couple weeks and I’ve never been there when there wasn’t a line of people nearly to the door. Every single time. I’d be curious to see how much sales are really down because my anecdotal evidence is people kept showing up for their crack burrito! 
It’s really a thing. In fact, when my wife and I went last night at dinner time (around 5), there were two tables occupied by four people. Obviously no line. We went there for lunch a few weeks ago, and I don’t remember the exact numbers of diners, but there was definitely no line, which was strange for this location at lunch time.
I’ve had Chipotle a handful of times; they’ve been solidly good, but nothing spectacular.
When I want a burrito, Freebird’sis my first choice. Been eating their burritos since I started college in Fall 1991.
Quick question for the Californians- are tamales not a thing in California-Mex? I looked at the menus of both the places listed, and didn’t see a single tamale on the menu.
I could see location (within a city center, suburb, and by city/state) may be a factor. The main location we go to is immediately adjacent to our downtown and right by the city municipal and court buildings. So lunch time food options are not large and Chipotle is well located to get a lot of business. Evening crowd is typically the people who live in the urban neighborhood it is located in, so again a lot of traffic there. The other location is very close to a small college campus and again, lots of foot traffic.
Damn, now I want Chipotle for lunch…
In Chicago (which last I knew was not in California, granted) tamales are street food. I don’t see them on the menu in restaurants here, either, unless they are a special. If you want tamales, you go to the little old lady on the corner under the umbrella, and she pulls them out of a blue cooler of dubious food safety standards, but high deliciousness standards.
Tamales are absolutely a thing in Californian/Mexican cuisine.
So of course I just got Chipotle for lunch…not a dragon. Better than normal, though. Maybe a gecko.
I wish there were a Chipotle here in Hawaii. When I lived in California I’d eat there two or three times a week.
I don’t care if it doesn’t seem authentic Mexican. The food is high quality, and very tasty. Although I just looked it up, and the particular burrito I used to get has 1910 mg of sodium. Jesus.
I like Freebird’s as well, and dislike Chipotle. The “dragon burrito” thing applies there as well, though the difference is probably lesser. Even if you order the exact same thing every time, some burritos will taste better than others, and it’s difficult to pin down why. The individual ingredients are fairly consistent, as are the proportions of the main components. So what varies enough to produce a significant difference in flavor?
My conclusion was that the difference lies in sauces/extras, which are less consistently measured. After careful observation and some slight variations to my order, I determined that the biggest factor in getting my magic burrito was the amount of lime juice. I always got lime juice, but some servers used just a dash, while others applied it more vigorously. Asking them to go heavy on the lime juice has gotten me consistently better burritos–even though the difference in flavor profile was not particularly citrusy.