Wife and I used to visit the nearby Chipotle restaurant on a weekly basis, but either their staff has gone downhill or their popularity has increased, or both. It now takes so long to get served that we only go there on an occasional basis anymore. Last week we stopped by, and it took 24 minutes from when we walked in the door until we paid for our order. There was a cop in line behind us, and I felt bad for him because after he had waited 10+ minutes he had to suddenly leave on a call. Other folks came in, saw the length of the line, and left without even waiting at all, meaning this place is losing sales because they can’t seem to serve customers fast enough.
Standing in line for that long gives plenty of opportunity to study what’s happening behind the counter, and it seems to me that speed and efficiency are not high priorities for the staff there. I’m wondering if this is due to crummy management at this particular location, or if their corporate policies are causing this to happen at all of their restaurants.
So what are things like at your local Chipotle? Do the staff move with alacrity and look for ways to assist nearby team members when they have a spare moment? Or do do they wait for the work to come to them, and then do it like they’re suffering from arthritis?
I haven’t had decent service in a Chipotle in probably seven years. They constantly seem staffed by people who don’t know how to do their job and can’t be bothered to learn. Which might be the case at many places but, with the “Tell me how to make your burrito” gimmick, it’s really apparent.
Ours is as good as it ever was and that’s pretty darn good. Even when caught in a line, it moves fairly fast. Ours (I think) pay a little better than most of the “fast food”-like places so there is some staff that has been there for years and there is a certain pride they show in their job and how they do it.
Depends entirely on the time of day. What I never understand is lack of product - you know you’re going to get slammed at 9pm (when many of the local stores close) so have rice ready, ffs. Once we get to the front of the line, we’re always out the door in less than two minutes. It’s just waiting for all the ditherers that can be frustrating.
We have three Chipotles in town. The oldest one, the downtown store, always has good service. I think several of the people working there have been there for a number of years so they know their stuff. The line moves quickly, and they keep the make table stocked so you don’t have to wait if something runs out.
I’ve only been to the Chipotle across town a couple of times, but I’ve never had any complaints with them either.
But the newest one, which opened fairly close to us about a year ago, seems to be staffed with idiots. They are slow, don’t seem to understand simple directions, and never seem to think about reloading a pan on the make table until it is completely empty. Plus it’s near the high school, and the last couple times I went there for lunch the line was out the door with high school kids and it took me 15-20 minutes to get through the line. So yeah, I avoid that store if I can.
The only thing I’ve noticed lately is that they don’t have good rice management. Whenever I get up to place my order, they’re scraping crusty rice hunks off the bottom of the pan, and expect me not to say anything. I do, but then I have to wait 1-4 minutes while they bring over a new pan of rice. They’re especially bad handling the brown rice.
I remember in the past, when the rice pan got to be 2/3 empty, they’d come over with a new one before anyone even had to ask.
Mine is so insanely fast that I’ve said (to people that also go there) that I feel bad for people that are going into Chipotle for the first time and have no idea what it’s about or what they want. When I walk in they say “hi” before the door even closes. If there’s no one in line, I get asked “Bowl or Burrito” before I’m even up to the counter and I’m at the checkout within a minute.
One of the very first ones in Downtown Denver was so fast it was Soup Nazi like. The line just kept moving and if you missed a station you missed it. Most people learned pretty quickly not to bullshit with your friend in line. For example the Salsa Girl asked once what kind of salsa you wanted, and if you didn’t answer, your dry Burrito was moved right down the line and she was on the next one.
It was awesome.
Then McDonald’s bought it and removed a lot of the best parts of the menu.
I was going to say the same thing. Adding that if they added a second register they could keep the line moving a lot faster. Problem is, registers are expensive and it only backs up, for a few minutes, a few times a day so it’s probably not worth the added expense. Plus, even when it does get backed up, you end up waiting like an extra 30 seconds so it’s not that big of deal.
No, ours is fine. The line is often long, but once I get up there it goes quickly because I know what I want. That is, it goes quickly unless I’m behind somebody buying for the entire office who has to consult her paper about what everybody wants on her burrito, or I’m behind someone who just isn’t sure what he wants on his food, but that’s not the fault of the restaurant.
I have a love/hate with Chipotle. I love the food but I hate the staff at the closest location to our home. They are simply lazy and could care less about their work. Massively inconsistent portioning, the already mentioned failures to manage the prepped food, and a complete lack of interest in doing their job and engaging with customers with anything more than indifference.
Look, I don’t expect them to take pride in creating the perfect burrito but at least be competent in using a big spoon to put ingredients on a warm tortilla then rolling it into a burrito shape.
I have a new Chipotle’s near me and I’ve been a couple of times. It can be slow but it is always due to the customers, not the staff. Many are on their cellphones and don’t even realize it when they are at the head of the line. Of course, they haven’t even thought about what they want to order yet. Then they mentally debate every choice they have to make, and somehow get to the register without getting cash or card out of their pocket/purse/bottom of their duffel bag.
I only go to the one near my office a couple of times a year, but it is blazingly fast. The customer is frequently the choke point as he/she can’t keep up with the line of workers. This is in Bethesda, MD, FWIW.
My name is friedo and I’m a burritoholic. I find the Chipotles around here tend to get very crowded at lunch time but they always keep things moving pretty quickly. My only gripe is with customers who seem oblivious to the line of hungry people behind them and won’t move down to the end to pay.
