Chipotle

[Pilgrim]

Yes, its a flower tortilla, they offer corn as well. I am also aware that tamales are seasonal. But thank you for the education in Mexican culture

A "flower" tortilla????

Thanks for the spelling lesson.

 

[elgecko]

I've eaten at Chipotle exactly once. I found the "build your own burrito " aspect and some of the choices of innards kind of strange. My burrito was made of quality ingredients (especially the steak), well rolled, and tasty but kind of expensive for what it was.

 

[hover]

A "flower" tortilla????

Thanks for the spelling lesson.

LOL!

 

[Sav'nBass]

I like Chipotle... if you are in N.Y. there is a restaurant in Queens on Northern called Pio Pio.. Good stuff there... I think it is Peruvian.. but for Mexican fast food .. Chipotle is hard to beat in places that don't give yo a lot of options..

 

[fmoore200]

I like Chipotle... if you are in N.Y. there is a restaurant in Queens on Northern called Pio Pio.. Good stuff there... I think it is Peruvian.. but for Mexican fast food .. Chipotle is hard to beat in places that don't give yo a lot of options..

In the last decade, Spanish Harlem has gone through a transition from predominately Puerto Rican to more Mexican/Central American. There are a few Mexican restaurants and a taco truck on 116th between 3rd and Lexington ave.

I've never gotten to eat there, because I only go through there on my route, but there is always a line so it must be pretty good..

 

[bigfatbass]

The burritos are decent enough, at least better than taco hell, but the chicken sucks. The only thing that sets Chipotle above any other assembly line fast food that includes actual food (real meat, veggies that didn't arrive frozen and pre-shredded etc.) is they actually make a damn good margarita.

Think how much better the day would be when forced to eat McBurger on the fly if you could get that with a side of McTequila?

 

[lowfreq33]

I've never eaten at Chipotle and never will. When Chipotle opened up here I applied for a job and nailed the interview. I was hired on the spot. The manager said she would call me in about 2 weeks with more information about my training and starting date, since she was not sure when construction would be finished. 2 weeks go by and I hadn't received a call. So I wait another week and still no call. I truck on over there and by luck I run into the manager. I ask her what the deal is, and she lies right to my face saying she has no idea who I am and that I never submitted an application.

A few months later I got a temporary job at Toys R Us and a co-worker mentions that she and her husband went to Chipotle to try it out. Another co-worker tells us that he applied for a job there and the Chipotle manager did the same thing to him that she did to me.

Same thing happened to me when a Mars Music opened in my hometown. The whole chain went bankrupt about a year later.

 

[DwaynieAD]

Probably the best Mexican in suburban Philadelphia.
Yes, that is damning with faint praise - but it also true.

I know that I will never again have it as good as when I lived in San Diego, and so:
Some bass player said that...

drive yourself to Lancaster and try Neato Burrito or Burrito Go.

Local to me we have Neato Burrito, Moe's, and Chipotle.

Neato closes at 8, the only reason I'm going to Moe's or Chipotle is if it's between 8 and 10 and I want a burrito. I'm more likely to get taco's or burritos from Sheetz or Rutters (gas stations) than those two.

Neato is all organic, grass fed, free range, local, you know all those important buzz words.

 

[BurningSkies]

The burritos are decent enough, at least better than taco hell, but the chicken sucks. The only thing that sets Chipotle above any other assembly line fast food that includes actual food (real meat, veggies that didn't arrive frozen and pre-shredded etc.) is they actually make a damn good margarita.

Think how much better the day would be when forced to eat McBurger on the fly if you could get that with a side of McTequila?

This. And compared to the other quick or fast choices, a burrito made in front of you with fairly well sourced ingredients for $6.50 is close to top of the list for options. The line nearby is usually long, but moves quickly and the people generally are friendly and do a good job.

I don't see how they're comparable to Taco Bell in any sense.

"Real" Mexican? No. But that's not really their deal. Besides, there is no 'real' Mexican served in what probably amounts to 1/2 of the United States. I once worked with a girl from Arizona, who always was grousing about the lack of 'real' Mexican food around here, and I told her "No one from Mexico has ever crossed the border and said "I'm going to where it's cold, snowy and completely UNLIKE the place I've always lived."

And oh yeah...get the guac, but don't forget to take a handful of lime wedges from the drink station to add to it and to your burrito. At least it wasn't served out of a caulking gun like it is at Taco Bell.

 

[SJLee]

Chipotle: Needs to serve less rice with more beans and meat. Otherwise they are OK as long as you're not expecting real Mexican food.

 

[BurningSkies]

Chipotle: Needs to serve less rice with more beans and meat. Otherwise they are OK as long as you're not expecting real Mexican food.

You could ask for less rice. They're right in front of you while they make it.

 

[SJLee]

You could ask for less rice. They're right in front of you while they make it.

I do, and they don't listen.

 

[matante]

Since the topic of discussion has turned to burritos, I will share with you guys a little secret:

The majority of Mexicans, in Mexico, have never had a burrito.

That's right. The use of flour tortillas is a very "northern" thing in Mexico, and the north of Mexico is sparsely populated compared to the rest of the country. Also, "northern cuisine, northern music, northern styles of clothing, etc... is generally frowned upon further south.

Not only do Americans not know this, but most Mexican-Americans don't know this. If you ever go to Mexico, ("real"Mexico, not the border towns) you'll find it very difficult to find a burrito or anything else made with a flour tortilla.

 

[ArtechnikA]

The use of flour tortillas is a very "northern" thing in Mexico...

I knew this...
Most of my experience with Mexican food was gained in San Diego. It was pretty widely known there that it was essentially 'Baja-style' and not representative of the interior of the country. Still, it's what I learned to like...

In Lost Angeles, I worked with an engineer from Mexico City and he didn't get the big deal about 'Cinco de Mayo' - it's not much celebrated in the interior either...

There's at least as much regional variation in Mexican cooking as there is in US cooking. Clambake is no more 'authentic' US cooking than barbecue...

 

[Bass_Thumper]

Since the topic of discussion has turned to burritos, I will share with you guys a little secret:

The majority of Mexicans, in Mexico, have never had a burrito.

That's right. The use of flour tortillas is a very "northern" thing in Mexico, and the north of Mexico is sparsely populated compared to the rest of the country. Also, "northern cuisine, northern music, northern styles of clothing, etc... is generally frowned upon further south.

Not only do Americans not know this, but most Mexican-Americans don't know this. If you ever go to Mexico, ("real"Mexico, not the border towns) you'll find it very difficult to find a burrito or anything else made with a flour tortilla.

+1 I've had to honor to live in Texas, New Mexico and now California and I've yet to go to an eatery in the States that served food like I've see locals eat deep in Mexico. Every now and again, you'll see a mole dish on the menu. Being as that's the national dish of Mexico and nobody serves it should tell you something.

As far as Chipotle goes, at least it's natural, fresh ingredients and I don't know how it could ever be put in the same category as Taco Bell/Del Taco. Now if you like Taco Bell/Del Taco, that's totally fine, I just see them as satisfying very different cravings.

 

[Jared Lash]

Since the topic of discussion has turned to burritos, I will share with you guys a little secret:

The majority of Mexicans, in Mexico, have never had a burrito.

That's right. The use of flour tortillas is a very "northern" thing in Mexico, and the north of Mexico is sparsely populated compared to the rest of the country. Also, "northern cuisine, northern music, northern styles of clothing, etc... is generally frowned upon further south.

Not only do Americans not know this, but most Mexican-Americans don't know this. If you ever go to Mexico, ("real"Mexico, not the border towns) you'll find it very difficult to find a burrito or anything else made with a flour tortilla.

Yeah, I touched on that in my post earlier and you're absolutely right. More than that, the burritos that DO exist in Northern Mexico aren't the huge, overstuffed burritos that we're used to in the U.S. I'm not complaining - a giant burrito can be a magical thing - but it's always funny to me when food discussions get bogged down in arguments about authenticity. I like Americanized sushi too, but it's pretty far from what is considered traditional in Japan. Not that I dig them but the ubiquitous California Roll breaks about 4 or 5 basic tenets of "true sushi".

But just like with music, dig what you dig and don't worry about what other people like or don't like and why.

And just to digress further, it's interesting to note that most of our concepts of foreign cuisine in the U.S. are predicated on the people who originally immigrated from those countries. Which is why what we think of "Mexican food" is largely based on northern Mexican cuisine. Because by and large that's the area from which people came across to the U.S.

Likewise, what we largely see as "Italian Food" is more closely linked to the cuisine of southern Italy primarily Naples and Sicily. Italians immigrated to the U.S. in larger numbers from these regions in part because they weren't as well off as their northern neighbors and America represented greater opportunity. So the "red sauce" and pasta view of Italian food developed. But the Lombardy, Veneto, and Friuli-Venezia Giulia regions all have very different cuisines than what we stereotypically think of as Italian.

 

[Bob Lee (QSC)]

Putnam, CT. Oh man!
Link Removed
(website is being revamped, but they're on BookFace too.)
https://www.facebook.com/turtlestacoshop1

I have to check that out next time I'm back home.

 

[Pilgrim]

That's right. The use of flour tortillas is a very "northern" thing in Mexico, and the north of Mexico is sparsely populated compared to the rest of the country. Also, "northern cuisine, northern music, northern styles of clothing, etc... is generally frowned upon further south.

Not only do Americans not know this, but most Mexican-Americans don't know this. If you ever go to Mexico, ("real"Mexico, not the border towns) you'll find it very difficult to find a burrito or anything else made with a flour tortilla.

Well said and duly noted, but I don't see the problem. Cooks in the US have always enthusiastically modified dishes from other countries (even those next door) as they see fit. I spent 13 years in Texas and enjoyed many mom & pop Mexican restaurants (probably mostly Tex-Mex) and it was all good.

So maybe it's not Mexican for the purists. It still is good, well made food and hits the spot.

 

[Frank Tuesday]

- but it's always funny to me when food discussions get bogged down in arguments about authenticity.

Yes. I've had "authentic" cuisine that I can't bring myself to put a second bite of in my mouth, and "americanized" cuisine that I love. If I like the taste of it, I like the taste of it. Fortunately we can now call e latter "fusion", so it is OK to like.

Eat what you like and quit worrying about what other people like.

On the topic of Chipotle: I like it, but not as much as Freebirds, so I don't eat there very often.

 

[GregC]

This. And compared to the other quick or fast choices, a burrito made in front of you with fairly well sourced ingredients for $6.50 is close to top of the list for options. The line nearby is usually long, but moves quickly and the people generally are friendly and do a good job.

I don't see how they're comparable to Taco Bell in any sense.

"Real" Mexican? No. But that's not really their deal. Besides, there is no 'real' Mexican served in what probably amounts to 1/2 of the United States. I once worked with a girl from Arizona, who always was grousing about the lack of 'real' Mexican food around here, and I told her "No one from Mexico has ever crossed the border and said "I'm going to where it's cold, snowy and completely UNLIKE the place I've always lived."

And oh yeah...get the guac, but don't forget to take a handful of lime wedges from the drink station to add to it and to your burrito. At least it wasn't served out of a caulking gun like it is at Taco Bell.

+1 with one exception. According to Wiki (which cites PBS, which cites the Mexican Homeowner Association), Chicago has the fourth-largest Mexican population in the US after LA, San Antonio and Houston. I believe it, we have loads of taquerias here.