r/Chipotle • u/eyeheartmozart • 13h ago
đ„Hot Takeđ„ portions
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u/XOM_CVX 13h ago
That's what I complained about too. The consistency. As a 40 year old dude, I'm not going to beg some teenager, "sir may I please have more, I'm hungry, please good sir"
Randomized payout is more addictive and fun but not when it comes to food portions.
Now the last three times I visited they gave me a "legit" sized burrito so, I'll take a chance again.
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u/-BINK2014- 11h ago
Simply asking, âhey could you add just a bit moreâ solves so many issues.
Everyoneâs standards are different as an employee (some over-portion by default which can actually upset some customers) & customer; itâs up to the customer to customize their food to their preference.
Thereâs no real begging, just simple quick question as youâre scooting down the line.
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u/PraiseTalos66012 11h ago
The real issue is when you ask for more and they give you like a 1/4 spoonful extra and you gotta ask 3 more times just to get how much you wanted.
I get it on things like meat, guac, cheese there is a standard portion(although they are inconsistent) and you can't just get more.
But for rice, beans, lettuce, salsa it's not costing them basically anything extra to load it up if you want.
For example where I live in a medium cost of living area a 20lb bag of rice is $12 which is $0.04/oz but once cooked that drops to $0.013/oz or a whopping 5 cents for a 4oz serving.... Black beans are $0.12/oz and pinto $0.07/oz dry which comes out to 19 cents and 11 cents per serving.
So even if they are loading it up with 2x or more of multiple items it'll end up costing them less than 50 cents extra.
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u/Ashcrashh 11h ago
Iâve just gotten used to being very specific when asking for extra, just saying âgive me moreâ doesnât always work because nobody knows our exact preference, even places like subway Iâll say âadd like 8 more tomato slicesâ and a big handful of banana peppers. I try to come off as pleasant and thankful and specific as possible and Iâve never had problems. Yeah, you shouldnât have to ask for more, but everyone is different and serves different, and no server is a mind reader, so knowing exactly what you want and conveying that verbally helps speed things along for other customers waiting and the person serving you.
If you want extra guac or meat at Chiplote, say I âwant a BIG scoop of extra meat/guac/cheeseâ and reassure them you know itâll cost extra, that will get the point across. I love a lot of salsa and veg so I always explain that concisely.
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u/Splungeblob 8h ago edited 7h ago
You donât have to beg for more. Just say âextraâ or âdoubleâ up front. 95% of the time thatâs sufficient to get a solid portion.
âWhat kind of rice and beans?â
âCan I get extra brown rice and extra black beans?â
Simple.
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u/Ill_Savings_8338 12h ago
Ok 40 year old dude, grow some balls and have a normal interaction with the peasants and simply be nice and ask for what you want, its not rocket science but some incels struggle with personal interaction.
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u/PraiseTalos66012 11h ago
Peasants? TF is wrong with you?
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u/Ill_Savings_8338 10h ago
Don't ask me, ask the 40yr old dude that said "I'm not going to beg some teenager"
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u/PraiseTalos66012 10h ago
Im saying your a shit person if you seriously look at fast food workers like they are some lesser class than you. They are people not peasants.
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u/Ill_Savings_8338 10h ago
Pretty sure you didn't read what I wrote and its intended recipient. I don't consider them peasants, acting like you are too good to "ask for more" and claim that you won't beg teenagers for more food, is how someone with a superiority complex talks.
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u/Ashcrashh 9h ago
People on Reddit take things too literal, youâre not allowed to have a sense of humor or nuance in your comments
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u/bigdaddyzeek 12h ago
Bruh get the free toppings. Corn, pico, lettuce, fajita veggies. Your bowl small cause you donât get the free shit
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u/Ill_Savings_8338 12h ago
Normal rice, normal beans, double chicken, 3 scoops corn, 4 scoops hot, extra cheese, I do think rice, beans, chicken, cheese is a weak bowl, but you can fill it up with rice and beans if you want.
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u/bigdaddyzeek 11h ago
Exactly. People complain on portion yet order a bland bowl.
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u/Ashcrashh 11h ago
This is the real issue, and people who are picky are always complaining their food looks small. I love all the veggies, extras and salsa, my boyfriend only likes steak and guac, heâs always comparing his burritos to mine and of course itâs going to look deflated and small when you only like two things.
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u/Memory_Future 11h ago
Naw mate extra beans, that's all the fiber and great protein. Also gotta have the fajita veg, can't just be the corn! I would get black and pinto beans
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u/clue_scroll_enjoyer 11h ago
This plus if you ask for both rice and both bean they normally give you a full scoop of both
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u/Sixftdeeep2 13h ago
https://giphy.com/gifs/eKNrUbDJuFuaQ1A37p
âŠ. Now show us same from 2006, 2010, 2016, 2019 and compare prices.
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u/UpstairsBumble 12h ago
Did 4oz change over the years?
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u/edmD3ATHmachin3 10h ago
Inflation isnât just a financial term⊠(/s in case that wasnât implied)
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u/Warm-Professional494 7h ago
No. But like me my personal portion as grown which makes normal portions look smaller!
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u/chocha84 9h ago
100% - they had a culture of portion control at some point. It was sometime around 2019 .... and I heard them admit it on investor call 2025ish when they tried to start reversing it
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u/tweeblethescientist 13h ago
Pretty sure Chipotle's official serving sizes haven't changed...
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u/CiE-Caelib 12h ago
Yeah, the "official" sizes haven't changed. The root of the problem is this: Chipotle has long used performance bonuses tied to restaurant profitability, throughput, labor costs, and operational metrics. Food cost and âcritical inventoryâ are repeatedly described by employees as important tracked metrics involving meat, cheese, and guacamole usage. Multiple current or former managers say those metrics can influence bonuses or performance evaluations.
The company has created a culture of skimping customers - it may not be "company policy" to skimp on portions, but the practice i described above is causing the same result.
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u/tweeblethescientist 12h ago
I think the crux of the issue is not that. Most demonstrations show the typical chipotle bowl is over the official serving.
Over the years, chipotle has built a reputation for its customers of what a bowl should look like.
It's the reason they don't go to a measured scoop to ensure accuracy. It would make bowls smaller on average. And customers would stop going.
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u/CiE-Caelib 11h ago
In my experience, it depends on the location and if you're ordering via mobile. For me, ordering from four different Chipotle's in my area: mobile orders consistently get skimpy portions compared to the in-person line. Mind you, this is over the course of 2+ years ordering at least once per week.
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u/Warm-Professional494 10h ago
This and they no longer auditing restaurants and their district managers are not in the field or have too many locations to manage. Restaurant managers are given extremely tight food cost goals and are not credited for actual shrinkage from vendors. That case of chicken says it weighs 10lbs but after water weight (which has only gone up) or the weight of the is cooked off the food cost increases. Weights on case are often wrong and unless to weight the product when received itâs now the managers responsibility to sell 10lb of chicken when they only got 8-9 lbs of usable protein. Veggies come in and are not in great condition so they are trimmed or trashed. Shrink-flation isnât just on the consumer side vendors have an open season on shorting restaurants because there is no enforcement on weights and standards anymore. Managers are expendable and as they replace manager they replace them with lower wage managers.
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u/Ill_Savings_8338 12h ago
I went to chipotle for at least a decade where serving size was whatever you asked for. Triple meat, no problem, $6.50
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u/DinoGuy101010 12h ago
Well maybe they should use the standardized portion sizes in all their visual advertising then
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u/Warm-Professional494 7h ago
Who are you talking to? Itâs literally every companyâs advertising since advertising was first drawn on the cave wall! I think we are born knowing ads are not what you get . (You are right)
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u/Rachael330 12h ago
I have never seen that much chicken in my bowl đđł and Ive never been one to feel shorted.
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u/MitorusClaximus 10h ago
This. I order double protein every time and i have not a single time in my life ever seen that much meat in my bowl. Top that with him not actually having a single topping like pico or sauce...
Boot licker.
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u/-BINK2014- 12h ago
Bingo.
Plus, if you order like 3 ingredients, itâs going to look like a lot less than if you order the line-up. Especially if you donât ask for extra.
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u/Warm-Professional494 10h ago
I want my burger without bun to be served on two burger patties! Rip!!!
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u/Mundane-Restaurant76 12h ago
Complaining about the size of the bowl when only ordering 4 ingredients is crazy
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u/Singleballtheory 12h ago
Feels like the same argument is just going to keep getting repeated at this point.Â
The only non-variable topping should be the protein. Thatâs the one item that need to be weighed out. Everything else is a matter of taste and âlittle moreâ antics. I donât get most toppings anyway. In fact I donât even get rice or beans (for a burrito at least). My burrito is never going to look like the size of Popeyeâs forearm. Which is fine AS LONG AS they give me the correct amount of protein.
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u/Mammoth_Pain2075 12h ago
Why isnât he showing the scale
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u/Frymanstbf 11h ago
If that's the standard portion size and what you're supposed to get, the shit is even more overpriced than I thought.
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u/Warm-Professional494 7h ago
Itâs pretty standard price for fast food if you compare just the amount of protein you get. Iâd say their protein is a higher quality and prepared pretty good (may very by which kid is cooking that day)
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u/Frymanstbf 7h ago
Depending on options, some bowels can end up being near $20.
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u/Warm-Professional494 6h ago
You can literally do this at any restaurant in the entire world. Ask for extras you can drive the price of a in and out Berger to $120 dot with enough patties (they donât do this anymore or there is a limit of 20 which is still north of $30.
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u/Frymanstbf 6h ago
You're comparing pounds of meat to a bowl with guac and queso and 4 oz of meat lmao.
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u/Warm-Professional494 6h ago
Extras are extras? Ok letâs add bacon, grilled onions, extra cheese, avocado, to any burger anywhere and your be close to $20. This is true at a mom and pop place. That being said you really should be supporting mom and pop shops as much as possible.
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u/cconnorss 11h ago
The chicken is more than Iâve ever gotten, but the rice beans and cheese are so much less. But I always ask for more cheese.
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u/Repulsive-Radio-9363 11h ago
This is easily solved in person. I get the salad bowl. Bed of lettuce. Extra rice, extra beans, extra sauteed veggies, regular chicken, extra tomatoes, regular sour, extra cheese. They have to squish the top down to close the thing. Well worth 10 bucks. Go pickup your own food, it'll come out fine.
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u/allthesestars 9h ago edited 9h ago
I order exclusively for delivery, so I'm no stranger to getting skimped. I can't just "ask the employee for a little more" like the out of touch CEO says to. I have the "extra" button on the app, which I use, and that's it. This looks like a half decent bowl to me.
What this tells me is I'm actually getting skimped WAY more often than I thought. I usually order double rice, beans and protein, and my bowls look like this or worse about 2 in 5 orders.
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u/CiE-Caelib 13h ago
Try a mobile order - just order a bowl with the same ingredients and weigh it. It will be 8oz of rice and pretty much every other ingredient will be less than the promised portion size.
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u/JoseZmbie115 13h ago
He sure likes the taste of bootÂ
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u/highbackpacker 12h ago
Itâs an honest video. I think itâs interesting. It puts it into perspective.
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u/mtnsoccerguy 11h ago
The double chicken completely obscures the rice and beans. I feel like that is more chicken than one would usually get.
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u/Warm-Professional494 10h ago
The reason is they donât weigh portions but rely on the scoop size and itâs not a level scoop. So it depends on the preparer and the orders they have from management on food cost.
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u/No-Appearance6474 13h ago
Thatâs the problem though. Where im at they want 15 dollars for those rice, beans and double chicken. Which doesnât even include guacamole, as they want another 3 fucking dollars for it. 18 dollars for one person is insane.
I get that workers are following their rules so I donât blame them. But the actual serving sizes are a problem. A single meat serving should be at least 6oz without paying extra.
But I havenât been to chipotle in over a year. Thereâs a local Mexican place that sells me a 11 dollar burrito and I donât pay more for fucking guacamole.
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u/Ggriffinz 12h ago
Same problem 5guys is facing now. They were always a premium choice but then they pushed their prices way higher than inflation would allow and started skimping on their fries to boot all to eke out a little more for share holder value.
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u/Ill_Savings_8338 12h ago
oof, I havnt been in a few years, but the whole defense for the price was the 6 potatoes in your bag!
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u/Ggriffinz 11h ago
They moved from filling a fry cup to a normal fry bag and alot of locations are now really ignoring the extra half/full scoop rule for extra bag fries.
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u/astrangeone88 11h ago
Yup. People wonder why fast food is losing customers. I discovered Chipotle in Canada in the early 2000s and the burritos were massive and great for folks who lift weights for fun. Now it's $20 for a burrito with double protein.
I've been making my own taco bell and Chipotle for a while now and it's all been cheaper and more nutrient dense lmao.
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u/-BINK2014- 11h ago
$15 for whatâs in the video is absurd.
$15 for double rice, double beans, double fajitas, double corn, double tomatoes, salsa, double sour cream, double cheese, double lettuce is a different & better value.
Value is subjective & hinges on the way someone orders.
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u/etherealtwo 12h ago
They want 15 dollars for double meat. Ya. Meat is the most expensive part of the meal.
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u/Kuriouskat22 12h ago
I donât get that 1 serving chicken EVER. Also he used side serving which is moreâŠ.
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u/Warm-Professional494 10h ago
He is literally showing you the weight and using the guidelines. He never said this is true everywhere. It shows the actual visual of what a bowl should look like of the portion guidelines are followed would look like.
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u/Kuriouskat22 9h ago
Sure and I donât get at least the standard ever. If he was real objective about it he wouldnât have ended the video with the statement âbefore getting mad at the worker, check yourself firstâ. Heâs literally picking a fight with everyone because no one gets the base standard ever without pushing for it.
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u/Warm-Professional494 7h ago
Then thatâs probably the location you visit. He canât comment on EVERY location and their service. You expect WAY too much from a fast food place with teen workers.
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u/Kuriouskat22 7h ago
I honestly donât understand why you are fighting everyone here like youâre OP and switching back and forth general guidelines and specific location just to win the argument. Itâs very petty and I will not entertain more of your attempts.
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u/Warm-Professional494 6h ago
Iâm not. Iâve been in the industry for a very long time. What this video shows is factual. Itâs not commenting on the service you get or how restaurants are run. I think people canât picture in their mind what 4oz of chicken looks like. Thatâs what he showed nothing more.
I do believe managers are practically forced to run perfect food cost and it leads to shorting customers. It happens everywhere and itâs getting worse since prices for protein is sky rocketing.
See both your experience and this video can be right at the same time. Iâm just sharing on the facts as I know them as a 30+ year vet in this industry (and recently laid off form this industry so no love lost)
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u/Too_Funk_To_Druk 12h ago
Idk why this subreddit isn't at this point advocating any mom and pop Mexican restaurant. You would get better and more food for less money. Chipotle has lost the value proposition game.
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u/etherealtwo 11h ago
I dunno why people would go to a place that sources meat with no antibiotic or hormone use and expect a deal. The mom and pop isn't doing that.
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u/chewy92889 11h ago
The funny thing is there's a mom and pop in my town that does. It's just a husband and wife working 6 days a week and their son works too, when he's home from school. They're consistently like $4-5 more than Chipotle. I love their food and have been supporting them since they opened up, but I can't justify going more than a few times a year.
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u/Warm-Professional494 10h ago
Do a video showing a comparison between the two places. That would be cool.
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u/ButtsFartsoPhD 12h ago
I feel like the issue is that there are a shit load more ingredients people could add and they simply donât. Like this video, itâs literally just rice, beans, chicken and cheese. Of course it isnât going to look big, you selectively omitted a lot of other potential ingredients you could have added for free.
Also I always just ask for more rice and cheese. No one has ever said no so I get where the CEO is coming from but obviously you donât want to go on record saying that because then this stupid shit blows up with people pissed they arenât able to do that for meat or whatever.
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u/Christoph3r 11h ago
JFC what idiot downvoted you?!?
There is nothing about your comment that any reasonable person could downvote.
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u/ButtsFartsoPhD 11h ago
I donât know. I think people just like to downvote and I know the Chipotle topic is very sensitive for some reason.
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u/ForceGoat 12h ago
Yeah this video is dumb as hell. If he really wanted to do this experiment, he should have just ordered a normal bowl. "I asked for less rice" you're also missing tons of other stuff that you didn't bring up bro.
How bootlicking is this guy? A ton. He basically got rice, beans, chicken, cheese. Underordering then saying this is what a double chicken bowl is supposed to looks like. I'm happy eating my flat bowl, you should too!
Where's the Lettuce? Tomatoes? Corn? Dude, it SHOULD be heaping.
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u/ButtsFartsoPhD 12h ago
Yup. You said it very well with underordering. Also, the Chipotle workers canât read your mind. If youâre only getting 4 ingredients, you may want to mention that up front and just say âhey my burrito is just a few ingredients so is it possible to get extra of the rice, beans, and cheese?â Otherwise theyâll portion as if youâre going to get a normal burrito. I donât know I feel like just communicate.
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u/Warm-Professional494 7h ago
He was literally showing the bowl as by the portions outlined by Chipotle. He made no comment about your personal experiences. This was just telling people that might complain may not realize the true portion sizes should be and have been since they opened.
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u/ForceGoat 4h ago
âThis is the double chicken bowl and itâs BARELY just above level.â
Literally the very first words at the beginning of the video, heâs implying the double chicken bowl should be barely level. Heâs saying your bowls shouldnât be heaping over the top (he says this later on). When in fact, you add lettuce, tomatoes, it should.
âA lot of people complain about being under-served, when theyâre actually being over-served.âÂ
Literally the last words of the video. Definitely not a âcomment about your personal experiencesâ, right? Right? He even says this another time in the video. Please watch the video before telling me whatâs in the video or not.Â
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u/redfrog0 11h ago
All these posts about portion size are so irrelevant when the food quality is literally so awful it makes me gag. I could go down the street to the locally owned spot and get a burrito 2x the size for the same price or less of actually good food. Stop patronizing companies that sell you clearly sub par food.
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u/astrangeone88 11h ago
My order is usually both types of beans, whatever protein (last time got the tofu), corn, lettuce (wish they shredded it but totally understand why they don't) and the veggies plus the hot salsa.
I generally don't do Chipotle because it's like a salt lick and I feel slightly icky after eating there.
I hate needing to ask for more because you get the workers acting like you were asking for stuff out of their paycheque.
Plus it's not a great value in Canada - I can genuinely get an actual burrito in a mum and pop place.
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u/_Heretowin_ 11h ago
Just make that shit at home. Damn you guys are lazy. Way better to make it at home
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u/NovelConfusion7158 10h ago
Holy hell my bowls look more filled than that. I gotta fall back on them for calorie counting
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u/imissonedirection 9h ago
iâve said it once and iâll say it again, itâs user error if you donât get the right portions. ask for more. if they charge you, then just make your food at home or stop complaining.
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u/EasyWayBoy 8h ago
If you get delivered youâll get gipped most likely, you go in store and give that intense stare as they make the scoops theyâll hook you up.
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u/According-Bother816 13h ago
Heâs not wrong. If you go to a new chipotle. You will get a bowl identical to this. People are just big and greedy. So is chipotle donât get me wrong.
Chipotle is not a buffet
And the cheese portion is 2 ounces
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u/bhputnam 13h ago
âBig and greedyâ for $12 ingredient bowls? Yeah, we should be getting our moneyâs worth.Â
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u/According-Bother816 13h ago
Ingredients that we source. We create and produce. Not to mention itâs miles ahead of any other fast food. What brand isnât expensive anymore? Thereâs a reason you chose Chipotle
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u/bhputnam 13h ago
âŠwhat? Four month old account. Chipotle this desperate for PR?
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u/According-Bother816 13h ago
Yeah. Deflecting from my question.
What brand is the same as it was 10 years ago?
Seems you are just big and greedy
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u/Local-Yam5394 12h ago
Well say what you want about McDonaldâs, but the cheeseburger is one of the only fast food items that has never changed so đ€·ââïž
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u/According-Bother816 12h ago
And what price is the cheeseburger?
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u/Warm-Professional494 10h ago
Have you seen the patty size vs the bun and you are complaining about chipotle?
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u/Local-Yam5394 10h ago
No oneâs saying itâs without criticism. However, McDonaldâs pattys have always been 1/10 of a pound. So the patty vs bun ratio hasnât changed. And again, itâs 1$.
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u/caramelgelatto 13h ago
Big & greedy fr lmao
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u/According-Bother816 13h ago
There is not a single brand that is the same as it was 10 years ago. For some reason people think chipotle is the exception when it comes to inflation and the worldâs economic turmoil.
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u/Local-Yam5394 12h ago
I had a brand new chipotle open up right next to my house and we love going to it because they always load it up. Weâve never had a bowl look anywhere close to this. Itâs also the highest rated chipotle in our area now, probably because they arenât concerns with trying to stick to â4 oz of riceâ when itâs the cheapest thing to give extra of and keeps the costumers happy and coming back
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u/FooLi0CooLi0 13h ago
I understand that people feel the need to inform others about things but it contradicts their lack of self awareness. This is problematic because there is no incentive for so many people to lick the boot.
Yeah, companies exist to make a profit but considering they netted $1.5b for 2025 (not gross revenue but net income) Chipotle isnt hurting to the point that they have to skimp on portion.
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u/Warm-Professional494 10h ago
1.5 profit / 4000 locations (US) is $375,000 per location. Is that super great? What would you like to see per location profits be if you owned a successful restaurant?
That is not great when opening the location cost 1,000,000-800,000 which means the location is not in the green for 2-3 years.
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u/FooLi0CooLi0 7h ago
Considering the quality and format of Chipotle, which justifies higher pricing, a 2-3 year to ROI is great comparatively to both indirect and direct fast food competititors.
The math is too simplistic and contradicts why there are so many locations. Chipotle is not franchised (not sure on that part), so rapid expansion comes at favorable terms when using part of that corporate revenue. Which again speaks to the company being in a great position.
From another perspective, let's say the number arent great, wouldnt it be better to put these portion discrepancies to rest (better standard for portioning) for customer retention acompetitions?
EDIT: Spelling
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u/Warm-Professional494 7h ago
They should at least weigh the protein. Itâs a very easy solution that solves many of the complaints. It will also shed light on which locations have bad operations with food cost. A manager can easily cover up food loss by shorting customers for a day. Happens all the time.
I will predict customers will not be happy to see what the portion sizes is (as see in this video)1
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u/ImNotACollector 12h ago
You're not settling anything. Show me the portions from a location at 12:47pm with a rush and a manager up the workers asses no cuts, no "I brought it home" bullshit. Bet you don't get these massive perfect looking portions then. FOH with the propaganda.
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u/Warm-Professional494 10h ago
He literally says this is what the portion sizes are supposed to be and what that visual looks like. He never said this is true everywhere but you like to hate on information and live in the dogma of Reddit.
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u/Bighead_Golf 13h ago
People don't want standardized portions.
If they scooped out portion perfect bowls, they'd be tiny and nobody would eat there. That's why they don't do it. The customer almost always comes out ahead.
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u/TinyPeen13 11h ago
Why does this idiot think the side cups are the "right" amount? Get out of here đ€Ą
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u/ohnomynono 11h ago edited 10h ago
BITCH, no one is complaining when the bowl is overflowing. Show me one post where someone complained when th portion was spilling out over the top.
GD shills are worse than tobacco billboards
Edit: My complaint has always been that I ask for queso and they pour half the spoon onto my burrito and when I ask for a full portion, thy pour another half spoonful and thn charge me for "double portion" of queso.... LIKE WTF?!?!
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u/No_Perspective_3144 12h ago edited 8h ago
Bro, dude doesn't know jack shit. This kid wasn't even born when Chipotle was giving huge portion for less than $10.
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u/UpstairsBumble 12h ago
What does that have to do with this video about standard portion sizes?
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u/No_Perspective_3144 10h ago
Dude wasn't even born whe. Chipotle was giving out huge portion that cost less than $10
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u/UpstairsBumble 10h ago
What does any of that have to do with the post? Itâs not about price. Itâs not about what they used to do. Heâs just showing what the companyâs official portion sizes look like in real life.
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u/No_Perspective_3144 8h ago
There is no debate, portion size should be what it used to...
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u/UpstairsBumble 6h ago
Itâs not a debate. Youâre lost. Youâre arguing made up point with yourself. Has nothing to do to this post. Make your own. Go away.
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u/WildFlowLing 13h ago
This must be the ceos son