Holy Chipotle!
 

huuuuge burrito. good guac and chips. i approve. is there one near you?

Pretty much one on every block. of course, they're usually surrounded by better food.

Hmmm. One just opened a few blocks from where I work last year. One of the grad students was counting the days till the grand opening. I still haven't been there yet though. Any recommendations?

Hell to the YES there's one near me. Niece works at one on college breaks.

it's actually not bad stuff and you get a lot of it. but due to my location, when I want some mexican food, there are better choices readily available.

There are some in Colo Spgs where I was. I agree that they are usually surrounded by better food. I live in NM, so there is always kick ass Mexican food around. Sometimes there is only Mexican food around. Good thing I love it!:)

A little FYI if anyone cares: Chipotle is owned by McDonalds.

None here. But there are 3 Mexican restaurants every block here, so we probably don't need one.

One just opened on City Ave near the I-76 on-ramp. I want to try it out.

I think Chipotle (and its cousins Moe's and Baja Fresh) are slightly better than Taco Bell and Del Taco. That is, they're not hardly fit to eat.

I live in Texas (upper Mexico) so I can, and do, eat great Tex-Mex cuisine all the time. This includes having it prepared at home, and believe me, my wife is a culinary expert. Her homemade salsa is unbelievable; Mexican people pay her money to make it for them.

That being said... I eat at Chipotle, and I think it's great. The meat is braised (first seared and then cooked very slowly in a covered pot); you can customize your fixins; you get your order very quickly; and you can get a beer. And Mexican food just ain't right without a beer.

Does she have any recipes she's willing to share?

If she ever gets a spare moment to get online without our children throwing a fit, I think she would be glad to share her recipes.

As for the salsa, it's no secret, really. Fresh, organic ingredients, and just the right amount of tomatillos.

yes there is one only 60 miles from us :(

Chipotle is damn tasty. It is not, however, Mexican food. I hear there are better Greek restaurants than Chipotle too... but the question is, are there any better big-ass burrito places nearby? Because that's the genre Chipotle belongs in.

For the record, there is a better big-ass burrito place in Austin called Freebird's... but it's not as close to me as Chipotle is. The biggest irritation about Chipotle is they have nothing on the menu remotely resembling kid-sized portions.

Formerly Texas, now Minnesota and still suffering from breakfast taco withdrawl. Still. A tear...

Chipotles aint bad.
Carnitas or vegie fajita, go light on the rice and hit the blackbeans... more pico please! hold the cheese/scream. But you should come hungry or save half for later.

We also have Baja which does a fairly decent fish taco.

sigh.

I love Chipotle's rice (white long grain, cilantro, salt). That said, the burritos are not bad - good for a filling, hearty snack.

But I'd still say Moe's and the small Atlanta chain Willy's are better. There is some place called Big House (I think?) in Colo Springs that had a damn good potato burrito.

FYI ... McDonald's sold off its stake in Chipotle after it went public two years ago. The chain started in Denver years ago ... apparently they serve "San Fran-style burritos." What the hell are those?

Labrat: Roving Reporter and Official Cellar Food Critic, at you service.

Friday looks like the weather is gonna be crap (again), so no running outside. Instead, I will work up a super-duper appetite on the treadmill in the morning, then head to our Chipotle for lunch with a pal and a camera.

Stay tuned muchachos!

Chipotle is cool. I like Qdoba better, for some reason. Both are ubiquitous in these parts.

Yay Labrat!
Don't let anyone tell you it's not normal behaviour either - my parents used to take pictures of food to show me when they'd never even heard of the internet...

I think they're normal anyway

ETA - I've just checked their website and have had to wipe a gallon of drool off my keyboard. Burrito salad bowl for me please - I'm not too keen on rice when it comes down to it. Can you tell me the price? Also I'd like then to clarify of "humanely raised" means free range. I suspect it doesn't, or they'd say that. I'll go veggie if I suspect their chickens are battery raised.

All the entrees are roughly US$6, depending on the meat you choose. Guacamole is the only topping that costs extra.

:thepain3:
£3
:thepain3:
That is me, green with envy, feeling the pain.
No wonder tourists complain about food prices in London.

According to a recent study, food prices (grocery store, at least) are 33% lower in Newcastle than in London, and I think most things are outrageous here. At least, I used to. Now I'm sort of used to thinking of the prices in locally relative terms, instead of globally relative terms.

Apparently there is ... one seems to have opened at the mall, but I am unlikely to go there ... a real Mexican restaurant, run by real Mexicans, has opened near the hospital, and we've been ordering from them about once a week.

Which reminds me, I should make a point of getting grub from them for Cinco de Mayo, even though I haven't the vaguest clue of what they're celebrating that day.

From wikipedia:

The holiday commemorates an initial victory of Mexican forces led by General Ignacio Zaragoza Seguín over French forces in the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862.

From me: I thought it was Independence day, but apparently that happened in september
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinco_de_Mayo

Despite a rainy morning, the afternoon was perfect for a walk downtown to lunch. As I type this, the clouds are rolling in and the wind is gearing up for another round of storms, so whomever was responsible, a big 'ole thanks!

The outside of our Chipotle, as seen from the direction I came. It is in The Old Capitol Mall. It has a nice covered open air eating section, which is where we chose to sit.

As you walk in, there is a very large sign making you feel guilty for eating anywhere else.

A view of the ordering area, with close up of the menu. Prices average for lunch in Iowa City. $5.50 for vegetartian, $5.85 for chicken, $6.10 for steak, carnicas (pork), or barbacos (shredded spicy beef). I thought it was a sit-down restaurant, but you order and they make it right there. Your choices are burrito, fajita burrito, bowl (no tortilla), tacos, or salad.

Friend #1 ordered chicken burrito, mild tomato salsa. She liked it.

Friend #2 ordered steak with tomatillo green chile medium heat salsa. She said the salsa had just the right amount of heat.

Interesting to see that antibiotic free chicken advertised. I just read in the paper today that Perdue successfully sued Tyson to prevent them from advertising the fact that Tyson doesn't routinely feed antibiotics to their chickens. Perdue argued that the public might interpret that as meaning that Perdue chicken is inferior.

Why not let the consumer decide if they want to eat chicken that is routinely fed antibiotics?

I ordered fajita steak with mild salsa. The fajita style just means you get to put green peppers and onions in it instead of beans. Except I wanted them both, so I asked for very little rice and add black beans. Still had more rice than I would have liked. I ended up scraping some out.

Total bill, with pop and tax was $7.84.

My opionion, 3/5 stars. It was a good, huge burrito, but lacked flavor for being 'fajita' style. The peppers and onions needed red peppers, and were basically raw. The steak had heat, but again, not much *flavor.*

The covered outdoor seating area was nice. It was very clean and the condiment bar was well stocked, but we were there at 11:45, before the lunch rush. Silverware was plastic and it felt a little wasteful, considering they were so hung up about how 'healthy' their food was for you.

I prefer their competitors across the street, Panchero's. Better fajita mix, better mild salsa, and slightly cheaper too for the same amount of food. Plus they have a punch card so your 13th menu item is free.

Oh, and one of the friends I was eating with said that while whether or not they are owned by McD's is under debate, she saw a McD's truck delivering food there a few weeks ago... There are no actual McDonald's downtown at all. :2cents:

I used to work down the street from a Chipotle when I lived in DC in 2000. We didn't have any in Philly when I lived there, though UT and I ate at one when we visited a friend of ours down in DC in '02.

We have a handful here in the St. Louis area...April and I ate at one last night. Not bad, but not as good as usual.

A Moe's opened up near my apartment in Philly in late '04, I think. It wasn't bad...though their hottest salsa is a creeping son-of-a-bitch! I think we have one here in St. Louis, out in the western suburbs. Haven't eaten at one since moving back here.

Never been to a Chipotle's but that burrito looks just like what you get at Burrito Brothers in DC.

The thing I most enjoy about a Moe's is just walking in, when they all shout out a big hello -- "Welcome to Moe's!!" Sort of an English take on a sushi-house's "Irrashaimasen!"

But the first Moe's around here didn't catch on -- opened and closed inside a year. Maybe better luck later; their food was certainly good enough.

Labrat, speaking of quite reasonably tasty, let Friend One know she has a nice figure, and Friend Two nice hair, and she shouldn't worry any too hard -- if she's concerned -- about getting herself a wedding ring like One's. (Scrolled back and looked.)

Mister, don't you sneak in on elspode's territory. He's the one supposed to be making those remarks.

Yep...he's the Town Oversexed Lech.

Not exactly. What Perdue claimed was that Tyson's chicken wasn't really antibiotic free - false advertising.

Excellent photo essay, Lab - thank you.
Agree re plastic cutlery, what a shame. Write them a letter!

I didn't notice your friends' figures - I was checking out their tasty treats instead.

The nearest one is about 30 minutes from me. A few months ago I was curious and used their online ordering to work up an order for the family with the idea that I would be in the area for a pickup. When it got past some awful price I tried to cancel the process. The options (extra chips, guacamole) do add up.

Moes and Red Sombrero are close for fake Mexican. El Gran Rodeo is more authentic and close by. Mexican Post is close by. It's not authentic but a little more upscale (nice sitdown place).

I heard about this on NPR. The reason Tyson lost is that the ad was misleading, as was mentioned in the article. Tyson's ad depended on a narrow interpretation of 'antibiotic' and 'raised' (see below)

What's annoying is the the FTC didn't being the action, their competitors did.

Now my state of PA did ban certain advertising on hormones in milk cows because it made others 'look bad', not because it was deceptive:smack:. I can foresee a future trial in that decision with the state arguing that it has the right to stop a company from telling the truth. F***ing morons.

The interesting thing about the Tyson case was the astronomical increase in sales Tyson saw when they made their claim of raising chickens without antibiotics. It's clear what many consumers want. I'm surprised and disappointed the chicken producers don't give it to them for real.

On another note, there was a small beef supplier a couple years ago that tested 100% of its animals for mad cow disease and wanted to label their beef as Mad Cow free, but are not allowed to by the FDA (or USDA?) because it would make the rest of the beef suppliers who only test 0.1% of their animals look bad.