Fast food down to a science
With the exception of (the popular college-town sub sandwich franchise) Jimmy John's, I haven't seen a fast-food restaurant prepare food to order as efficiently as Chipotle. One server finds out what kind of meat and beans you want on your burrito, heats your tortilla, and lays out the meat, beans, and rice; a second adds salsa, lettuce, and other toppings and rolls the burrito with a few turns of the wrist that would be a time-and-motion man's dream.

The process takes about sixty seconds, yet neither taste nor diner comfort are sacrificed for efficiency's sake.

All of the meats--especially the carnitas and barbacoa--are well-seasoned, the beans (either negros or pintos, depending on your taste) are al dente, the rice delicately seasoned and perfectly cooked, the lettuce (romaine only) fresh, the salsas well-balanced and flavorful. The burritos tend to have a bit too much meat in them, rendering them heavy, and perhaps the burritos are a tad big; especially with sour cream there's enough calories for two meals. Chipotle's food may not be healthy, but at least it's wholesome.

This food is provided by well-trained employees, who, unlike Subway workers asked to hold the mayo, aren't mentally overloaded by requests for modification and who, in my experience, have been always pleasant and full of pep and never make you feel as though you're being rushed. The restaurant itself, a workaday example of postmodern architecture, with exposed ductwork, large windows, flowing curves, mellow colors, and comfortable brushed-metal and wood furniture, could be said to be a hybrid between industrial chic and the Japanese wood aesthetic, and it invites diners to linger a bit and to take more time eating their burrito than was put into making it.

The restaurant is always clean but never smells like solvents or disinfectants, and the servers making the rounds to keep things in order ask diners if everything is to their liking almost as though they're waitstaff. This, of course, is a sharp contrast to parent company McDonalds's flagship restaurants, where garish colors and cold service have been said to be designed to rush people out. At the University location seating is ample, so this presents no problem, and in a pleasant break from the norm, there's ample lunch-counter style seating, right along the window, for solo diners.

Chipotle is probably the best-executed fast-food concept I've seen, and the service at the University location is such that despite it being the busiest Chipotle I've seen, it's just as pleasant as their other locations.    [28 Apr 2005 01:41:45]

Food:    Service:    Ambiance:    Overall: 
Recommended Dishes: Carnitas Burrito

     ­Ben Kalafut, U of A postgraduate student   bkalafut at email dot arizona dot edu