Chipotle Mexican Grill
10 E Jackson, Chicago, IL 60604
Time: In the door at 12:40pm, walking out the door with food in 2.5 minutes.
Meal: Carnitas bowl, Fountain drink = $9.03
Chipolte is a small local chain… ha ha! I crack myself up.
So here’s the deal. There were only two restaurants left to complete a full circuit of the block my office is on, but both are national chains and so I was going to skip them in favor of branching out for more local, and interesting, fare. But then it was pretty rainy at lunchtime and work was busy enough that I just wanted to grab something quick and come back, so I popped into the Chipolte that’s right next door (don’t be creepy).
There’s a divide in chain lunch places that I see in places like Quiznos and Subway vs Potbelly and Jimmy Johns. It’s about either doing, like the latter, a few ingredients and doing them well and sticking with it, or like the former, constantly coming up with changes to your menu to entice customers in. Chipotle in definitely in the latter camp. They do four meats, a couple of salsas, two kinds of beans and rice, and however you can combine those things in tortillas, tacos, or bowls. I do have to say I’m a fan and I’ve got an order that I’ve got down, which is part of that very impressive 2.5 minute service time. (Bowl, brown rice, pinto beans, carnitas, some tomato salsa, some corn salsa, cheese. Clear!) They have Coke products on the fountain, but they have pretty good iced tea and non-diet lemonade on the fountain, so I usually make an Arnold Palmer.
I’m a fan of local, interesting, and different. But if it’s a rainy day, Chipotle is just fine by me.
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