The Artist Behind The Burrito: Working At Chipotle

Here's the scoop (of guac) behind all things Chipotle brought to you by a former professional burrito roller, and yes, we know you know it's extra. *Disclaimer: I left the company in 2019, so things have changed. This is all written with love and I mean absolutely no harm or intent of defamation

1. "Lemme get a rice bowl with triple rice, double black AND pinto beans."

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Why might we make a face when asked for a hefty portion of rice, you may ask? Well, for starters, almost everything is made in house from scratch so the more you ask for, the more we have to prepare which is completely normal, of course. The thing is, with seasoned employees, one can sense when we might run out of food quicker than usual by using our Spidey Burrito Senses, so we might serve you the regular portion to save food and time for our rush and people that visit in between. But then, you may suggest, "Just make more." It's not that easy! So many steps are involved in making the infamous Cilantro Lime rice from cutting the cilantro into our standard size (which is tiny), to ensuring our rice is cooked to perfection (which truly requires skill), plus also ensuring we have all the ingredients we need like salt and citrus juice.

2. "Can I get chicken..... oh and steak."

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Ah...sneaky, sneaky customers. While we do appreciate people that understand the concept of a "double portion" of meat, (which is 8 total ounces) there are some others that truly know how to get more bang for your buck. For example, numerous times, a customer will tell me they want chicken so I scoop up those 4 oz of chicken, only to be interrupted with a classic quote, "Oh and let's try some steak!" and they will hurry on to the cashier without giving you the chance to reassure yourself on whether or not this was supposed to be considered "half and half" or "double". Sigh, you win this one. They always win.

3. Why Chipotle charges so much for "so little"

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Ask an employee to tell you the required portion size of everything on the line and then order just that. Your bowl will be pretty small...but why? Besides the dietary standards and price of every ingredient we sell, you can really just ask for extra rice, beans, veggies and salsa at no additional cost. Now, I will admit that several locations differ in how they ring up customers when it comes to "big entries". Some locations enforce the charging of "additional sides" like a portion cup of cheese or rice, which technically is a "side" and other locations don't care to charge them which definitely creates inconsistency throughout the chain of restaurants. Some other smart customers will order a kids meal and then want everything else in a portion cup which is literally a bowl, at that point, I hope they are charging you like a bowl, because remember the kids meal only comes with 3 sides...not 10, Karen.

4. Cash is the worst.

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Being a cashier at Chipotle is severely underestimated. In most locations where I'm from, the cashier must be in charge of ringing out the customer, cutting the citrus for the customers, replacing and cleaning all dining room objects and restrooms, picking up the all trash, amongst other duties.

Just imagine this: you're ringing out a customer with a very complicated order, someone else is asking you for a refund, someone else is telling you there is no more tea in the drink station, the dining room has trash on the tables because the trash cans are full, someone vomited in the restroom and your manager can't help because the line is extremely long, and no one else is available because we are all working extremely hard to catch up with the demand of food and some n00bs called out of their shift.

This is a cashier's ultimate nightmare.

5. I promise we don't mean to be rude, it's just that...

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Listen, I know sometimes we might have RBF slabbed on our faces and I can tell you one reason why out of thousands. I promise you, Chipotle is no ordinary "fast food" restaurant. Most locations uphold extremely high standards such as hygiene, cleanliness, wellness checks, accurate preparation technique, and so much more that at times, new employees can't make it past the first day and quit. The turnover rate is sometimes high with these locations due to high schoolers thinking they just flip some frozen patties and microwave rice when it is truly the opposite. When they come to realize the hard working skill one must possess, they don't want to put up with that and leave. Out of all the restaurants I have worked at, Chipotle is by far the cleanest and strictest. The high turnover rate and call-outs will make the team aggravated and upset since they have to work the shift without a person's additional help.

So next time the line is going by really slowly, be considerate of what might have happened.

6. The man, the myth, the secret: The Guac

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Ah, the question of the century: Why is Chipotle guac so expensive?

Our avocados are imported from different parts of Latin America like Mexico or Peru. Did you know a typical restaurant making about 6.5k daily will go through perhaps 6-7 entire cases of avocados a day? Chipotle prep workers will wash, de-stem, cut open, scoop out, and mash about 350 avocados in one day (depending on case yield.) After that, they will also dice up the red onion, and jalapeños, slice the cilantro, throw that into a pan with some citrus juice and salt and mix it all up together 6-7 times a day. That is why our guac is expensive: it is hand-made with love.

Next time there is a wait on guac, it is because a prep worker is making it from scratch to ensure it is fresh for you <3.

7. So what is actually fresh?

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Everything, practically. The thing that sets us apart are our central kitchens we have in different parts of the country. These kitchens will cook most of our food in bulk and send it out to the locations within the local region which ensures freshness and a quicker way to get you your food during your lunch hour. Food items we create in house are both rices, chicken, steak, fajita veggies, pico, corn, guac and those delicious salad vinaigrettes and margaritas. We grate our own cheese and cut all our lettuce...all of it. AND WE FRY OUR OWN CHIPS (important to remember that we throw away all chips at the end of the night, if yours taste "stale" it is only because they were not fried long enough; they're not old!)

8. 10 Tips + Tricks

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1. Don't ask how we are doing today, we just want to make you your food as quickly and nicely as possible so we can help the next customer, and therefore beat the rush so we can sweep the floors.

2. It is either a bowl or burrito. Not a "burrito bowl"

3. The white and brown rice are both "Cilantro Lime". You can definitely ask for plain rice if you don't like the taste of cilantro and/or lime.

4. Beans do not have bacon in them. They are vegetarian

5. Steak is supposed to be cooked medium-rare with an internal temperature of at least 145 degrees and spicy!

6. Chicken is supposed to be a little spicy. (be careful when ordering for kids, we can't help it if one day our adobe marinade was spicier than usual)

7. We have almost all cold ingredients separated in the back, we have diced tomato, diced onion, diced jalapeño, whole avocado, etc...

8. Citrus juice in your meal makes it taste a million times better

9. If you can't have sodium, but love chips, ask us to fry a fresh batch without salting them. (Do this before 6pm please lol)

10. Best times to eat at Chipotle is at noon. Don't ask me why, that's a secret I'll never tell.