AMEN !!!^

It may take a few before you hit your home run but when you do you'll never understand why you went to a chain in the first place.

--

Chipotle is amazing. Best fast food place on the market. Second only to In n out.

The typical burrito I get goes out at a whopping 1183 calories and that's not including the cup and a half of soda that I get with it, or the extra sour cream I ask for, or the extra rice. So more like 1700 calories for the whole thing. But it doesn't matter, it's probably the best food for the money I can get as a poor college student (without resorting to McDonalds :( )

Chipotle is nothing authentic, but it is absolutely delicious. The burrito I get is worse than all of yours. Once I found out how bad it was I totally stopped going, except for the occasional craving breakdown!

My burrito comes in at 1200 calories, 52g of fat, 20g of saturated fat, and 2900mg sodium :eek:! That's not counting chips (if i get on the side)

yes!
 

Brilliantly stated!

Add Texas to that!

I think I'll go to Chipotle for dinner tonight. You can only tolerate so much dining hall food.

Try it with Mr. Lee's sauce.

Tex Mex as a whole is a mutation of Mexican food. Some of it's pretty good even if it tends to come in Texas sized quantities.

For those in the Southern California area, the choice to me is obvious ... Poquito Mas. Way better food, more choices and materials appear to be much fresher.

Short of that, I'd take Chipotle over Baja Fresh. I think the ingredients are better and more flavorful. Plus if you do a "burrito bol" with no rice, can avoid all the tortilla/rice calories.

La Salsa > Baja Fresh > Rubio's > Chipotle > Taco Hell

I am of Mexican descent, and my mother NEVER ever put rice into a burrito in all the years I have eaten her cooking (the best in the world, BTW) ;)

Add my vote to yours.

My fave is chicken fajita - just rice + onions/peppers + chicken + salsa.

I like Qdoba as well. Rubios and Baja Fresh are OK, but neither do the kind of plain simple burrito with no beans that I like.

So we shouldn't eat "asian fusion" because it isn't "what asian food should be" or isn't "authentic" Chinese/Thai/Indian/etc ?

Give me a break. Eat the food that tastes good to you, not what some cuisine snob tells you is "real" or "should be". "Authenticity" is an absurd reason to eat any kind of food unless you are dining as part of an anthropology project.

Amen! ^

Seconded. I hate food snobs.

In fairness, "fusion" or "pan-Asian" isn't pretending to be something specific... it's borrowing from other things to create it's own genre.

That said, in general I have some sympathy for complaints about authenticity when it comes to "truth in advertising" - as an expatriate NYer, while I like quite a variety of styles of pizza, it always bugs me to see people claim that pizzas are "NY style" or "NY pizza" when they're about as much NY style as Pizza Hut's pan pizza is "Chicago Style."

As for Mexican, while local places are often much better than chains, what you're likely to find around here in California Mexican which is pretty much a distinct style in itself rather than being an authentic match for any particular regional Mexican cuisine.

I heart Asian fusion.
I also heart Chipotle.

I'm wicked sad now that I am craving a Chipotle and the nearest one is an $1100 plane ride away from me (assuming I slum it in Y) :(

Seriously? I never liked Baja Fresh that much. Seemed like a lot more like Taco Bell than Chipotle ever did... .

I had Chipotle 3 times this week. It's really good.

Baja is crap.

This thread really got me craving Chipotle so I just went and got a giant burrito and some chips and salsa. Now I feel like a bloated cow....:(

Damn, I wish Chipotle would deliver. I'm really in the mood for it right now. Even McDonald's delivers in Manhattan. Why won't Chipotle?

Or to paraphrase Michael from The Office, " I love Pizza in NYC, I always go to Sbarro's".

The Burrito's I miss were at the local places in SD. I can't remember the name of the one behind Jack in the box in Mission Beach, but the memories....aaaahh

Really??? That's pretty cool (that is, if one likes McDonalds). I've never seen anything but pizza or sometimes chinese food available for delivery...

Sbarro is better than (100% Italian) Autogrill. :D

You haven't been on delivery.com......you type in your address, and it shows every restaurant in your area that delivers. You can actually order through the site...you don't even have to get on the phone!

It might be a Manhattan thing though. It was raining outside so I went and ordered Japanese food...yum.

We get Chipotle delivered to our OR office; I assume that it's some 3rd party delivery service, as I haven;t seen it available here in SAN.

That's what happens when one lives in suburbia... ;)

El Pollo Loco delivers around here, as does McDonald's, an assortment of Mexican joints, and just about every major restaurant in the city. One of the reasons I could never live in a rural/suburban area...I can have sushi delivered to my door 24/7! :D

OT, but menupages was another great site for finding delivery places in NYC. Actually menupages now works in a few cities (incl Chicago!). ^ ^

Add to that also menupix, which is in all the usual places (LA, NYC, DC) but also some odd-seeming ones (Madison, Wilmington NC, Providence). Not in Chicago yet.

I used to eat at Chipotle in Minneapolis a lot (because it was one of the few places open after work in downtown Mpls. that wasn't expensive and time-consuming). I like it slightly more than Baja Fresh, but not enough to crave one over the other. I'd rate Taco Del Mar in Seattle over both of them, but in the end, they're all burrito/taco chains, anyway.

If I am not mistaken, the new Taco Rosa (sit-down restaurant) in Tustin/Irvine Marketplace is owned by Taco Mesa. I've been to both places, and the food is simply outstanding. The sauces are unique, very good, albeit a tad unhealthy.

I like Wahoos because you can get the fish grilled, not just deep fried.

Chipotle is not bad, but I don't like Cilantro which is mixed into their rice (you can order it w/o cilantro). Very basic menu.

I do like Baja Fresh, and have never heard of Finns. I'll have to check out the website....

Another favorite of mine is Taco Factory (Diamond Bar, Irvine, don't know other locations). One of the most authentic I've found. Not very healthy, but has a great selection and the food is excellent.

Buen Provecho!

Forgot about Wahoos -- love their fish tacos.

Speaking of fish tacos, has their been any mention of Maui Tacos in this thread. Those are good, but only in Maui.

I guess I believe in "truth in advertising". Don't call it "Mexican" if it's not authentic. They can call it something else. Unhealthy and disgusting would be a start in my book.

The Burrito's I miss were at the local places in SD. I can't remember the name of the one behind Jack in the box in Mission Beach, but the memories....aaaahh[/QUOTE]

Was it an Alberto's, Aliberto's or Roberto's. I loved those places. I figured they had to be named after brothers as the food was pretty much the same. La Posta in San Diego still rules.

FINALLY tried Chipotle today! Took note of the warnings that the burritos were huge and we shared one. We thought our burrito was huge & tasty. Will try it again sometime. Next time will try one with little or no rice -- that made up allot of our burrito.

Oh don't be such a snob - nothing to do with "truth in advertsing". Chipotle sells Burritos and Tacos; what is that if not Mexican ? Sure, they ain't "aunthentic" Mexican Burritos or Tacos. But they don't claim to be authentic.

Pizza Hut pizza isn't "authentic" - so by your reasoning it shouldn't call itself a pizza resteraunt.

1. Baja Fresh
2. Chipotle
3. LA Salsa

Me too...but not because I thought it was Mexican food. Appreciate Chipotle for what it is, not for its Mexican credentials, or lack of them.

IMO-

Chipotle is owned by McD's and is horrible.

Baja Fresh is owned by Wendy's and is also horrible.

OP, stick w/ Rubio's, it's the best chain FF mex you'll find (second maybe to Alberto's/Roberto's etc)

-SF

Lie. It used to be owned by McD.

Chipotle is its own publicly traded company now. I believe the ticker name is CMG.