15 Employees Reveal What Goes On Behind The Scenes At Chipotle

Chipotle, unfortunately, often makes news for more negative reasons than positive ones. Over the last few years, it has not been uncommon to read about outbreaks of food poisoning or norovirus linked to Chipotle stores, which isn’t exactly what you want to hear about the place you buy food from often. Just recently, a customer complained that his tooth broke on a Chipotle burrito after finding a nail head inside of it.

Yikes!

Still, through all of the bad reports, the fast food restaurant is known for their irresistible food (that guacamole! The burritos! The chips!) and huge portions.

But haven’t you ever wondered about the Chipotle secrets that happen behind the scenes?

Because Chipotle is so popular, many people do think about exactly that: for example, what do Chipotle employees really think about the place? As it turns out, they have a lot to say, and that only benefits us. Over on Reddit, users who claim to be employees or former employees have dished on Chipotle secrets, from ways to make your food even better and how to save money to some tips that could help you stay safe when eating there.

Check out the confessions below, and sorry in advance for making you hungry!

1. If you want free stuff, go online.

Who hasn’t been in search of free Chipotle from time to time?

If you want some, user Mr_Harvey_Specter says, “The most valuable piece of information I can give you, complain on the internet. Don’t complain about the employees’ attitude or something, unless they actually were rude. But maybe the quality of your meat, or the ready-ness of the tortilla. Basically, as soon as you indicate something went wrong during your Chipotle experience, they send you hella free burrito coupons.”

2. One of the most disgusting things to order is lettuce.

If you’re worried about food safety, then you may want to avoid adding lettuce to anything you order.

User Mr_Harvey_Specter said that the lettuce is the grossest thing people order, explaining, “Washing the lettuce takes forever, and those in the back are on super strict time tables. Sometimes, read: 95% of the time, they don’t wash it thoroughly. Not only is it dirty and grimey as all hell, but we used to find bugs in it all the time. Both alive and dead. Just. Don’t get the lettuce.”

3. Employees absolutely hate it when you order a Quesoritto.

The number one secret menu item at Chipotle is a Quesoritto, which is basically a burrito wrapped in a cheese quesadilla instead of a plain tortilla.

A deleted user called the process “hell” and explained, “They bog down the line in an already faulty system. Quesorritos require a relatively large amount of time to prepare. Ordering one during a rush takes a worker away from the line that could be utilized elsewhere. As [a] ‘tortilla’ AKA line person, it infuriated me when people ordered [them] during a rush where the line went out the door. The optimal time to order them would be during non-peak hours.”

4. There’s also a sneaky way to get more meat without paying for it.

Chipotle already gives so much food that it’s hard to think someone would want more, but if you want extra meat, user omglolz says to, “Ask for some extra black beans after they scoop the first scoop in. They’ll gladly give you more beans and then when they go to put the steak on it, since there are so many beans, they end up piling on the steak so that it doesn’t look like they skimped on that.”

5. You can get more food for your dollar if you order a burrito bowl.

All employees seem to agree on one thing: a burrito bowl has more food than a burrito.

So if you need even more food than what comes in a burrito, user cremefraiche9 suggests ordering a burrito bowl with a few soft tortillas or hard taco shells on the side. They said, “Getting the bowl gets you more food. You can also ask for extra rice or beans at no charge, which makes the meal even larger. If you go halfsies on the meats and combine steak and chicken or whatever you want, it usually ends up being more meat than if you just got one. I personally don’t get guacamole, but I have heard that if you order it on the side you get more than if they just plop it on top of your bowl.”

6. Employees have made up some great ways to make the food taste even better.

If you want to improve your experience even more, take advice from the employees.

User samson82 recommends mixing the sour cream with red or green salsa, squeezing some lemons on your burrito bowl (they said, “Just trust me on this one”), and getting Barq’s without ice. They also suggest mixing a quarter iced with a quarter lemonade and a half a glass of Sprite.

7. There is a secret ingredient in the rice.

Chipotle is known for so many delicious menu items (basically everything, to be honest), and one is the cilantro lime rice, which always hits the spot. If you’ve ever wondered what makes it so good, user BridgetteBane says, “It’s 50/50 lemon and lime juice in the rice.”

8. Nothing is really healthy.

If you were going into Chipotle with the intention of being healthy, you should walk right out the door.

A now-deleted user says, “I work at Chipotle, and nothing is really gross safety-wise, but there are 300 calories in a tortilla ALONE. That, plus all the calories in everything else, you could easily have a burrito with 1500 calories or more.” They added that there’s a ton of sodium in everything, saying, “Pretty much the only purely healthy thing there is the brown rice.”

9. There’s a legit reason why the guacamole is so expensive.

A lot of people complain about the price of the guac at Chipotle, but as it turns out, there’s a reason it’s that price.

User CosmicBoogie says it’s because they use Hass avocados. They added, “It is made from scratch, which takes 45 minutes to an hour per batch.” At least you know you’re getting a quality item!

10. There’s a specific way to copy their guacamole at home.

It’s a well-known fact that Chipotle has some of the best-tasting guac ever.

If you’ve ever wondered how they do that, user mrminty, who claims to be a Chipotle prep guy, says, “I usually toss the salt, lemon/lime, and onions together and let it sit while I pit the avocados. Something about the acidity mellows out the onion flavor a bit more. It’s also important to add in the cilantro and jalapeños after the guac has already been mashed, the flavors will be overpowering if you crush the cilantro and let the oils seep out.”

11. You can even learn how to make the famous marinade at home.

Want to try to make your own Chipotle instead of buying it?

You’ll need the marinade recipe. User BridgetteBane, who says they are a former service manager, says to make an at-home Chipotle marinade, you mix “one can chipotle peppers in adobo. Add one tablespoon white vinegar, teaspoon salt and a couple hearty cracks of black pepper, a tablespoon of cilantro, and a little oregano if you’re frisky. Blend like a crazy person. Marinade whatever you want in it, remembering of course that the longer it sits the spicier it gets. No more than maybe 30 hours at home, because it’ll start chemically cooking the meat. Ew.”

12. It takes an entire day to train employees to make burritos.

Don’t be worried about the employees knowing what they’re doing when it comes to making your burritos — they go through extensive training.

User churgersauce explained that whenever the chain opens a new store, “they train burrito assemblers for a whole day.” User CosmicBoogie added that “the entire crew practices rolling burritos.” Unfortunately, they also throw all of that food out. Churgersauce said, “Burritos are prepared and handed down the line to a giant trash can. When my store opened, we dumped about 25 trash cans full of fresh new chipotle burritos. I felt ill with guilt.”

13. Employees would eat anything off the menu.

If you needed reassurance on the quality of the food, listen to the people who work there.

When asked if there was anything they wouldn’t order, user mollykae88 said, “I’d honestly say absolutely nothing. Always extremely clean. Everything fresh and kept up. Not afraid of throwing out bad food. Everything [runs] the way people expect a good restaurant to be run. Microwaves aren’t allowed at all. Constant cleaning.”

14. They will probably make you things that aren’t even on the menu.

If there’s something you want that isn’t on the menu, even if the ingredients are in the store, most employees will likely make it for you. User Carbon_Dirt said, “They don’t have to, but if it’s reasonably slow they almost always will.” So if you want something special, go in at an off-time and you’ll probably get it.

15. Many employees rave about how clean Chipotle is.

If you were worried about Chipotle being clean, you shouldn’t be.

An overwhelming number of employees on Reddit swear that the place is super careful. User now_stop_that said, “I worked at Chipotle for a few months, and our prep process made me want to eat the food even more.” User myeyesarerocks added, “I concur! I also worked at Chipotle. SO clean. No freezers. So fresh. And even mostly humane. I love Chipotle so hard, to this day. They’re really as good and [as] fresh as they advertise.”