Since hitting the fast food scene years ago, Chipotle has been known for their addictive menu. Customers who love the company are not adverse to eating the entirety of the huge portions they’re served, even if it makes them completely stuffed for the rest of the day. Chipotle’s menu isn’t quite as gigantic as some of the menus at popular fast food restaurants, but it doesn’t really need to be.
They offer up a variety of delicious fast casual Mexican-inspired dishes that are mostly made right in front of you and are pretty much completely customizable.
Still, the restaurant is certainly not perfect. More often than not, Chipotle makes the news for various, uh, outbreaks that make customers and employees sick. Food poisoning and norovirus are the top offenders. Still, these outbreaks haven’t completely destroyed their reputation, which is really saying something about their food!
Even employees seem to love working and eating there. Many swear that the restaurants are actually very clean, that the food is fresh by fast food standards, and that everything is genuinely good.
That said, there are still a few menu items that employees really hate making and eating themselves… and those might be the ones you’ll want to stay away from. Now, here are a few menu items Chipotle employees hate the most:
1. The Quesarito is their worst nightmare.
This secret menu item features a burrito wrapped in a quesadilla rather than just a plain tortilla.
Sounds delicious, right? It is — but it’s also the number one menu item employees absolutely hate making. One employee told Reader’s Digest that it’s their worst nightmare, partly because they have to roll up a steaming hot quesadilla, saying, “Hot cheese burns.” Ouch.
A former manager, user Mr_Harvey_Specter, explained in a Reddit AMA that they are particularly annoying when someone orders them when the restaurant is super busy, saying, “Once you make one, everybody in line sees it and wants one as well. They take for-goddamn-ever to make ’cause there’s only one quesadilla-maker-thing, it slows everything waay down.” Basically, they’re time-consuming, painful, and just plain annoying.
2. They hate being told to mix up ingredients.
Chipotle employees basically have to honor any request you have (although you shouldn’t use that to your advantage), which means that if you ask them to mix up all the ingredients for you, they’re obligated to do it.
But that doesn’t mean they want to.
Gianna, a former Chipotle employee from Rhode Island, told Reader’s Digest, “When customers ask us to mix up the burrito, we would have to stop what we’re doing, grab a spoon, hand-mix the contents of their burrito to an unsightly mushy mess, and then wrap it. Especially with a huge line of people, this is a huge inconvenience, and it’s rather disgusting for other customers to see, because the ‘guts’ of a burrito once they’ve been mixed up like that are never a pretty sight.” Good point!
3. They’re not into hard tacos.
Burritos are probably one of Chipotle’s biggest sellers, but hard tacos are also a popular menu item… just not for the employees.
One former employee told Cosmopolitan that they hated making tacos, explaining, “You have to put ingredients on three tacos, and it usually takes longer. I hate making tacos. I hate it.” This is especially true for the hard tacos, which tend to be a lot more delicate. They said, “It takes so long, and people want so much stuff on those little, tiny taco shells, and they tend to break. I’m like, Really? You can’t fit that much on there. You should have just gotten a frickin’ burrito if you wanted that.”
4. They don’t think that the fresh salsa quite lives up to its name.
While most employees say Chipotle is impressively clean and fresh, there are still some menu items that they probably wouldn’t eat themselves.
One of those is the fresh salsa, which, as it turns out, is pretty disappointing. In a Reddit AMA, former manager and user Mr_Harvey_Specter said, “It’s not fresh, yet it’s the only thing they advertise as ‘fresh’ on the line, whereas many other things on there are made in house that day.” Well, it’s comforting to know that other items are fresh, but, uh, where is that salsa coming from?!
5. Employees are confused about why you’re ordering a burrito in the first place.
Many employees have complained about making burritos because they’re often overstuffed and hard to roll, and they can take a while to make.
Still, they know how popular they are… but it confused them. Most employees advise customers to order something else instead. An employee told Reddit, “DON’T GET A BURRITO! Get a burrito bowl, because the person making it won’t be worried about the tortilla falling apart at the folding phase, and therefore is more likely to be liberal with their scoops.”
Basically, a burrito bowl holds a whole lot more food, so you get more bang for your buck.
Another employee recommends asking for a tortilla on the side so you can create your own burrito, which isn’t a bad idea.
6. The honey vinaigrette is not a favorite item.
In a Reddit thread on what fast food employees think customers should never order, one Chipotle employee responded with:
“Chipotle honey vinaigrette. Quick disclaimer. I love my job and the company I work for. Everything we serve there is as fresh and clean as you’ll find in any more top of the line kitchens. However, one cup of that vinaigrette is almost 300 calories and it’s the nastiest smelling stuff in that whole place. I never suggest it.” This is what they use for salads, so maybe just use your own dressing instead?
7. They won’t eat the chicken.
If employees won’t eat something for safety reasons, then you probably don’t want to either.
In a Reddit thread about what customers should never order, one Chipotle employee who claimed to be a prep and grill person said it was the chicken. They explained, “A lot of cooks tend to under-cook it, so you get some raw pieces. I also suspect it’s where a lot of the outbreaks from years past originated.” Yikes.
8. They also won’t eat the lettuce.
Thinking of getting lettuce on your burrito or taco? You might want to think again.
In a Reddit AMA, a former Chipotle kitchen manager was asked about the most disgusting thing on the menu. His response? The lettuce. He explained, “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.” That definitely doesn’t sound appetizing.
9. They really hate making tacos to go.
The employee hatred of tacos isn’t just about making the tacos, but also about boxing them up.
One employee told Spoon University that “[t]hey are by far the most annoying menu item to prepare.” They complained about how difficult it is to get the portions into such a small and delicate shell, adding, “And what’s worse, if your order is to-go, I am charged with the near impossible task of putting a to-go lid on without breaking your tacos. Are you sure you don’t just want a bowl?”
10. Employees aren’t into rice with no cilantro.
If you’re one of those people who thinks that cilantro tastes like soap, we have good news.
You’re able to ask for the white rice with no cilantro at Chipotle! It’s just that the employees will probably hate you for it. One former Chipotle employee told CheatSheet,
“I personally think is a sin because cilantro is amazing. But we would have to make a whole batch of new rice for them. It’s a real pain.”
So not only does it not taste as good, but it’s annoying to put together.
11. They can’t stand huge burritos.
If you want double everything in your burrito, you can get it, but employees really don’t recommend it.
One former employee summed it up to Delish, saying, “No, no, no, nononononononooooo. That’s exactly what your server is saying internally as he or she plops double of every item into your tortilla.” Why, exactly? She explained, “The thing is, serving sizes exist for a reason. Aside from ensuring consistency and maximum profit for The Man, they’re also used so every employee can fill a burrito just enough so that it won’t fall apart as soon as you pick it up. When you double everything in your burrito, not only does it make it nearly impossible to wrap (and add way too many calories), it also is a way to ensure that you’re going to have the middle of your burrito fall out at some point.”
12. They probably wouldn’t order sofritas or chorizo.
If you want fresh food at a fast food chain, your best bet is to go with the more popular items.
That’s why some employees aren’t a fan of the sofritas or chorizo options. One told Reddit, “I mean, the sofritas and chorizo are the two least-ordered proteins and tend to get sort of dry after a while.” Doesn’t sound like the best food experience!
13. Employees also hate burritos with a lot of liquids.
If you want to make a Chipotle employee miserable, all you have to do is order a burrito stuffed with liquids.
In a Reddit thread, one employee said, “My personal pet peeve is when someone orders a burrito with no rice, beans, like three different salsas, and guac. Stop. That is not a burrito, it is a soup in a tortilla. And they inevitably end up staring me down while I’m trying to keep both scoops of hot salsa and the juice from the barbacoa they ordered from going everywhere.”
This definitely sounds like a huge mess.
