A large part has to do with their speed, convenience, and specific ordering style. Being able to walk in, tell someone exactly what you want on your burrito, watch them make it, and then leave with it is something I’ve never seen a Mexican restaurant offer, but chipotle does.
BlueLineBae@midwest.social 3 weeks ago
I genuinely don’t know how chipotle has survived this long when excellent family run Mexican restaurants are a dime a dozen all over the country and are super cheap to boot. I’ve tried it a few times and just never understood what people liked about it that you can’t get at your local Mexican joint.
Nurse_Robot@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
zerosignal@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
I don’t go to Chipotle when I want Mexican food. I go to Chipotle if I want something quick and vaguely Mexican-ish. Also I like the fact that I customize it how I want.
Tarquinn2049@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
I haven’t been to a chipotle, but it sounds from readingnhere that it offers the same thing Subway and Harveys do. No presumptions, no need to ask them to remove anything. You ask for exactly what you want, and as a bonus, you even get to watch it being made. For people that have allergies, sensitivities, and many of the various food related neurodivergencies, like super taster, hypersensory, ARFID… basically anything that makes you feel like a jerk ordering from other places, it’s refreshing that our order is easier rather than harder. Feel like less of a burden.
IceFoxX@lemm.ee 3 weeks ago
As a non-American, I associate it with extremely unhealthy artificial shit. That shit even has a fucking South Park episode. That can only be harmful. Chipotleaway
RampantParanoia2365@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Uh…it’s not at all. In fact it’s definitely one of the healthier lunch options out there.
IceFoxX@lemm.ee 3 weeks ago
It’s just what I associate with it. I’m not saying that’s the case. To be able to do that, I’d have to find out first, but what’s the point since it doesn’t exist here anyway.
tyler@programming.dev 3 weeks ago
Agreed. I grew up near the border and moved to Colorado and everyone here was obsessed with it when I first moved here. I could not understand it. It was the blandest, worst, not Mexican at all, food and there’s so much actual good Mexican food here that’s cheaper. Doesn’t even make sense.
Ghost@sh.itjust.works 3 weeks ago
Honestly as a vegetarian Chipotle is just about the only chain that has an actual entree I like to eat. Not to mention all the Mexican places in my mid-sized northeast city I can think of are all more expensive sit down restaurants. (Nevermind even accounting if there’s a good veg option) So after work for some quick food or even on road trips Chipotle is really helpful for me, I would be devastated if they ever closed. I personally think it tastes pretty good too but could understand omnis with more options living in the south thinking otherwise.
Contemporarium@lemm.ee 3 weeks ago
It’s cheaper than Taco Bell and I like their rice and chicken. Also it’s fast.
teft@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Since when is chipotle cheaper than the Bell?
Contemporarium@lemm.ee 3 weeks ago
Right? Taco Bell is insanely expensive now.
CmdrShepard42@lemm.ee 3 weeks ago
So is Chipotle and 90% of your burrito/bowl is now rice.
Sergio@slrpnk.net 3 weeks ago
bc some people just mindlessly trust the franchises. Kelly had a cartoon about this.
halcyoncmdr@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
I don’t understand how it’s so popular in border specifically. Like Taco Bell I understand, that’s not Mexican food, they don’t claim to be Mexican food, it’s gringo food, half the people I see at Taco Bell are Hispanic because that’s a specific type of food different from everything else… But there’s a Mexican place of some kind on nearly every corner in AZ. There’s no reason to ever even consider Chipotle.
Dead_or_Alive@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Consistency is the reason.
Chipotle is great for kids and people who want the same flavor profile. My kids love Chipotle mostly because they don’t want strange foods or new flavors. Most kids (and some adults) eat a handful of foods and don’t want surprises. My eldest is starting to branch out to new foods now that he is firmly in his teens. But the youngest won’t touch anything new.
The independent Mom and Pop Mexican restaurant may have much better food, but it doesn’t taste the same. Which is great for people who have much more varied pallets, not so much for kids and adults who don’t.
halcyoncmdr@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
I don’t understand how it’s so popular in border specifically. Like Taco Bell I understand, that’s not Mexican food, they don’t claim to be Mexican food, it’s gringo food, half the people I see at Taco Bell are Hispanic because that’s a specific type of food different from everything else… But there’s a Mexican place of some kind on nearly every corner in AZ. There’s no reason to ever even consider Chipotle.