|
|
|
|
|
 Chipotle
|
|
 9 West 42nd St
New York, NY 10036
Phone: (212) 354-6760
View Website
|
|
User Rating
|
|
10
Highly Recommended
|
 |
|
|
Editorial Review
The latest burrito-chain craze to hit Manhattan, Chipotle boasts of “simple ingredients put together in creative, new ways, elevating them to a higher level,” gourmetspeak for yummy.
I hear that the ingredients are organic and “farm-fresh”, but when I asked the manager what was special about their chicken, he said “it’s been marinating all day.” Oh. That’s new and different, I thought. Even though the staff is not fully aware of their product, the taste doesn’t lie. The cilantro-lime rice had a bright and clean taste and the vegetarian black beans are flavored with lime juice, giving them a slight kick. The guacamole ($2.50 with chips) has chunks of fresh avocado creamed together with onions and is so good that it converted the manager into a guacamole-eater. If he was trying to sell me on the guacamole, mission accomplished. And after tasting it, I believe him. In truth, the food is fresh and antibody free, in keeping with the Food with Integrity doctrine that Chipotle created and follows.
Chipotle keeps the menu simple, offering burritos, fajita burritos, tacos, or burrito “bol” – burrito dumped into a bowl, no tortilla and optional lettuce. The fun part is deciding what goes into your tortilla/“bol”. If meat usually fills your burrito, you can choose between carnitas ($6.75) – pork seasoned with juniper berries, thyme and bay leaves and, yep, marinated all day; barbacoa ($6.95) – spicy pulled beef, braised with cumin, cloves, garlic, oregano, and Chipotle’s own adobo (= seasoning mix); chicken ($6.75) – “humanely raised chicken, marinated for hours,” (Hey! He was right.) then seasoned and grilled or steak – also marinated for hours in Chipotle’s adobe then grilled.
For vegetarians, your options are slightly fewer but you’ll still be able to order about 20 different combinations before you have the same thing twice, and you’ll be spending less than your fellow meat eaters ($5.95). You’re main filler is sautéed peppers and onions, fajita style, and you have four salsas of varying temperature – mild, medium and hot – from which to choose. Throw in some vegetarian black beans, cilantro-lime rice, guacamole, cheese and sour cream and you won’t need to eat again for a good 8 hours.
Besides the menu being the same at all locations, the décor comes fairly standard as well. Decorated with wood, raw steel, concrete, metals and intense track lighting, Chipotle follows all the rules of being a food corporation: multiple locations with the same menu and décor at all of them. But, to be fair, it really follows all but one crucial rule.
Chipotle makes your burrito or fajita for you, right in front of you, not mass produced in the back kitchen, and Chipotle takes the quality and freshness of its ingredients very seriously. The meat served up at Chipotle comes from a co-op of small Midwestern farms. And the more Chipotles that open up, the more farmers that can be supported. At last, a corporation that actually promotes family-run businesses.
The story behind this new kid on the block continues to surprise. Several years ago, Steve Ells, founder and CEO of Chipotle and trained at our very own Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York, turned to the pros in food chains to get his one-shop burrito restaurant off the ground, but even though McDonald’s is currently the majority shareholder of Chipotle, (Steve and his father own the remainder of the shares) Chipotle won’t be serving up french fries anytime soon. McDonald's knows enough to leave a good thing alone; it keeps a hands-off approach with the Chipotle menu, but knew enough about the food industry (if that wasn’t already obvious) to jump onto the gourmet fast-food trend that is sweeping across the country. Think Panera Bread®, Starbucks and mixed greens salads at Wendy’s..
As we step into the culture of corporate ubiquity, where every street in every city is dotted with the same set of stores, it is important to hold on to and remember the grass roots culture of family-owned, locally supported businesses. Fortunately, the current corporate-friendly political environment supports fresh ingredients and humanely raised chicken, and Chipotle has established itself as the liaison between the local business and the large corporation.
|
|
Restaurant Information
| ||
Vegetarian Friendly
|
Mexican
|
$ (under $15)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
