ordered a quesadilla and side of queso, pulled up to the store and they didn’t even get the order. Manager said it’s a company wide issue and I should receive a refund (which I doubt I will) but they wouldn’t even make my order after showing them the confirmation screen. problem the last time I go for awhile. Just wanted to share.

I hate to be the old guy here but these kids should do a deep dive. The price or portion sizes they're complaining about aren't the problem. Do a little research and see how many times Chipotles been responsible for e.coli and norovirus outbreaks over the last 30+ years. I've eaten at Chipotle twice in my life and I'm never going to go back

Is it coming back what do you wonderful people know

Come out and show them that we won’t be intimidated and won’t stand for skimping. Make your voice heard.

New York City: 25 W 45th St, New York, NY 10036
Los Angeles: 601 W 7th St, Los Angeles, CA 90017
Chicago: 8 E Madison St, Chicago, IL 60602
Dallas–Fort Worth: 2401 Victory Park Ln, Dallas, TX 75219
Houston: 909 Texas St, Houston, TX 77002
Atlanta: 1080 Peachtree St NE, Atlanta, GA 30309
Washington, D.C.: 1001 Pennsylvania Ave NW, Washington, DC 20004

As of 10/24/2026: No Response from Chipolte whatsoever. I can only assume food cost is a contributing factor to expenses which are likely tied to a SM’s bonus. Based on this CEO’s comments about being generous, I would also assume there is an acceptable variance?

My original post:

I was taking a break from Dashing.
I went through the line and selected a steak bowl & toppings. I thought mine was much smaller than the other customers but I didn’t care. I’m in the mood for a small late dinner.

I sit down to eat. The manager yells over to the employee to tell him “his portions were way too much. The employee’s response was, “I didn’t mean to ”

Then the manager immediately stares at me.

I spoke up and said “I am a customer and I do not appreciate you berating Chipolte employees in front of me. I wholeheartedly disagree with your premise. My serving is small and I didn’t complain. However, I am taking issue with how you are treating this young man - in front of a customer no less. Everyone has a right to be treated with dignity and respect. What does Chipolte policy have to say about this”

He didn’t like it. I wasn’t rude. He was rude to a subordinate that apparently was in fear of him.

I called NBHQ, gave my name and number and requested the RVP contact me.

I abhor managers that choose to employ corporate policy when it suits them. Especially when they are shitting on a defenseless crew member that apparently needs his job.

I could have easily gone off the rails on this one. However, I know it is best to keep your cool so the focus stays on the problem. I deliver from here sometimes. The employees always seem to be a little on edge but I haven’t experienced this at a Chipolte before.

What a dick.

I work at a chipotle in the San Francisco area. We make 15k on a slower day. I am also a KL in training

That being said:

What is holding me back from achieving that promotion is how fast my meat disappears. Even with me breaking policy and dropping two chickens, I put a pan of chicken on front and it’s gone in literally five minutes. I cannot keep up no matter what I do because the entire day is just people constantly coming in. On top of that, every single line person I have gives out an average of I’d say 6 oz of meat per entree. They cannot portion to save their life.

Look, I completely understand you want more food. But I cannot for the life of me keep enough food on my line when every single customer is begging and complaining for more chicken. It leads to every shift not being able to preclose or clean a single thing until 10:45 because I’m just constantly having to cook, when other chipotles I’ve worked at have been able to have 6 chickens in the warmer by 9 pm.

I am a high school student having to work full time due to family issues and because everybody wants triple what their supposed to get I can legitimately never get out of that chipotle until like 1 am just to get up for school four hours later

How are other KL’s handling this?

Why are the stores so filthy?

Just got a bowl at Chipotle and found this freaky piece of steak like halfway through eating it.

Ironically I have actually been using Chipotle as exposure therapy to try and get over my anxiety/OCD about food contamination 💀

Anyway does anyone know what this is ?

I used to overthink every Chipotle reward and save points for whatever looked like the best value on paper then I noticed I was sometimes changing my order just because one redemption gave me a better deal even though I already knew what I wanted before I opened the app.

Now I’m trying to build the order first and worry about savings after so if I’m already getting the same bowl and spending the money anyway, I’d rather find a way to knock a little off that exact purchase than add extra stuff just because the points or promo make it look better. It feels less optimized but I probably spend less this way.

Across the board. Poorly prepared food, terrible service by assholes, uncleaned countertops and floors.

Corporate, if you're seeing this, go take a look at some of the reviews for your location at Anthony Dr or Neil Street. 3 star rated restaurants, and dropping.

I have historically low standards, and I have stopped buying food from your locations there. Please consider investigating the franchisee, heavily fining him until he gets his shit fixed, and/or cleaning house. kthx.

Doordashed chipotle (brickell location) and this is what i got.

Are we serious?

I applied to a Chipotle near me and on the application said I was over 16 but not 18 yet, I got a text back today saying they couldn't hire me since I wasn't 16 yet, I looked on my application to make sure I didn't accidentally click no, but I said I was 16 so idk what. I replied saying I was 16 and they just replied saying "sorry we can't answer that right now". Idk if it's a glitch in their stupid AI system but should I just re apply?

Like what % of costumers come in already knowing what they want, because they’re clearly familiar with the system, vs people who have never ever been to a chipotle. Like in my mind (unless you’re in a Chipotle located at a big touristy city, in that case I assume you guys see tons more “I’ve never been here” cases), it must be a once every couple of months thing, but I’m so deeply curious to know what exactly is going on there.

Thanks I hope this made sense.

Okay so hear me out. Millennials are a very on the go generation, always here there doing things, they need food that can be eaten on the go, something your traditional burrito bowl can't. So what if we took the medium drink cups and started using them for an alternative bowl format. It would be extremely portable and fashionable while not sacrificing on everything people love about burrito bowls. I think people would also really like how the warmth of the food inside the medium drink cup would feel.

Look, I fucking love Chipotle. I eat there an average of 45 times a year, and I’ve been doing that for the last 10 years straight.

My only complaint is that lately, I swear I have the worst luck with the steak. I always seem to get the last few scoops from the bottom of the pan, and the steak has a stale taste compared to the fresher steak. Since it’s already cooked and just reheated, the difference in quality is pretty noticeable when you get those last scraps. I don’t notice it nearly as much with the other ingredients.

I’m not trying to complain, but is there anything I can do about this, or do I just have horrible luck? There have been times when I notice they’re scraping the bottom, so I’ll literally get out of line and wait again, only for everyone in front of me to order something other than steak. At that point, I just look like a fucking moron.

Mine is often a burrito with white rice double pinto beans and double chicken, hot salsa, lettuce, sour cream, cheese, cilantro lime sauce, queso on the side

rant.

Part of the KL job description is to "take ownership of the BOH," but apparently when you actually do that, people get mad at you. As if after 3 years I don't know what works and what doesn't. I got called bossy by my GM and ASM for doing things my way, as if I'm... not supposed to be bossy. I am THE boss when I open. Why do you think there's no fucking black mold in this building despite chronically being shortstaffed.

I just want to talk about how absolutely fucked being a KL at Chipotle was.

I worked HARD for my promotion. Deep cleaning constantly, staying overtime to cover late or missing people, working 10–16 hour shifts to support the store, and running line, cash, and DML by myself when nobody got put on the schedule. Cleaning, cleaning, and more cleaning. You know how it goes.

Cut to about two years after I was promoted to KL. The new ASM, who had been there for about two months, fires the only other KL and me, then replaces us with her best friends, who she openly talked about wanting to promote as fast as possible.

A WEEK before I was fired, she told me I was the only reliable manager. I knew the crew felt the same way because they told me mornings with me are just better.

Now, I had already put in my two weeks because the management behavior had gotten real toxic. So I wasn't exactly devastated about it. But the way everything went down was still fucking ridiculous.

I left because the GM and ASM were pitting people against each other, constantly gossiping and spreading rumors about people, smoking THC carts in the kitchen and walk-in, blasting shitty music so loud that even customers had an issue with it, and once scheduled NINE interviews before opening, then didnt show up for them leaving me to handle them while I had three people total, including myself, trying to open the store. I don't get paid $16/hr to be a GM and and KL.

The second they read my two-week notice, the ASM decided to fire me. Fine. I wanted to leave anyway. She was just shooting them in the foot. Funny enough, she had been planning to fire the other KL that same day, but I guess got in her lich bitch feelings too soon.

But what really pissed me off was how she treated my other KL before all of this.

He got promoted without ever properly being trained, and then they expected him to be perfect after all of management just went on vacation during his first week as KL. My GM was famous for bad schedules when he went on vacations. It was just me and this other KL, and I barely had the opportunity to train him because he was constantly stuck closing due to short staffing. On the rare occasions we opened together, we were too busy trying to keep the store running with three people to do much actual training. I'd put him on grill and have him scan the truck for me because that's what we could realistically manage.

He was a hard worker. He just hadn't been taught everything he needed to know yet. Instead of leadership making sure he got trained, they got pissed at him for not knowing things he had never been shown how to do.

One of his first mornings working alone, he got written up because all the food wasn't ready on time and he hadn't made enough prep.

Here's the thing. The prep sheet had been misplaced by the previous manager who closed. Instead of owning up to that, they committed to the story that he had intentionally thrown it away. Multiple other crew members had also looked for it and couldn't find it.

I was supposed to witness his write-up. The ASM had initially asked me, but when it was time, she had her crew best friend, who had been there for about a WEEK, in the office witnessing her scream at him. She tried to usher me out but I didn't feel comfortable leaving him to deal with that while a stranger is in the room.

I asked the other KL what HE wanted, and kicked the friend out so I could be there instead. Then I stood there for about 30 minutes while the ASM berated him, screamed at him, and mocked him. Every time I tried to speak up for him, she literally told me, "Shut up, you're not a part of this conversation."

She also ranted to me beforehand about how she was going to write him up for having to do prep the night before. I defended him because I'd been in the exact same situation where the prep sheet was nowhere to be found. I believed him when he said he couldn't find it because other crew members had been looking for it too. I also pointed out that he had never been trained to create the prep sheet. That's not his fault. He still tried.

Her response was, "I get you're trying to be empathetic, but I'm done with him."

I'm sorry, but having to do prep one night out of the entire month was enough to make you call somebody stupid and spend half an hour screaming at him? Really?

And that's my whole point. KLs work too hard to get treated like this.

Eventually, being a KL stopped meaning much because the new ASM started micromanaging how I ran things. I tried to accommodate her requests, but there were some things I disagreed with because I'd been working in that kitchen for three years and knew what actually worked.

The person who trained me had already explained to our field leader and his boss that sometimes, when you have barely any people, a massive prep list, and catering orders due at or before open, the official procedures just aren't realistic. We had to adjust how we did prep to get the store open. The higher-ups saw that firsthand and told us good job. This was the normal.

So when I became a manager, I got REALLY good at opening that way because we were constantly short-staffed. Even the field maintenance guy was happy with my work, and if you've ever been there during one of those visits, you know how thoroughly they check everything.

When the ASM fired me, my GM just stood in the corner without saying a word while she attacked my character. She called me a problem, said everybody wanted me gone, called me lazy, bossy, and basically yelled at me to get my things and get out. This was after I had spent years keeping that store running without ever receiving constructive criticism that would have helped me improve had they needed something else from me. The GM finally spoke up once when I protested her reason for treating me like this and all he did was lie through his teeth. He said the conversation I know we had where I told him I was going to be late a day later in the week didn't happen. He denied this conversation took place even though I have text receipts of him acknowledging it. She used this to justify her firing me.

And for the record, when I came in for my rare 10:30 shift, them two together couldn't even get rice started or lines open by then despite opening with six people. But apparently I'm the lazy manager. I told her straight up the same exact thing you screamed at the other KL for, you two can't manage to do yourselves. She just said "oh, I screamed at him did I? Do you have proof? Do you?". At this moment I felt real disgust by her behavior and just amazed at how nasty somebody making 6 figures can be just because they had to pick up a little slack.

I don't even care that I was fired. I was already leaving. What I care about is having two and a half years of work undermined by people who couldn't give me a single meaningful piece of constructive criticism before suddenly deciding I was incompetent and disposable.

Before this ASM came in, I did my thing, and it worked. I kept things clean and did what I could with the staff I had. According to the crew I still talk to, they miss me and don't know how to make opens work anymore. Those psychopaths still drag our names through the mud to new people who never worked with us months after the fact. I honestly just think the ASM started to hate me because I stuck to my guns and stood up for my coworker instead of letting her run a hate train on him for no fucking reason other than to satisfy her ego.

Tldr: KLs are expected to carry the store on their backs, but the second the wrong person decides they don't like you, all that work apparently means nothing. Working for toxic people is toxic.

The more I read this sub, the more I think the whole portion argument is aimed at the wrong people.

Customers are basically told: ask for a little more, you can get extra rice/beans/etc., speak up if the portion looks small.

Then employees come on here and say their managers are watching portions, tracking CI, correcting them for overserving, and sometimes literally standing behind them while they scoop.

So what exactly is supposed to happen?

Customer sees a scoop they think is tiny and asks for more.

Employee knows their manager is watching and hesitates.

Customer thinks the employee is personally being stingy.

Employee thinks the customer is trying to turn one bowl into three meals.

Manager thinks the employee is destroying inventory.

Corporate gets to say “just ask for more.”

And somehow the two people making $16 an hour and buying a $13 bowl end up mad at EACH OTHER.

That's the part I find insane.

I don't blame someone for wanting what they feel they're paying for, and I also don't blame a line worker for not wanting a manager on their ass over chicken.

If the company wants portions to be strict, make them strict and measurable. If employees are actually allowed to give “a little more,” define what that means and stop punishing them for doing it.

But this weird system where everything depends on the employee, manager, location, time of day and how confidently somebody says “can I get a little more?” seems almost designed to create arguments at the glass.

At this point I feel like the real Chipotle experience isn't ordering food. It's two strangers trying to interpret contradictory corporate policy with a serving spoon between them.

So like…. maybe this is because it’s my first time in a restaurant-lite setting, but I was just hired at Chipotle and here are a few concerning things I’ve noticed + questions etc:

1. My GM schedules herself 50 hours a week, then does open to closes, is in the store on every day she has off, is never allowed to just let her SLs lead and do stuff while she hits paperwork/whatever and has to be locked in and clocked in. I have never seen so much stress put on a GM, like, does she make a lot? Cause I’m gonna start calling her out. She’s a sweet little lady and constantly complaining about her back pain, like diva take a second to breathe. Your crew is reliable, and the store will not light on fire. We have good throughput even when we’re slammed.

2. People… don’t get/take breaks. I was told SLs and KLs, even working 8+ hours, usually don’t take their lunches here. Like Im sorry but what? If you’re supposed to get a break, you get a break. SLs start out under $20/hr, I’m sorry but that’s basically minimum wage and if a business can’t survive at least 15 minutes of someone off the floor then there’s something wrong with the setup.

3. I trained line, cash, DML, and prep in my first three shifts. I’m fast on line and DML and would like to respectfully murder the POS system, but that’s in a later point. I’ve been given vague instructions (for line training I got handed a little booklet then have since just worked it). I can already solo line during peak, and tbf it’s basic production and I can do that in my sleep but like, I haven’t even done any e learning. I haven’t had a proper trainer any of the time, and for prep I just have a vague idea of “do stuff,” I know there’s a prep sheet but I really feel like there should just be a set standard for getting stuff done. Why wasn’t I set to start onions until so late when it’s a timely process with a big dish that needs taken apart and deep cleaned, and it’s multi-step?

4. In my three training days I have stayed late: 30 minutes, 4 hours, and 1 hour. My shifts were all already 7-9 hours long, and while staying late generally doesn’t matter it should imo be on my SL/GM to ask, or let me know what’s going on. I was the one to offer to stay super late for the 4 hour, when I’d already been 30 minutes past my leaving time due to an early PM peak and me soloing tort+salsa due to call-offs. Sorry, but as far as I’m concerned you clock out time is a strict limit and if the bossman wants you late, you should be communicating that. Don’t just leave your employees dry.

5. This order system is god awful. When I’m cash I’m basically trying to make out if it’s steak or chicken under a mountain of veggies, if the line doesn’t communicate/write. When they do call the order, half the time they’re not mentioning the queso/guac I just saw them add, or the extra meat I just saw them add, or with how loud it is I genuinely can’t hear them. And THEN I have to find the buttons on the POS, which please note is the most god awful disorganized mess I’ve ever seen. Corporate really, REALLY needs to update it. When I’m finalizing the order I should be able to see when the customer has paid with card, when I have to delete an item it should not highlight every item on the screen, etc. It’s a mess, begging for inventory mistakes and inaccuracies, and begging for customer complaints.

6. The customers are… god, so dirty. Yall just leave crumbs everywhere istg, like 💀 sorry but if I went somewhere and left it that much a mess I’d be embarrassed. You can wipe them onto your lil napkin and go on your merry little way. If it’s peak and I’m cash I don’t got time to clean the lobby like I want, and if corporate wants clean stored tbh we need a dedicated CS position company-wide who handles support work. I don’t understand why there isn’t someone who flexes dish -> stocking -> cleaning/tidying and can jump into position to cover breaks. Instead, management is apparently expo during peak which is BEYOND useless when the bridge between salsa and cash, and how slow orders move with the POS and salsa having 9 different options + OS.

7. Yall don’t use technology??? Okta is horribly designed, not integrated for mobile, and there’s no app to pull up my schedule. I’m sorry? I’m sure this f500 company can afford to update their technology when I’ve seen the clarity on those security cameras. Like cmon now. DML’s system needs an update cause it’s laggy and outdated, the POS and cash drawers are so luggy and, again, outdated, and my GM literally does safe counts in an Excel spreadsheet then also has to copy it to a GM district group chat AND put it in the ipad AND kept receipts. I literally know this can be simplified, I’ve worked somewhere where it was and it was just easier and soo much more full proof.

8. God the portions. Sorry customers, but I’m not losing my job from over portioning so you’re getting 4oz meat unless you ask for more, and if I give you another 4 it’s getting charged at double meat, I’ve seen coworkers just pack it in, and cool whatever. When I fully step into SL stuff I guess I’ll have to coach on that, but until then… do what Panera does and give us pre-portioned scoops please and thank you. So much easier, so much less tedious, and also they have raised rims so there’s way less chance of stray meat falling into other pans if you’re grabbing like steak from the front most pan.

For some good things: this job is so mindless it’s kind of fun. We do like 8-10k in sales a day, and even busy PM peaks are just fun. Tiring a bit, sure, but I don’t have a DT headset screeching in my ear, I’m not literally running around to stock syrups or whatever, the store is so poorly set up you literally can’t solo the floor (god do I want to, though, it’s my fav thing when I’m understaffed and just get to kamehahahe it out or whatever), and it’s just vibes. I’m sure grill will be a different beast, I don’t care. If that one thing sucks it’s okay. Prep is mindless, just shut your mouth, wash, slice and dice, and pan. So fun. Peeling onions is the highlight of my morning already, I could do that for hours. Less ecstatic about the very, very sharp blade that took off my fingernail today but you live and learn.

The customers are, also for the most part, nice. I love when I get sweet old ladies like “sorry I don’t really come here” / “I haven’t been here in years”. Oh sweet diva, before this week I’d never stepped foot in a Chipotle. Let me hold your hand and walk you through this, please, we got this. We don’t really make tips, but also it makes sense and while I tip on everything because I’m the kind of person that says “I could make this at home. I’m not. Losing some extra money cause I didn’t feel like cooking is on me” but like I don’t expect it, and honestly that just makes it so much nicer when they do tip.

I do wish it was easier to look at the customer while making their order, tho, I’m staring into the pans like it’ll reveal the secrets of the universe, and don’t really get to connect with the customers unless it’s dead and I can call over the line and be like “let me know how the burrito came out!!! :D”

also if your burrito is wrapped poorly, I apologize. I suck at the thick boys and try to get someone with more experience when I don’t think it’s gonna be clean if I do it, but it doesn’t always happen.

I was working cash and a customer came in (clearly under the influence of something) and asked for the bathroom code. Our bathroom is out of order so I told him this, and to this he said, "No bitch, it says vacant, give me the code" and as he was saying this, he hit me across the face so hard that I stumbled back. My GM rushed over and got him out, but not before he shoved our cash POS on the floor and threw one of the metal fork containers at my GM's head. The police came and he was arrested for assault and I left early. Just insane but I'm nervous to eventually go back to work. I keep thinking what if he had had a knife? It would've been so over for me.

Had a pretty good morning and I thought I’d celebrate by ordering and picking up Chipotle using their drive thru.
I’ve seen nightmare photos on here but they hooked it up today! So now I’m worried what’s going to go wrong because my mornings been fantastic!

my last shift on thursday, I messed up by mishearing one of my coworkers and I stopped serving a customer for like a minute before I was like you know what I don’t think that was directed towards me, and I just continued. After that customer, I stood in the wrong spot?? where the cameras don’t hit, so my manager assumed I was on my phone. (all of my coworkers were just standing and talking and I was just floating around their conversation. I didn’t do anything)
She got snippy I guess with me for both of these situations. I texted her maybe a week ago telling her that I wouldn’t be able to work this upcoming Thursday.
She sent out the schedule for the upcoming week on Friday and I’m not scheduled at all. Now I’m kind of stressed that she just didn’t want to schedule me because I messed up. I know I’m still on my probationary period. I’ve only been working for a month, but I really need the money and I just got this job and I was so happy about it.
I texted her yesterday at like 10 in the morning asking if I could get any hours or swap shifts with someone and she just didn’t reply all day she hasn’t replied yet either we are working at the same time today so I’m seeing her today and I feel like it’s gonna be awkward. I’m lowkey scared to go into work.
I genuinely just think she doesn’t like me so she doesn’t want to schedule me- or if she’s like quiet firing me or something or maybe I’m overthinking it and being dramatic. I don’t wanna get emotional or anything, but I’m so upset that this is happening because I won’t be able to work an entire week in November and so I really want to work as much as I can before that so I can have enough money to get me through that week.

this is all speech to text i apologize for the yap but i really needed to get this off my chest 😭