The Cult of Big Burritos
Posted on | July 17, 2004 at 4:53 pm | 4 Comments
I’m going to violate my own rules again and describe a dream I had last night. Many of my co-workers are hooked on Denver’s own Chipotle, and they eat there once or twice a week even though the closest one to the office is some miles away. I don’t usually go with, though I do like eating there. Anyway, in this dream, we all went to Chipotle, but it had changed. The restaurant was next door to a college. We had to go into the college’s auditorium (they were letting about 500 people in at a time) and wait in the seats until someone came out with big plates of burritos and tacos. The plates of food were passed around and everyone took some – yes, there seemed to be enough for everyone. While we ate, some old guy wearing a bow tie gave speeches about the Chipotle philosophy and lifestyle. Everyone seemed to be really soaking it up, which kinda creeped me out. After we were done eating, we left the auditorium and another group was ushered in.
So I wonder – did I accidentally psychically tap into the training (brainwashing?) orientation that Chipotle employees undergo? Or is it something… else? I keep thinking of that story from The Onion about “Starbucks To Begin Sinister ‘Phase Two’ Of Operation”.
On other matters, Reign of Frogs bandmate John, somewhere in the wilds of Mississippi (does Mississippi even have wilds?), has finally officially released his freeware program Fatbits. It’s a utility program that magnifies areas of the screen, and is helpful for developers and people working with graphics. It’s fun to just play around with too. Check it out.
Latre.
Comments
4 Responses to “The Cult of Big Burritos”
July 20th, 2004 @ 12:20 pm
there’s a Chipotle very close to my house. I ate there once and don’t see what the big deal is. but then again, SF is like the national capital of burritos. we don’t need no stinkin’ Colorado burritos! Now, Pancho Villa, them’s some burritos.
BTW, despite the fact that it started out in Denver, Chipotle is now owned by McDonald’s.
July 20th, 2004 @ 1:02 pm
You think SF is the burrito capital of the US? Ha! I laugh at that. There are more burritos per square inch in Denver than anywhere else. Not that I have statistics to back it up or anything…
The thing about Chipotle is that they do it differently. Those kinds of big non-smoothered monsters, prepared while you watch, were fairly unique around here when they first showed up.
Chipotle may be owned 90% by McDonald’s, but they still allow Chipotle to be fairly autonomous and to be run through Denver. See the recent article from our local alternative weekly:
http://westword.com/issues/2004-06-10/feature.html
July 20th, 2004 @ 2:53 pm
The plates of food were passed around and everyone took some – yes, there seemed to be enough for everyone.
Like loaves and fishes, hm? Andy and I went to Chipotle in Denver back when it wasn’t anywhere else. I enjoy mentioning that from time to time. However, as a resident of a burrito-deprived part of the world (but not for long! Our expat Mexican population is burgeoning, and the taquerias are appearing at last), I gotta say Baja Fresh has it all over Chiplotle when you don’t have the authentic option.
Andy says McDonalds is looking to unload Chipotle. A 20-second Web search (more time than I wanted to put into this just now) turned up nothing, though. Hm indeed.
July 21st, 2004 @ 10:21 am
Janet, according to the article Rog linked to, McDonald’s denies it wants to sell Chipotle. Also, the owner says he got the idea for Chipotle from the burrito shops in San Francisco, which proves we are the capital!!!
I wish McDonald’s would try to increase the US market penetration of another chain it owns, the UK sandwich shop Pret a Manger. It’s definitely a step up from the Subway/Quizno’s type stuff we have around here. I think they’re just in the New York area so far.