All Wrapped Up: The Food At The Chipotle Mexican Grill

The other day, I had a sudden urge for Mexican Food, that clearly wasn't going to be satisfied by eating some Cool Ranch Doritos. Not even if I added some authenticity to the experience and also performed the 'Hat Dance.' That's when I remembered the restaurant that opened at The Rye Ridge Shopping Center last Fall. 

So I went and had a bite at the Chipotle Mexican Grill. This is my report.

I have to admit, I was a bit apprehensive going in. Rye Ridge is now getting awfully unimaginative and corporate with its eating places. All part of chains. The salad place, the imminent frozen yogurt place, it's getting sinister. Clearly, I'm getting hyped on the subject. And I'm sure as I stepped into Chipotle, I was just imagining that smell of sulphur and brimstone.

It turns out there was nothing to fear but the fajitas themselves. The food I bought was healthy; the crowd large and enthusiastic.

Now, one of the claims that Chipotle makes is that their chicken and beef are "naturally raised." This is, apparently, important to some people. Who need to know these cows and chickens had an unfettered and freewheeling life, then saw Wayne Newton in Vegas, before they were were slaughtered and eaten. Alright, then.

Still, I was happy to see that this restaurant also has a nice variety of vegetarian dishes. Althought they say nothing about the vegetables also being "naturally raised." Which makes me wonder if everyone's priorities aren't a little screwed up. Still, you can have a burrito with rice and beans or salsa. Or with enough sour cream and cheese, you feel the need to call your cardiologist afterwards and schedule a stress test.

I had a bean burrito. Which, truth be told, was a little bland. I think it was due to several factors. But mainly, it seemed to be due to a lack of additives. Now, I might be a vegetarian, but it doesn't mean I don't like season salt, garlic, a little BHT. Anything that jazzes up the taste and can preserve my internal organs as well as the food it's added to.

The size of a lot of Chipotle's wraps is daunting, as well. I've always felt that when food is too big, people are trying to make up in presentation, what the thing lacks in substance. It's just like the movies. Take the film "The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living And Became Mixed-Up Zombies!!!" There's no way a movie can live up to that title. And the giant, lengthy burritos, are sort of the food version. A great build-up, but the story falls apart halfway through.

Also, if you're watching your salt intake, this place is about as safe as Three Mile Island in March of 1979. The restaurant is kind enough to post the sodium content of its various wraps, true. But it's not too encouraging. The Flour Tortilla Burrito has 670 grams of salt. If you don't know how to measure that? It's the amount your grandmother is allowed. For the rest of her life! 

Still, Chipotle makes up for this with low cholesterol amounts. Many of their dishes have 0 grams of the dreaded fat. And only things such as the chicken have a copious amount. It goes back to the way those birds were "naturally raised." I think the chickens were just a-roaming the countryside and ended up eating at McDonald's. And that stuff never leaves your system.

I did, however, hear a couple of customers raving about the Cilantro-Lime Rice and The Roasted Chili Corn Salsa. So there are lots of other interesting choices to be made here. Of course, when these two women walked outside, they were still raving. This time about the government. So, you may need to take all of this with a grain of salt.

Which, by the way, reminds me of something. The Crispy Taco shell has about a grain of salt. And it fits nicely in the hand. So next time at Chipotle, I may start with that. And we'll see how it all goes down.