Chipotle Mexican Grill — Restaurant in Arlington

Last night was a disaster. I want to emphasize the staff is some of the hardest working -- most put upon people in Arlington. They are fantastic and put up with a lot of abuse. Mostly because their management is inept. I can't blame customers who wait an hour, an hour and a half, or an hour + 45 min for what should take 5-10 minutes.

Last night was a fund raiser for a local ES. I ordered food @ 610 for 645. Got there at 650. Long story short? Food wasn't ready until 830!!! They literally had 100s of orders in queue. I would love to say that my experience was atypical but EVERYONE was having the same problem.

If you ordered at 745 you had 200+ orders to sit through before they even got to yours. Why would Chipotle accept those orders?? Why doesn't Chipotle have an 'average time'?? I could code these things for Chipotle in under a week! Again the problem is NOT the staff -- who I can't say it enough -- were cranking, industrious and incredibly hard working. The problem is the management, be it a local owner or Chipotle corporate. At this point after Chipotle's myriad of troubles: the food poisoning, the bad press, and now the fact they can't manage (what I grant is) a busy night is risible. Pathetic. Even trying to cancel orders was horrendous, untimely, and unduly complicated (I walked several of my fellow line dwellers through it). I would have left had not my girls really, really wanted the food and were talking to other classmates. By the end of the night I felt like a surrogate manager, explaining to many frustrated patrons where the monitors were (so they could see the queue), organizing the groups of who ordered and when, and setting expectations. Chipotle support, either in person or on-line, was non-existent. The automated robot is pathetic. So pathetic it's clear they don't value their customers. The treatment they provide makes that abundantly clear.

Chipotle management deserves to be roundly booed as they repeatedly fail their customers, their front line workers, and to provide a modicum of a reasonable experience. BOOOOOH! NEENER! PPHHHHFT!!! MURMUR, MURMUR!!!!

There is no need for anyone to ever eat at Chipotle. There are healthier, price equivalent options nearby. I encourage everyone to seek those out.

ADDENDUM: May 4th. 'Owner' reached out and asked me to contact them. I really didn't want to as 'who cares?' but my spouse urged me to. The link provided is to another soul-less automated system that doesn't provide any of the options listed above: namely, 'disastrous ownership' as the workers and managers are perfectly fine. And I already tried to contact you, many times, the night of. So let's not waste each other's time. You're doing customer service as theater -- for show only. I'm whiny. My review...

I usually order from this location about once a week because it's close to my work and it's always tasty. However, I have had several issues with my orders at this particular store. First, my online order was stolen multiple times from the pick up area. They always make me a new one, but it's a little inconvenient and I don't really remember anyone apologizing that it happened or for having me wait another 5 minutes. It does seem, however, like they have done away with the pick up "shelf" and instead you have to ask for your bag, which will hopefully eliminate the problem.

Another issue is that I placed an order (October 2) and the black beans were VERY undercooked (tasted like black beans out of a can before you cook them). This is not safe to eat. I had already mixed them in the bowl, so it was hard/annoying to pick around the beans to eat the rest. I was already back at work and didn't have time to go back to the store to get a new order, so I decided to call. You cannot call/talk to anyone at the store or leave a message. You are only given an option to make an online support request. I have submitted two "forms" and have not been contacted online or by phone about this order.

Today I placed an order and had planned on talking to a manager at the store, but understandably they were all very busy during the lunch rush. I decided to forget about it and move it. Now, as I'm eating my order, my side tortilla is very hard (I'm fairly certain this is because it was over-pressed in the comal), and the amount of the new smoked brisket is just pitiful - much less than I ever get with the chicken. I think I counted 9 cubes of meat.

Overall, I'm disappointed with this location. It is convenient, and the service is fast, but the food quality and responsiveness to the customer have...

Went here and the man behind me in line tried to order a full size quesadilla. Workers told him he couldn’t do that, but he could if he ordered online. This is not the fault of the hourly workers, but is the result of bad management. Obviously the man was angry. Ordering via phone when you’re already in person at a restaurant is stupid. Either take it off the menu completely or serve customers in a basic human way. It’s completely fine to remove this item from the menu if it takes longer and is harder to prepare, but in no world does it make sense to look a person in the face and tell them directly to use a phone to place an order when they are right in front of you.

A simple human solution to avoid this mess would be to say, “sir, we can make this for you, but it will take much longer than our other menu items,...