Chipotle Mexican Grill — Restaurant in Athens-Clarke County Unified Government

POOR CUSTOMER SERVICE: Young lady essentially accused me of attempting to steal or scheme a free a meal from Chipotle (Not sure if race played a factor, but I happened to be the only Black male in the store at the time of this transaction) WHAT OCCURED: The day before, I ordered a burrito bowl (vegetarian) and ordered some chips. I get to work, look in my bag as I am about to enjoy my lunch and recognize there are no chips in the bag and my bag is a bit wet from the beans and mild juice dripping. I called to inform the manager (Greg) of the experience and he told me I could get a free meal if I was to comeback. However I couldn't come back immediately due to being on the other side of town and have to get to work. Nevertheless, I suggested that he write my name down (which he said he did) and I will likely come back the next day. NEXT DAY: I go into the store, order the same thing from yesterday and explain to the cashier of what transpired, and she gave me the third degree while holding up the line. She was determined to not see me walk away with a "free" meal. First, she attempted to charge me for the chips and said well the meal can be free but not the chips. I explained I actually purchased the chips yesterday and no one put them in my bag. Then she said, well you can have some "free chips" (as if I didn't pay for them yesterday) but not a meal. I explained to her what the manager said yesterday and my name shall be written down some where to confirm this. ..... she goes to look for where they write these things down at (THE LINE IS TILL BEING HELD UP DURING THIS WHOLE TIME). Couldn't find it I guess, so she ask where is the manager. They say the manager is in the bathroom. She walks away from the register to the back where the restrooms are to find the manager in the restroom. Then eventually comes out and say that manager said "give it to him but explain to him NEXT TIME --as if I plan to get another "free" meal --he can't get a whole free meal. ASSUMPTIONS: I guess she was able to look at me as a Black man with a fitted hat on and assume I would likely be being dishonest about a $7 meal. But, couldn't look and see that I already have an MBA (masters in business administration) degree from a reputable (AACSB accredited) top business school. Or, that I have managed over 200 employees as a business manager. Or that I have owned and operated a business. So, it does make me wonder, had I been some young White girl or perhaps, and elderly White lady, would I have gotten the...

If you don't like cilantro, and do like customer service, this is not your place.

Yesterday was my first visit and I pleasantly notified the young man of it, asking for the rundown on options. If you haven't been to one before, this Chipotle is where you stand in line like a lunch counter and have them build it as you walk through the line (similar to Barberito's which I now prefer). He seemed annoyed to have to accommodate me, rattled off a bunch of stuff without making eye contact or connecting so I could keep up. He had previously started entrees for the couple in front of me and slid to his right for expecting another young man to do the toppings; No one did and the cashier nor the guy helping me did anything to call for help. My guy then stopped while building my entree to apologize to the couple b/c he thought X was going to help them & that he would do it himself in a minute; At point of the apology, another young guy stood there by him at the counter, heard this, smiled at us all and left without helping them. Once my entree was built, my unhappy guy topped each of theirs and then helped me top mine. His annoyance may have been there before I came on the scene... Still he didn't have the maturity not to direct it at me.

Overall, I will say that the front staff here was all very young, likely early 20's or less. Aside from making an initial apology to the couple for being ignored, there doesn't seem to be much adulting happening here and no concept of customer service. They don't seem happy to be there, were not working as an effective team, nor seem to comprehend how a genuine smile can diffuse bad customer experiences. The only smile here was the guy who disappeared without helping out.

My takeout food was OK except that the pasteboard bowl with aluminum lid leaked out through bottom of the bag and got all over my clothes and fabric chair before I realized what was happening. Not impressed with their takeout containers either, so beware; I was lucky the container didn't fall through the wet bag bottom onto the floor. The barbacoa beef was very tasty; I give 'em that. I am aware that this is a college town and it seems hard for restaurants to keep any help post-covid. Everything is more expensive now. I prefer to give my money to establishments with food I can eat (where cilantro can be left off) and where I feel welcomed and appreciated. I don't feel the need to...

I ordered delivery for the 3rd time & have gotten the wrong order every time. I ordered through the app or doordash & I have received someone else’s order with a different name & it says it was for Uber eats. I ordered from the app today & got the wrong order so I went through the online chat from the app & it gave me a free entree. I couldn’t even use that to get my food delivered because the app makes you spend a minimum of $10 for delivery. I ordered pick up instead. When I went to pick up my food they gave me the order that my doordasher had not picked up & it had been sitting for an hour. I was explaining the situation to one of the workers and how my doordash messed up & brought me the wrong one so I should have a new order that had just been in for like 15mins as I am talking to one guy a girl finds my new order & hands it to me & interrupts my explanation and says “bye have a nice day”. I wasn’t being rude or even blaming the employees I just wanted my new order because there was guac in it & I didn’t want guac that was sitting for an hour. When I got my new order I asked do I just keep the old one & the guy I was talking to said “yeah well we’re not gonna eat it” & so I walked away & said “we’ll me either”. This location is usually busy during lunchtime so I would have expected this if it was like that but there wasn’t a line when I walked in & the employees were just standing & talking to each other. Also I thought my DoorDasher had messed up & grabbed the wrong order themselves but when I went to get mine all of the pick up & to go orders were behind the counter so to me it seems like the chipotle workers did not put in enough effort to hand out the right order. I am not one to write reviews & I’ve worked in a restaurant before so I know mistakes happen but their customer service...