Chipotle Mexican Grill — Restaurant in Birmingham

I had an unfortunate and awful experience here today. I ordered online for a pick up to be ready at 1:20 PM. At 1:45 the order was still not ready and I inquired if I was standing in the right place or if it was DoorDash orders only. The woman was super rude but she looked up my order and said that it would be ready in a few minutes. Another gentleman was also waiting for a very long time and we watched everyone go through the line and get their food before us. We made a comment to each other that it would’ve been faster to go through the line than to do a pick up order. The rude woman overheard us and started yelling that we could go into the line if that’s what we wanted to do and I let her know I had already been charged for my food. She told me I can still go through the line so that’s what I did to have my food made. Someone was very nice and trying to help get my food made through the regular line and a young guy came up to me telling me that my food was already made and I needed to go back to the pick up line. I went back to the pick up line and there was no one there to help and I waited there for another 10 minutes. So I went back into the line for a second time and now my order is over 30 minutes delayed and I have just been sitting in this restaurant watching everyone leave with their lunch. The nice woman in the main line made my order and as I was leaving the young guy approached me again telling me that I had forced him to waste food because I had it prepared for me in the line. I really cannot believe the horrible service here and I don’t know the last time I was yelled at by someone in a restaurant let alone to then have a very young shift leader come to me and try to give me a talking to as I’m just trying to leave. This is a mile from my house but I’m literally never going in...

This is the worst chipotle I’ve ever been to. It’s in a prime downtown location and has a huge opportunity to be great, but they severely miss the mark every time. We’ve averaged about 1x/week here and are never 100% satisfied. We’re going to Taco Mama from now on. Detailed feedback below…

Extremely slow! Most recently, we were one of 5 people in the line and should have gotten through in 5 mins or less, but the visit took 25 mins. They seem to prioritize the online orders, but even so I’ve seen loads of people frustrated, waiting for their pickup orders every time we go in.

Out of everything! Not once has this store had all the ingredients available at the same time. They are always out of 2-3 items either adding to the wait or forcing us to forego the guac. Seems like a result of poor inventory management/prep and very little motivation for staff to keep up. On this last visit, they were out of guac on the in-store line but had it on the online prep line. No one wanted to make any new guac, and they “weren’t allowed to grab it from the online prep line” so they literally made us do a separate order for guac online. Seriously.

The staff (outside of one woman I’ve engaged with) are cold, unwelcoming, and extremely apathetic. Constantly making customers feel bad for asking for anything. They don’t speak clearly and get mad when you decide to add something to your order at the register. No smiles, no thank yous, no upselling. Can’t blame only the employees, as this most certainly starts with management and establishing the right culture/process.

Absolute nightmare here and hope they can get it together so we don’t have to drive to Vestavia everytime we...

The food was good. But, that is its.

The way they slopped the food in bowl was not something I’d solely give a bad review for. It was just the first thing in noticed.

When you go in a place that has great service you notice. When you go in one that doesn’t, you also notice. What are the things you notice about? Bad service is that the staff tends to be more focused on their own personal conversations and interactions than on what they’re doing for the customer. That was certainly the case here.

Something you notice about good services the way people greet you when you come in the door, when you engage with them, and when they begin to take your order. Places with bad service do what this place is, virtually ignore your existence. eventually, ask you what you want simply because they have to provide that.

When you go in a Chick-fil-A, you’ll see exactly the opposite of everything you’ll see in this place. You can tell Chick-fil-A trains their staff to focus on the customer. I’m not sure these people had any training.

Another thing I began to notice as I looked around, was the disgusting condition of the restaurant. The pictures don’t give a good idea of this. There was trash on the floor. The drink machine was broken. The condiment station was a mess. The trash was flowing out of the garbage can.

Oh, and, they were out of chips at 7:15 PM.

I don’t mind spending money on food that is good. I travel quite frequently and eat well. So, with that in mind, I have a hard time thinking this particular food experience is...