Chipotle Mexican Grill — Restaurant in Lacey

I normally really enjoy Chipotle but had never been to this location. My family was passing through and decided to grab dinner. The store was not busy (one customer eating, one walking out with food as we walked in). There were four employees gathered around the table behind the counter that gave a weak greeting as we entered. One came to start taking our order while the other three stood around. One of them was chopping something but the other two were not doing anything.

Typically Chipotle is a clean and pleasant restaurant. The counter near the ingredients was filthy. Many of the ingredient bins were empty. The worker went to the back to get meat for my burrito because they didn't even have it on the line. The guacamole was clearly getting old and starting to brown. The sour cream was nearly empty and watery. The ingredients were scattered about the line and mixed in other containers. Again, it was filthy.

While one employee made my food (slowly), my wife stood and waited while the others stood around talking. As he rolled my burrito, toppings oozed out and got on the counter. He continued to roll it and the foil was covered in sour cream and guacamole that was on the counter. He didn't switch the wrap or wipe it off and the burrito was barely covered with a gap showing along the crease. Finally another employee came to the register and pulled an aluminum tray from under the counter to put our food on. The tray was visibly damaged and dirty with dried guacamole on it. This was the final straw and my wife said she didn't want to eat there. I paid for the one item and we left.

I would not recommend THIS Chipotle and will...

Well, hmm? I was shocked by how small the portions were today. I made mention of this to the staff, hoping it was simply a new-guy-didn't-know situation. I was told they had been instructed to reduce portions because they're losing money and the added caveat that 4 people have been fired for large portion serving already. So I was bummed about that. I also ordered some chips and queso blanco. The chips were fairly stale and you can see from the picture just how little cheese was provided for $4.50; about 2.5 tablespoons. I came home and monitored how many dips I got for my 4.50. 12 dips. I have been to a lot of chipotle all over the country and I have never been served this little for my money. I'm not sure if it's a new corporate change, or just this local management responding to local economics. What I am sure of is that I will not be going back. I'll try another one about 10 minutes south and see if it's the same deal as here. If so, I would have to say chipotle is off the menu for the price point. Also, the food is always salty, but today was extra salty. Maybe it was the change in portions relative to the miniscule amount of rice I was served. The second photo shows one corner of my bowl that was completely missing food. I'm used to these things brimming. That's why I repeat. It's half my daily...

The food was great, the service quick, and the place was packed. This was my first trip to a Chipotle restaurant and as I walked in I noticed it to be crowded with a line of people waiting to order. To the crew's credit. They handled the rush really well. Orderly and efficiently. However. This being my first time in and the fact that there was an overwhelmingly number of people in there, that was their customer service downfall. My initial employee was nice and polite, the part that I didn't find attractive was that she spoke very fast. So fast in fact, that I had to ask her to repeat things a few times. I felt kind of like I was in the middle of the infamous Soup Nazi episode of Seinfeld. I wasn't familiar with the menu or the ordering process so I felt rushed through without explanations of options or explanation of menu items. After I made it through and paid, I chose to take my haul and eat it back at the job sight since I wasn't going to find a spot to eat it there. All in all, i enjoyed the food and I will not only be back, but will recommend it to others. I would just slow down a tad. Kudos for trying to speed things up to accommodate everyone in a timely manner, however you never know who might not have been a guest before and may just need a little extra care and...