Chipotle Mexican Grill — Restaurant in Newington

You would think that a basic order of 4 chips and salsa would not be a takeout disaster but alas...this Chipotle and then their online customer service proved me wrong. I placed my online order for chips and salsa for pick up around 45 mins later. When I arrive to pick up at the shelf there's no order for me--okay I'm right on time so maybe they just did not get it together yet right? WRONG! I stepped into line and waited for the customer ahead of me to make their order and when asked what I ordered I let the woman know that I was picking up but I did not see my order of 4 chips. She looks at me and says "oh...that's because we are out of chips" I'm giving her a blank at this point and she then looks at her co-worker next to her and asks "that's right? We're out of chips?" I stand there looking at my phone to see if there was some kind of notification (there was not) I ask "okay so the order will get refunded with...?" The first lady pipes up with "you will have to contact customer service to have them refund you." No biggie--I can do this except the entire attitude of these two was so nonchalant that the fact that a paying customer just drove to pick up an order that could not be fulfilled and no one thought there was a problem...or even that it warranted a simple "apology for the inconvenience" was irksome so I contacted customer service regarding this and my refund. Think everything went smoothly with that? NOPE!

A little background involving me and anything to do with chips and salsa from Chipotle...this is not the first time that either they were completely out or did not bother giving me the chips I paid for as part of a bigger order. It is a running joke between me and my friends on whether I will get chips or not because there nearly always seems to be an issue. I say it's a joke because I can just chalk it up to bad luck and timing or the fact that they are human and it's something easily resolved for the most part.

Now moving into the customer service part of the story. Dear Mike was the fortunate gent to assist me and he was apologetic and quick to offer up 4 free chips and guacamole along with my refund. This is good yes? Well sure if you like guac which I do not, so I ask the question of can it be salsa instead? It's not like I am asking for a lot right? Well, little did I know that by asking that simple question the result would be a full stop on the 4 free chips and guacamole. Of course, I did not realize this until today when I checked my original email from Mike where he said the chips had been placed in my Rewards. So I look and hmmm...nothing there other than 100 points (yep...not even a plain chip order amount). So I emailed Mike again and asked if I was looking in the wrong place. He then proceeded to inform me that he CANCELLED the chips and guacamole when I said I did not eat guacamole. No confirmation with me or anything--just an immediate cancellation without notice. So I pointed out to him I still would have eaten the chips (I am relatively easy...I can eat chips without salsa or anything else (except guac)for that matter) and asked if it could be added back on. He responds with sorry once the order is refunded we cannot do anything.

So in conclusion--there is a clearly Chipotle conspiracy preventing me from having an issue-free order with chips and salsa because not only can I not get it from my local store as part of an order...I also cannot get it when it's meant to be a replacement for Chipotle not having the courtesy to let their customer know that the order...

I’d like to start by saying, I like Chipotle. Always have. As someone who has traveled across the country for work, I have frequented Chipotle locations abound. I also worked for years in food service, studied culinary arts and hospitality, and have run distribution centers for 20 years.

That said, I have never had a good experience at this Chipotle. The staff is disorganized. They are more concerned with socializing, than servicing their customers. As a leader, I am not bound to a “30-minute” lunch per se’, but I am also a person who wants to get lunch, with little inconvenience, but the last four times I have been here, that has not been the case.

The atmosphere is cringey and prison vibeish. Every table is dirty. The front door doesn’t work. Trash cans are overflowing, half the utensils are missing, and a glass bottle of coke doesn’t even come with a, “would you like that opened?”. This is at 12:45pm, lunch, most likely a Chipotle “rush hour.” Seriously? The place looks like it was unprepared and is a pig pen.

The food in traditional Chipotle form, is good. Typical of what you’d expect. I noticed the line staff sliding customer burrito shells repeatedly across the stainless edge in front of the bain marie. Kinda disgusting. Then, someone with a wet rag sporadically wiped off parts. Was it clean, disinfected, meeting sanitary standards? I’d like to hope so, but what I saw, wasn’t giving me any optimism. So, I got a bowl.

Summary. Whoever is running the shift needs to get their act together. Train and staff the team on the line, have someone clean for God sake, teach the team the importance of game time periods and preparing before and cleaning up after, and getting them to understand that the customers are the reason they have jobs.

Oh, and they were only taking card, or exact change. The icing on the cake. Thanks for every possible inconvenience.

I don’t really recommend it. It’s...

I came in to order a take out meal about two and half hours prior to closing time. The young man that prepped my meal listed everything they were out of again a few hours before closing. I ask if the chicken I can see is all that’s left. The young man says he needs to check to see if the extra is for his manager. He comes back and I’m able to get some of that chicken. I order the rest of my meal based on what they have. I want to order chips and queso but one of the things he listed was chips. I looked over at the register and there were about six bags of chips sitting there. I looked over at the online order area and there were around 20 bags sitting there. I asked the young man if all of the bags of chips are empty and he said no, and that they have to hold them for any online orders that come in. I asked if he could ask his manager if I could purchase one as I am in the store and am purchasing. Another young man came out and said that I could not have the chips due to their corporate policy. Now usually I’m not one to make a fuss over food but this policy is not appropriate. No customer should see items they would like to order and cannot order them because they are on hold for potential (not pre-ordered) online orders that may come in. Also, the store shouldn’t be out of half the items and reserving other items at 7:30 when you close at 10. Absolutely escalating this. The kids working here are polite but the policy is unacceptable. The one by Westfarms...