Chipotle Mexican Grill — Restaurant in Saint Petersburg

To whom it may concern,

I am writing to share feedback regarding a deeply disappointing experience I had while picking up a to-go order Sunday evening at 5:45 p.m October 5th.

My goal in providing this detailed account is to help the owner address serious operational gaps that risk damaging the business's reputation & customer loyalty.

Details of the Incident: Upon arriving at the counter for my pre-placed to-go order, I observed only a couple of people in line, with approximately five crew members present. Unfortunately, only one employee appeared to be actively engaged in customer-facing work, while the others frequently disappeared or seemed disengaged.

Extended Wait for a Prepared Order: I waited patiently at the counter for 10 minutes before a staff member near the drive-thru window finally acknowledged me. After I stated I was there for a to-go order, he disappeared, only to return five minutes later & begin preparing a new order.

Negligence in Order Fulfillment: After a total waiting time of 20 minutes, a different staff member approached & she asked what I was waiting for. When I inquired about my order, noting that others who arrived after me had already received their food; she checked the back. She discovered that my to-go order had been ready & bagged the entire time.

The most concerning aspect is that the first staff member who attempted to "help" intentionally ignored the completed order, which was clearly visible to him, opting instead to begin preparing a new order. This inefficient & dismissive behavior caused a completely unnecessary 20-minute delay & significant frustration.

I wish this was the end of the review but there is still more. The lobby cleanliness was non non-existent with the dining room floor / tables notably dirty. There was a lack of basic utensils, no napkins, & depleted or empty hot sauce options.

By the time I arrived to my destination with the order it was incorrect. I was given someone else's order that shared the same first name but a different last name. Had to throw the order in the trash.

This dining facilities cleanliness is not conducive to a positive guest experience nor the lack of customer service. I sincerely hope that the owner will review the surveillance footage from this time to address the specific behaviors of the crew members involved.

My desire is to see this location succeed. Taking immediate action to reinforce team accountability, focus on efficient service (especially for pre-paid orders), & ensure basic cleanliness standards are met will be critical to this location retaining it's customer base.

Thanks for taking the time to review these resolvable...

It started with me ordering my meal on your app over an hour in advance. Ordered it for a 7pm pick up. I pulled into the drive home line at 6:55pm and there was a black jeep waiting in front of the window for their order. Not a single employee came up to the window until 7:30pm and took multiple times to get the order correct for the person in front of me. Finally when I pull up (30 mins after my pick up time) my order was given to me. I asked for it to be remade due to the wait because I didn’t want my order cold and the employee at the window replied. It’s not cold it’s still fine and gave it to me. I was upset at the response but was frustrated with the wait time so I accepted my order that had been sitting for 30+ mins. When checking the bag, none of the items on the side (salsa, sour cream, dressings) were in the bag, along with the chips and guacamole I had paid for. When asking the employee for the rest of my order, he grabbed my bag back rudely and took it to the back and brought it back 5 minutes later with the missing items. Not sure why he has to take it to be back to add those items. He could have left my order up front and brought the missing items out.

Upon arriving home, both my meals ordered were indeed cold like I was worried about and the quality and quantity of my order was terrible to say the least. There was barely any meat and there was more than 2x the regular rice in the bowls to make them feel heavier. Everyone in the restaurant was sitting around and waiting frustrated. The staff making food were rude as can be and wouldn’t acknowledge anyone waiting either at the window or the front register. I live less than 5 mins away from this restaurant and will never return. This is not the first bad experience I’ve had at this location but this was the straw that broke the camels back. I never complain on google and leave bad reviews but this was downright embarrassing for a corporate establishment like this. If you read the rest of the reviews for this location, it looks like almost everyone has had the same crappy experience.

DO BETTER CHIPOTLE. you need corporate quality control to make a stop at...

So the only person working hard was this wonderful sweet lady Amylea Collins she was basicly working alone, taking care of the inside along with a guy on the grill. There was a second fill station i assume for online orders but Amy was basically cleaning up stocking and fulfilling everyone's orders inside she was super nice told us about the new chicken honey Chipotle for tomorrow apparently we came on the wrong day need to come back tomorrow the poor thing was working so hard by her self there was 2 guys just standing around talking then another girl came up front to ring us up but amylea I asked her name so I could write about how wonderful she was she was smiling and making everyone happy and people were upset at the long line out the door we waited a long time but it wasn't by anymeans her fault she was working double time trying to get eveyones order done this is the first time visiting this new spot for her alone we will come back I usually don't come back to places when I see people standing around not working because it means they don't clean well either but she was putting in the effort for at least 3 people march 6 at 10pm and now I have to come back and try the new chicken honey thing tomorrow she made it sound so good. You should definitely give her employee of the month and a pay raise for having to work alone it was really busy to not have enough employees it's going to cost u customers in the long run because u usually only get ur first impression once thanks to amylae u will get a second shot from us. For some reason, it reminded me of a sabaros pizza from newyork Pizza Joint, not a Chipotle, but we will see. We usually go to the north side to go to Chipotle. Happy we stopped in tonight, all tips for the night should go to Miss Collins. Hope she sticks around this will be our new favorite place...