Chipotle Mexican Grill — Restaurant in San Diego

My daughter and I had a very unpleasant experience at the Chipotle location in Valley Center. When I ordered, some of the brown rice in my bowl was extremely hard to chew, causing discomfort and even hurting my teeth. It seemed like the rice had been left exposed to air for too long, causing it to become dehydrated and significantly smaller than the rest. Initially, I tried to overlook it, but as I continued to encounter rock-hard pieces, I couldn't ignore it any longer.I went to report the issue, but unfortunately, no one apologized or offered to replace my meal. I returned to my seat, hoping it was an isolated incident, but unfortunately, it happened again. At that point, I approached the counter to request a replacement for my bowl, which I had only eaten a small portion of. However, instead of understanding and helpful service, the manager (whom I later learned was the manager named Nick) displayed impatience and attitude towards me.Feeling frustrated and upset, I declined his service, disposed of my food, and requested his name and the customer service number before leaving. This experience left me extremely dissatisfied and disappointed with the level of service provided.

In addition to the unpleasant experience with the food and service quality, we were frustrated by several other factors. Firstly, the employee serving customers in front of us appeared disinterested and had a sour expression, which made us feel she wasn't the one who served us. Furthermore, we noticed that the tables were dirty, requiring us to clean them ourselves before placing our food down. These additional issues only added to our dissatisfaction with the...

I had a disappointing experience at this Chipotle today. Arriving around 11:30 AM, I found customers starting to back up to the door, with only a single employee working the main line. Meanwhile, three employees were handling the to-go section. After waiting & paying, I asked to speak with the manager, who happened to be one of the three preparing the to-go orders. I said, "You all look very busy, but you have a single employee on the main line, and three doing these others. For the people here in line, the optics don't look good." She responded, "We are late with these pick-up orders. Several other employees are on break and will help in a bit." Then, after a pause, she oddly added, "I know what I'm doing!" before turning around to resume her work.

It felt dismissive, and some empathy or acknowledgment of the 3:1 staffing ratio would have been appreciated. Instead, I felt my concern about customer equity was overlooked. Having worked as an expediter in fast food 20 years ago, I understand how hectic it can get, but I've never encountered a manager so hurried they didn't have time for more than a 10 second talk.

This isn't the first time I've noticed the to-go section being prioritized over in-person customers. The experience left me feeling like my business was of a lower priority.

I won't be returning to...

I used to eat at Chipotle 7 times a week — yes, you read that right. It was basically a food group in my life. Now? I go maybe once a month, and every time I leave frustrated.

Let’s start with the basics: the food is cold, the service is inconsistent, and somehow they’ve declared war on cilantro. There used to be a time when you could ask for a little extra cilantro and they’d toss it on with a smile. Now? It’s treated like a controlled substance.

When I politely asked for some extra cilantro, the manager hit me with a line I couldn’t make up if I tried: “We stopped doing that because it’s not clean.” What? How is it clean enough to put in the rice, but not clean enough to serve a sprinkle more? His follow-up logic: “The salt and lime kill the bacteria.” I asked him to just clean it better. He looked me in the eye and said, “There’s already plenty of cilantro in the white rice.” Then he looked at the actual rice… paused… and admitted, “You’re right. It looks like we could use more cilantro.”

So let me get this straight — the brand was built on cilantro and lime, and now you’ve abandoned both? No flavor, no consistency, no accountability.

Chipotle used to be a go-to. Now it’s a once-a-month mistake I keep making out of nostalgia. Get...