Chipotle Mexican Grill — Restaurant in Sebring

I'm writing this more as a heads up to whoever goes here or orders online, as I've had it 3 times now and every time there's some kind of issue. First time was a few days after opening, so I gave the situation some leniency. The employee told me I couldn't order a kids quesadilla because it was only online. I told her I definitely could as it's on their menu and I've ordered it at plenty of other stores. She refused until an off duty employee behind me told her she could. I just assumed it was due to the fact that these people only had 5 days or less of training prior to opening (I was told this by an employee). Of course when I got the kids meal, the cheese was not melted at all (which is an issue at every chipotle that they haven't seemed to fix yet). Portion size was horrible for the burrito, not even a full scoop, I had to keep asking for more rice/salsa/corn etc. I get to the register and she tells her I got guac, double meat, and queso... When I didn't lol. I had to correct her and tell her I got the bare minimum and only asked for extras that don't cost more. Second time I ordered in the app.. one chicken and one steak burrito. The chicken burrito was huge, the steak burrito was less than half the size for like $4 extra. Argued with the chat representative in the app and they refused to refund the burrito on my card and threw a free entre on my app (which required me to return to get the most out of my "refund") and ended the conversation with me. I decided a few weeks later to try 1 more time.. I ordered tonight in the app and when I got to the window they said they had no chips left so my option was either extra tortillas (what would I use that for), extra sauce, or another drink. I said I would get a refund despite knowing how difficult it was the first time. I get home and the burritos were decent size (because I put extra rice), but there was barely any chicken, no corn salsa- if there was any it was not noticable (I put extra), barely any sour cream (I put extra), no fajita veggies AT ALL, and barely any salsa. I was not made aware of anything else being out besides chips. I also had a huge tomato stem in my burrito that made me lose my appetite. I just don't get it. Honestly at this point you couldn't pay me to go back, and that upsets me. I love chipotle and was so excited for this to open here. I was planning on being a regular customer. I won't continue to waste my money on an establishment that can't compete with other Chipotle's, and a corporation that bullies you in the online chat and refuses refunds for items that were not worth the money they charge, or that they were out of. Instead they give you a free entre which requires you to go back to the restaurant and/or spend more money there. If you do go here, go inside and make sure you get what you want. If you order online they will make it without things that they maybe don't have at the moment and...

First of all: I love reading negative reviews, its fascinating isn't it? Well many that I've seen on here are invalid garbage. Let's discuss: The parking lot is a standard fast food chain parking lot. It's not designed to be bad or to hurt you like some reviewers claim. How irrational! It has handicapped parking up close, and a ramp for wheelchair access. There is an indoor and outdoor eating area. THERE IS NO DRIVE THRU!!!! NOPE NONE! It has a pick up window for ONLINE orders only. Of course you can always go inside the store to order and eat or take out food, as normal. The store is new, just opened as of this writing, so its still clean, except for the messes left by customers. The staff are pretty good at cleaning up after these rude customers as fast as they can. This is a small town, so when something new opens, everyone swarms the store all at once! Naturally, its been very busy, even online orders and waiting in long lines to get food could take an hour, as my experience did. The staff are all brand new, they are not seasoned and battle hardened veterans. They are not the best of the best, larger than life superheroes that cannot be shaken! Nope, they are brand new, fresh and raw recruits with a manager who is also brand new and a raw recruit. So whoever comes expecting a well oiled machine of food delivery, ask yourself if you could go in there and serve literally thousands of people without any experience or training. If the answer is yes, stop lying to yourself. That said, the food is fresh and delicious! The staff do sometimes forget things, or miss things. It will take them MANY WEEKS to finally get into a well trained groove. Complain about that all you like, its called inexperience, and it happens to everyone. You can even tell that the person in charge of making chips cam straight from a Mc Donalds, as they slated the chips the same way you would salt french fries! It's so silly, but like I said, its just inexperience. Eventually, in a few weeks when the traffic and buzz dies down, this will be a pricey, but delicious fast food place. Until then, expect long lines due to so many customers, and expect some accidental mistakes as they are all wet behind the ears. The same thing happened when we first got a Popeye's in town, the same with this, and the same will happen when we get a new...

Yea.. the comments on here are unfortunately fairly accurate for this location.

The dining room was kind of dirty.

'Food on the floor, tables with soda rings, rice & chips crumbs all over them. I guess you have to bus and clean your own tables? Also, there was a distinct human urine smell coming out of the Bathroom. It made the restaurant smell like a Hamster cage.'

The music was painfully loud 🔊.

'I had to put noise cancelling headphones 🎧 in to attempt to mute the sound & unfortunately I could still hear the lyrics to the music being played.'

The portions appear to be very small.

'I couldn't get much clarification on this one, from the staff or corporate. I guess they will find out what seems like a fair portion size when this franchisee owner goes out of business.'

Hygiene of staff needs attention.

'Upon giving my order the server started coughing all over the product into the rice and protein. Food temperatures doesn't seem to look consistent. Cross contamination through the make line can be seen.'

Staff was unprofessional and rude.

'Unable to give me simple answers about what is in the food i.e. salt, peanuts, vegan, etc. I see a potential lawsuit coming in the not too distant future at this location. Honestly, the staff seemed like they could care less. Like they were a volunteer at some kind of soup kitchen or something.'

Bad location, poorly designed parking lot.

'One thing that I'm sure many people have noticed is that this location doesn't have adequate parking. I guess it was an after thought when they chose this location. Also, getting into this location is a nightmare. The parking lot is only one way. Looks like they rushed to get this location up and running, and it shows in the design and staff management.'

Conclusion:

I am kind of shocked how poorly managed this restaurant is for only being open a few months. Unfortunately, this however seems to be a common theme in this area of Florida. Maybe corporate should consider paying higher wages and/or hire better qualified management. As for the staff, if you don't want to work there is always the option to sit at home and collect a government check. Most people in Highlands County do it.

That's said, I hope everyone enjoyed my review and please give it a thumbs 👍 if...