Chipotle Mexican Grill — Restaurant in South Portland

Before going here, pause and ask yourself, "Do I want to spend my hard earned dollars for my day to become objectively worse?"

Come with me on a short literary journey through the apathetic realm in which this Chipotle exists.

1.) Upon entering, the first deficiency to catch your gaze will be a sea of filthy table tops and food on the dining area floor. Not just a little dirty... No... Something far worse. Something reminiscent of early trench warfare.

2.) When stepping up to order, you will be met by a team of workers who remain completely silent. As if they were monks sworn to a life of quiet reflection. There is no "What type of meat would you like?" or "Any guac?". Just a silent conveyor belt of burrito assembly while you half dictate/half question your order into the void of expressionless workers.

3.) The assembly style of the aforementioned burrito can only be described as some sort of cruel culinary joke. Layered and rolled in such a fashion that each bite is filled with only one single ingredient. One full bite of guac, then cheese, then sauce, then meat. Which leads me to the next point.

4.) The meat.... It simultaneously tasted burnt AND like dish soap. In a twisted sense, this was a surprise since I was certain there was no soap or cleaning supplies at this location. (see point 1)

5.) If you think that at least you can seek culinary refuge in the predictable taste of a fountain beverage, think again. On a hand scratched note on a crumpled/dirty piece of paper, the sign said "No cups available at this time".

6.) Now that it's time to pay, there will be one final surprise. Exact change only or card. Understandable really... Why on earth would a food establishment that tenders hundreds of transactions per day have change.

7.) After a few bites, I placed the remainder of my meal onto the teetering mound of rubbish spilling out of the trash can.

8.) My wife for some reason wished to take hers home with her. Perhaps for coyote bait. I wade my way through the filth to the counter one last time to ask for a lid to for the container. I was met by a blank stare. I kindly repeat my request. Nothing... Not so much as an eye twitch. Another employee comes forward, and attempts to explain that the original employee does not speak English. This is fine, out here earning an honest living. However, after this explanation, the second employee cant compute my request for a lid. As if the motor in her head was spinning, but the teeth were stripped off the gears.

I receive my lid and leave the establishment. My demeanor is composed of equal parts confusion, anger, and sadness. Our once great country has fallen short of another basic metric.

Anyways.... I'd...

One of the worst experiences I've ever had at a restaurant. First, the girl behind the counter at the front of the line didn't say a word to me, just gave me a death glare as I waited for her to ask me what I wanted, or say anything at all to me, for that matter. So after a very awkward few seconds, I asked for a burrito. After scraping some fried vegetables that had congealed into a nasty cold brown paste onto a tortilla, she slid it down to the next worker. She asked if I wanted lettuce - I asked if i could get some beans first? She looked over at the first girl who immediately barked at me that she had asked if I wanted any and that I said no, which again, was not true, as again, she hasn't said a word to me up until this point. She then made a scene of scooping the literal bottom of the bin beans onto this diaster of a burrito. After that, the other woman finished making it and I paid for it against my better judgement. I took one bite and it was like biting into a salt shaker mixed with congealed, cold and absolutely terrible veggies and beans. I threw the rest in the trash. The only reason I didn't ask for a manager or my money back is that the customer line was huge and I didn't want to waste the time of all of the people waiting for their food.

I usually don't leave reviews, especially ones this long, but this was an absolutely horrible experience. It's one thing to be served cold food that's been sitting long enough that it's gained the consistency of gelatin, and is absolutely loaded with sodium, and that has been sitting for hours, but it's another thing to be treated with outright hostility on top of that. Additionally, the place was trashed with dirty tables and other signs of neglect all over the place. I would leave zero stars if I could.

UPDATE: I originally left this review on Thursday, March 21st for the wrong location, so I am reposting it here for accuracy's sake. A Chipotle representative reached out to me to try and "make things right", but so far that has consisted of giving me the runaround as I repeatedly request a refund, only to be offered BOGO coupons or free entrees instead. I would have to be a fool to accept that and willingly return to this place, or any other location for that matter. This restaurant should be closed immediately and Chipotle upper management should be ashamed of themselves for letting any location get this bad. I know it's fast food, but...

7/19/25 Update My wife is an eternal optimist when it comes to Chipotle—bless her heart—so we decided to give it another whirl. She keeps insisting, "They were amazing before COVID!" and I'm starting to think she might be romanticizing the past.

Tonight's adventure featured what I can only describe as a "burrito softball"—a perfectly round creation that defied both physics and common sense. For those keeping track at home, burritos are traditionally rolled into a cylindrical shape, which has the magical property of being easily cut in half. This innovative spherical approach made sharing about as straightforward as dividing a basketball with a plastic knife. Our burrito builders seemed to be channeling some serious Monday energy (it was a Saturday), crafting this burrito ball with the enthusiasm of someone folding laundry. Must have been the end of a 12-hour shift.

The ingredient distribution was... creative, everything separated instead of spread evenly. I ended up with what appeared to be all the cheese and corn, while my wife scored the jackpot of rice and meat. It was like opening a surprise gift, except instead of excitement, there was mostly confusion about how to actually eat the thing.

The atmosphere had that authentic "bustling urban eatery" vibe—music pumping at a volume just a few notches too loud, messy tables telling stories of meals past, and outside, the local seagull population was hosting what looked like their own version of a food festival with trash bags all over the ground by the dumpster.

After tonight's geometric food experiment, even my eternally optimistic wife has officially thrown in the napkin. We're breaking up with Chipotle—it's not us, it's definitely them. Time to give up and just drive further to that Mexican place we love over the bridge in South Portland. They make burritos in recognizable shapes and the seagulls aren't part of the dining experience.

Farewell, Chipotle. We'll always have... well, actually, we'd rather not remember.

*"

5 PM? Maybe close to closing? No steak, no white rice, we got the last of the brown rice. Chipotle used to be a favorite of our family but has seemed to go downhill. We rarely go anymore because we've had bad luck here and in Westbrook too. Kind of bummed about it. The service was excellent though and the woman making our order was...