Chipotle Mexican Grill — Restaurant in Town of Glenville

Take those other 1 star reviews with a grain of salt.

I got to tell ya, I was worried. I read all about how terrible the service was, the dirty restaurant, and the poor proportions. So I prepared for the worst, but instead what I got was quick and friendly service, a deliciously large meal, and a pretty clean overall experience.

I came in around 4:00PM to find the place totally empty, but the staff was attentive and ready. Put in an order for a burrito and chips with queso. The burrito came out pretty big, stuffed with brown rice, chicken, pinto beans, queso, fajita veggies, cheese, sour cream, and lettuce. I was half expecting to need and request double meat given the other reviews I have read, but that was most certainly not the case here.

Back home my suspicious about how big the burrito was were proven, reminding me of the old Bomber's burritos one could find in Schenectady. And the taste was perfection, cheesy, meaty, and a consistency that was both soft to bite into but not a mess to bite off. Full marks.

Now the bag of chips, when I opened them, looked pretty disappointing. I've seen Lays chip bags that were more full, but the thing I did not account for was that the chips are small and so you get more chips but with far less square footage. This means you'll be dipping into the queso less often per chip, so the number of chips match pretty well with the cup of queso they sell. Speaking of which, the queso is very different from what you might normally expect. It is less cheesy and sharp, and more creamy and milky. Likely the "white" part of the queso bit is the difference, but it still has a good spiciness to it.

Overall I was expecting far less then I got, and what I got...

Are you kidding me? We ordered two burrito bowls (regular toppings and extras) for delivery, because hubby had a "craving" for Mexican and snubbed my offer of freshly-roasting some buttermilk-soaking chicken thighs. The price was $30 (!!!) so we were expecting it to at least look like it did on the menu. Um, no. There were two "bowls" in the bag and 2 plastic forks. No napkins, no nothing. Okay, fine, we're home, so we have napkins and real silverware.

Then...wait for it...we open each bowl and there is NOTHING and I mean NOTHING in either bowl except for a few ounces of mystery meat smeared in the bottom of each bowl. No rice/beans/salsa/guac/NOTHING that we ordered & paid for! It smelled sort of okay, but it looked like dog food. In fact, the cat hopped up on the counter, probably lured by the smell, took one look, then jumped back down. I have added a photo so you can see what we got.

Hubby filed for a refund and will try to convert this atrocity into nachos so at least we have some food, but I am skeptical. He's a master at all things ethnic and we have the requisite sauces, etc, but I'm betting those buttermilk roasted chicken thighs don't sound so bad now,...

The food was okay. Nothing special at all. The prices would have been fair if the food had been excellent but given the quality it was extremely overpriced. One thing I expected them to get right were the chips but even they were stale and chewy in the center.

The queso was good, as you would expect. (But then the chips should have been too.) For some reason I thought the sign said it came with the chips when I got the big bag but I paid for both. Maybe I read it wrong.

You do have to be careful. A lot of things cost extra and they don't make it entirely obvious as to which things those are. In fact, the servers will recommend the things that cost extra, not mentioning the extra charge.

Overall it was an overpriced, uncomfortable experience for food that was perfectly edible but not particularly enjoyable.

Let me be clear, the food wasn't bad. (Except for the chips.) However, frozen microwaved Mexican food is the gauge I'm using to define "bad" here. Chipotle didn't sink to that level. On the other hand, when I make Mexican at home it's much better than what I got at Chipotle. I expect more from...