Well, ya know what? Hope that 10% savings really helped you. Because between diminishing portions, diminishing quality, raised prices, and health issues from contaminated food over the years, I've stopped going. Like, completely. Used to get it once a week or so. Now I haven't had it since before the pandemic.

And I'm not the only one. My local chipotle in 2005 would have a line wrapped out the door, and down the plaza to 2 shops down. Just a continuous line, at all times, and you KNEW it'd be 45 minutes before you get your food.

Now most of the time when I walk by, I'll glance inside and see no line at all. I could walk right in, and order. No waiting. I COULD do that.....but still no.

When chipotle first started the lines where long and the food was good. Their process flow was optimized for the constant stream of customers.

They had a large staff of people for the size of the restaurant so people had dedicated jobs with a few who spent all day cleaning.

They were always way under on their holding times for the food. They separated people handling hot and cold ingredients and the till.

From a foodborne pathogen aspect it was a really safe place to eat.

Then they overbuilt, increased their prices and lost quality control. Their customer flow started declining. With the decrease in customers, food was pushing holding times, crews were reduced so more cross-contamination occured, and cleaning fell way behind.

Today Chipotle can be referred to as "shitpotle" as the probability of foodborne disease is pretty much guaranteed.

I wonder how bad their financials are if the CEO is publicly speaking out about this problem.

Chipotle used to be my favorite restaurant, but the last time I ate there was probably 2019. It just stopped being worth the effort of trying to get a full bowl.

If it was just 10% of restaurants skimping a little, the effect would not be nearly enough to show up on quarterly financials. The fact that he addresses this at all, and the fact that it is big enough to show up on financials, shows that it is a significant company-wide issue. I also note the weasel word, over 10%. That could mean 100%. My guess is the vast majority if not all of their locations were skimping, because corporate told them to. And now suddenly they realize they lost customer good will, and a lot of people just stopped going. It probably shows up in focus groups, if enough people said I used to eat Chipotle but they started skipping on portions so I don't go there anymore, they realized they lost people. And an announcement like this is necessary because those customers aren't going back to the store and won't see the larger portion.

There's also zero reason for me to ever set foot in a Chipotle when we've two different local chains, one primarily sit-down and one primarily food truck-based, offering broader menus, safer food, and better food - along with all the miscellaneous one-offs that one would expect in a city of any size.

(Shout-out to Moe's, for anybody in Chambana!)

This, but Qdoba.

There used to be a place in the town where I grew up that advertised "burritos as big as your head," but they did not take large-headed people like myself into account. The burrito was smaller than my head.

At least those folks get some food. The chipotle near me tells people to order online and then does nothing until hours after the food was due and people complain.

ceo is subscribed to penguinz0

I don't eat at Chipotle but I respect the CEO for admitting it.

The food is always ice cold too.

Tip for chipotle: just order the kids meal, you get two tacos, chips, and a drink for less than $6 after tax.