Chipotle Mexican Grill: It’s Fresh!

A burrito’s, a burrito, right? Not when it’s made the way you like it. That’s the idea behind Chipotle Mexican Grill. Fast food done to your order.

The menu is simple, burritos, tacos, salads and burrito bowls. You choose the meat and fillings. Easy, but the choices all look so good.

On my first trip I chose a fajita burrito with barbacoa, shredded beef braised with chipotle adobo, cumin, cloves, garlic and oregano. I added rice, fresh tomato salsa, roasted chili-corn salsa, sour cream and plenty of cheese. I honestly don’t know how the servers roll the burritos up but they do. They’re huge.

I really liked the spicy barbacoa, cooled with the sour cream and cheese. The roasted chili-corn salsa was sweet and hot. There is one problem with the burritos, they tend to have all the ingredients in pockets. Each bite yields all rice or all cheese, I like a bit of all the ingredients in each bite. So on my next trip I decided to try a burrito bowl.

Rice, pinto beans, chicken, fresh tomato salsa, roasted chili-corn salsa, sour cream, lots of cheese and lettuce was layered in a shallow biodegradable bowl. With each bite I was able to taste a sum of the whole instead of bits and bobs. The chicken is marinated in chipotle adobe sauce and then grilled, very flavorful. I liked this presentation much better.

Chipotle also offers steak, carnitas and vegetarian fillings. With the fajita burrito sautéed onions and bell peppers are substituted for the beans.

There are three locations in the Pasadena area: South Lake at 246 S. Lake Avenue, Hastings Ranch at 3409 Foothill Boulevard, and La Canada at 895 Foothill Boulevard. Prices are reasonable around $8.00 for your choice of meat and fillings, except guacamole which is about $1.50 extra. If you want chips and salsa that will cost more as well. For more information check out their website at www.chipotle.com.