Chipotle Mexican Grill- Now in Vancouver :D

Chipotle Mexican Grill is a chain located in the states, UK, France, and now Canada. They opened their first ever Vancouver location on Dec 13th and the response so far has been viral!

The restaurant is located a block away from the Vancouver City Centre skytrain station so it is incredibly convenient for commuters taking public transit.

I went during lunch time and I thought the space was well lit, spacious, and didn't feel like a fast food joint.

I grabbed one of their menus at the front which details everything you need to know on how to order. You can select from a Burrito, Fajita Burrito (beans are replaced by sauteed peppers and onions), Burrito Bowl, Tacos, or Salad.

And then, your meats! They are all the same price which makes it easier to choose. I wanted to try Barbacoa which is shredded braised beef but in the end, I settled with steak for my salad.

Your salsas are last and you can choose from mild to hot.

They had a person at every station so the lineup was moving quite fast. However, there was only one cash register so most of the waiting was done there. I think if they introduced a few more cash registers, they could get through the lineups a lot faster because the lineups when I went were out the door!

Look at all the delicious meat. :D

The one on the right is a mild fresh tomato salsa and the one on the far left is a medium corn salsa. The ones in between those two were really spicy so I stayed clear of those. By the way, if you want guacamole with your burrito, you have to pay $2.21 extra.

Ta-da! What you see here is my Steak Salad ($8.95) with Black Beans, Tomato and Corn Salsa, Sour Cream, Cheese, and more Lettuce. On the right is a Steak Burrito Bowl ($8.95) with Pinto Beans, Tomato Salsa, Sour Cream, Cheese, Guacamole, and Lettuce. We also ordered a Chips & Guacamole ($3.30) and a Pop ($1.85)

I gotta say, when I first saw the plate, I thought it looked a bit small for the price. But the staff started piling more and more on, and in the end, my salad was pretty gigantic.

All of their ingredients are local and organic which I very much appreciate. You could actually taste the freshness of each ingredient and nothing look or tasted preserved. If you get the salad, I would definitely recommend the steak as it goes beautifully together not to mention the steak is tender and very flavourful. I would have preferred a little grill or char on the corn to m bring out even more flavour but that's just my two cents.

Unger's Burrito bowl looked a bit smaller than mine probably because he lacked the airy veggies on the bottom. With his burrito bowl, he gets a scoop of cilantro lime rice (your choice of white or brown) instead. He did mention that his scoop of rice was quite puny but I guess it will happen depending on which person you get at the rice/bean station.

The sole purpose of getting the Chips & Guac was not because I was still hungry after the salad, I got it just to taste how delicious their guacamole is... and boy was it AWESOME!! I honestly have no clue what they put into it but it was really delicious. Their chips were freshly fried too which was great.

They also have unsweetened ice tea at the station if you want something not carbonated. I got this after my meal and it was a good palate cleanser.

Overall, I had a great time at Chipotle and judging by the mile long lineups at lunch time, I think a lot of people feel the same way. Their ingredients are fresh, the prices are pretty reasonable for the most part, and it is so close to the skytrain station that it is almost impossible not to have this as your go-to place whenever you want a quick bite to eat.

Service Rating: 4/5
Food Rating: 3.5/5
Price: $-$$ (< $20)

Overall Rating: 3.5/5

Happy Eating!

courtesy of http://thefw.com/chipotle-rip-off/