Raleigh Chipotle Location Determined

Kind of funny that the mostly McDonald’s owned Chipotle is replacing the Wendy’s owned Baja Fresh.
I went by there tonight and the construction crew has gutted the place to a totally empty shell – no bathroom plumbing, even! Amazing that they need to rip everything out.
It will be interesting to see how Chipotle and Salsa Fresh duke it out. We went to Salsa Fresh Friday and the place just isn’t as tight as it used to be. The walls are dirty, the corners of the floor need a good scrubbing, and nobody working spoka de English. If Chipotle is better than Moe’s and QDoba, I think it will be lights out for SF. We’ll see.

I’ve always observed that “location” isn’t as much of a factor in restaurants (unless it’s a fast food chain) as many people think it is.
If you got good food and a good reputation (and get the word out), people will come to you. Two Raleigh places come to mind: Angus Barn (in the middle of NO where!) and Humble Pie (surrounded by old warehouses long before the area became “trendy”).

WOO HOO!! I wonder if this one will open before the one in Chapel Thrill opens up. Regardless I’m going to be waiting for the doors to open at either one. Can’t wait!

10 Steps to Eating a Chipotle Lunch:
1) You’re hungry. You’re busy. You’re pretty broke. Hungry + Busy + Broke = Chipotle sounds pretty good.
2) The eater walks into Chipotle. Now you start to feel hungry. A Chipotle burrito sounds really good and filling and you haven’t eaten one in a while now – the last one made you feel kind of sick. However, due to the magic of Chipotle, you cannot seem to remember feeling sick after the last one, or if you do, it has no bearing on the sudden craving.
3) Reinforcement of the Chipotle fixation sets in – driven mostly by Chipotle’s marketing campaign. It’s FRESH, you assure yourself, and it’s healthy. Forget that they are owned by McDonalds. Relationship to McDonalds fades from memory. You are uncontrollably drawn to the local Chipotle.
4) The eater hurries back to the office. Fellow co-workers shoot sympathetic glances while saying, “Oh you got Chipotle?” however the tone of voice indicates: DANGER YOU ARE ABOUT TO HAVE A BAD EXPERIENCE BUT I KNOW I CANNOT STOP YOU FROM INDULGING.
5) Eater begins to attack burrito/burrito bowl and at first wonders, “How will I eat this thing, it is so BIG!” First quarter of burrito is gone. Still ravenous. Burrito is going down GREAT. Shovel, shovel, big bites, and rice is oozing out all over. Chipotle seems like a genius lunch place. You almost wish you ordered two.
6) Half of the burrito is gone. Eater slows in pace a little. Attitude still good. Excited, but tiring slightly.
7) Things begin to slide downhill during the second half of the Chipotle experience. Film begins to form in the mouth. The beans taste weird and the cilantro tastes… not so good. Breath is inevitably really bad. The eater realizes the rice isn’t really cooked right. The last quarter is especially hard to finish, but you do, for some odd Chipotle reason, you finish the burrito with a sense of accomplishment and impending fear. You feel obligated to finish the burrito. Eater feels disgusting. Eater wonders how the burrito actually fit into their stomach. Just washing the dish and wiping off the table makes you a bit sick. The eater cannot get the lingering taste out of their mouth, and feels self conscious during happy hour/staff meeting. Stomach is bursting with burrito contents. Feeling horrible, exhausted, and angry about eating the burrito the eater feels scared about what will happen once burrito leaves the actual stomach.
9) You don’t eat dinner. You vow to never eat Chipotle again.
10) Weeks pass. The aftermath of your Chipotle lunch is miraculously a foggy memory. Sudden craving starts to creep back in and will be fully ignited one day when you say to yourself “I’m hungry, I’m busy, and I’m broke… What should I do for lunch?”

I believe they are opening one in Chapel Hill on Franklin Street where the old Visart was between Panera and the Dead Mule Club.

Folks – you may want to Google “10 Steps to Eating a Chipotle Lunch” I just did and they came up verbatim from a Craigslist post in Wash, DC.
Hmmm? I think the list was probably originally written in the marketing dept. for some restaurant chain…wonder which one?

Chipotle is great
went there before and after miky dees
bought it
salsa fresh et al. do not compare.
good news indeed!

The Angus Barn is the most overrated restaurant in the history of food.
Ugh.

Was so sad to see Baja Fresh disappear, but am equally excited for the arrival of Chipotle.
Qdoba, Salsa Fresh, Salsaritas and Armadillo Grill are all tasty, but its nice to have yet another option to mix it up.
Moe’s is horrendous. I will never understand its popularity.

Moved here 2 years ago from Chicago, and we’ve been HOPING a Chipotle would be here soon, Chipotle REALLY is the BEST! To answer a previous question, the only reason “Moes” or ANY of the other burrito/taco places did ok out here is because no one knew what they COULD be having…once Chipotle arrives, ALL the others will be a distant “bad taste” memory…

Chipotle is yummy! I’m thrilled it’s coming here, even though it’s a hike from downtown Raleigh. (And Chapel Hill? Like we ever drive there?) We’ll likely get more b/c Chipotle likes to build out a market soon after it goes in. It hit D.C. and then New York City hard.
I appreciate that Chipotle pays attention to details in its ingredient sourcing and food prep. The company uses Niman Ranch naturally raised pork in its carne asada. And 15 percent of its black beans are organic. The company will increase that percentage as soon as organic bean farmers are able to keep up with the demand.
Yeah, the portions are big, Mr. 10 Steps quoter, but no one says you have to eat the whole thing.
BTW, McDonald’s shed its interest and Chipotle IPO’d in January. The stock’s been a star so far.
- LDR

Oh, and I agree: Moe’s SUCKS. My husband and I make far better mexi-food at home. I cringe at being accosted with “Welcome to Moe’s!” when I walk through the door. Makes me want to smack someone…not the poor people behind the counter, who must hate that part of the job, but the silly marketing person who thinks it’s a great idea.
- LDR

Don’t be fooled. Chipolte sucks.
If Raleigh really has one of the fastest growing per capita population of Latinos in the country as seems to be oft reported in the press, I’d suggest figuring out where they go to get their carne asada fix. Skip the McDonald’s…as any true fan of Mexican food knows, the burrito is an American invention.
Jefferson

I haven’t eaten Chipotle yet, so I don’t want to judge them unfairly. However, I am continually baffled by the fact that the very American trend of preferring mass-production chains owned by corporations in far-away cities continues, even in the midst of our Food Network/celebrity chef/organic food obsession of the moment.
I have to agree with Jefferson on this one. The Triangle benefits from the largest influx of Latinos in the nation, and we could all stand to venture into their tiendas and have some really excellent, authentic cuisine. The Independent actually did an article about it around a year or so ago.
Even if you just want a good old American burrito, go somewhere like Baja Burrito in Mission Valley. It’s super fast, locally owned and operated, and has freshly-prepared ingredients, with portions big enough to fill up any starving college student or Chipotle addict.

Chipotle sucks, overpriced and chips aren’t included.
Salsa Fresh is the best in town, close to Baja Burrito. Raleigh needs a Willy’s Burrito!

Chipotle sucks, overpriced and chips aren’t included.
Salsa Fresh is the best in town, close to Baja Burrito. Raleigh needs a Willy’s Burrito!

I found Salsa Fresh far too inconsistent and the flavor was just so-so.
Chipotle has great flavor and they are a company that focuses on fresh and natural ingredients. Even when McD’s had purchased a controlling stake in the company they still kept their hands out off of the restaurants themselves. The guy who started the first Chipotle in Denver still runs the company (oh and he was trained as a chef at the CIoA, by the way). No one has better quality meat than Chipotle, that is for sure. Everywhere else (especially the locals) I come across gristle and fatty chunks.
The burritos at Qdoba are ok ( I do like their new Mexican Gumbo too) and Moe’s I go strictly for quesadillas. If the local spots could get consistent results and more distinct flavor then I would definitely go there. I’m also glad chips aren’t included at Chipotle and Qdoba because it helps with the diet (the burrito is enough).
Oh, and I didn’t see this mentioned anywhere (though I was skimming so I could have missed it)… Chipotle is building at the old Pizza Hut location in North Ridge (next to Michael Dean’s). Supposed to open in early spring if I remember reading correctly.