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Likewise. Chipotle has been my go-to "fast casual" option for years because, despite being a little salty, it actually feels like real food. And you can get a p

Likewise. Chipotle has been my go-to "fast casual" option for years because, despite being a little salty, it actually feels like real food. And you can get a pretty healthy meal as long as you go light on the cheese and sour cream. Chipotle restaurants seem to have a lifecycle: they open, work really hard to get a decent reputation, and then slowly rot. I suspect that management gives the employees free reign to create a good customer experience for the first year or two, then eventually starts turning the profit screws -- trimming lobby and bathroom cleaning, skimping on the employee count at peak times, etc -- and soon enough the restaurant becomes a horrorshow to enter on a weeknight, with long and unmoving lines, piles of trash looming over the receptacles, filthy tables, and poorly stocked ingredients on the line. It would be really interesting to hear the low-level employee experience of someone who's been working at Chipotle since before the Taco Bell CEO started the transformation into... Taco Bell.

dgfitz 4y ago
> ...as long as you go light on the cheese and sour cream. Huh? Why do you claim cheese and sour cream are unhealthy?
- PragmaticPulp 4y ago
  Calorically dense foods like cheese and sour cream are fine in moderation. They are easy places to introduce caloric excess if not used in moderation.
- rom-antics 4y ago
  Together they're hundreds of extra unsubstantive calories. Not unhealthy per se, but it pushes the calorie count of the meal pretty high.
  - antisthenes 4y ago
    Dairy is one of the most substantive protein-rich calorie-food there is, right up there with meat and eggs. For active people and those trying to gain weight, it's a godsend.
- 2devnull 4y ago
  Cheese is just pure saturated fat, sour cream is … cream.
simonsarris 4y ago
> And you can get a pretty healthy meal as long as you go light on the cheese and sour cream. As someone who gets at least ~30% of their daily calories from dairy, that sounds backwards. Nutrient dense animal products (especially cheese and thick yogurts, maybe less so sour cream) are the healthiest things you can eat. The 1980's-borne thinking that says otherwise had only produced obesity epidemics. So I'd say you can get a pretty healthy meal if you skip the rice, double the meat, and always get cheese and sour cream.
- vanilla_nut 4y ago
  I load up on the veggies, personally. There are plenty of nutrients in dairy, sure... but also a LOT of calories. Meat is also very calorie dense. Unless you're regularly burning hundreds of calories with intense cardio, you probably don't need that many calories in a single meal. I am not surprised you get 30% of your daily calories from dairy; drinking a single glass of whole milk contains 200 calories. A small amount of cheese in addition to that and you're pushing 30-40% of your daily calories with ease.
  - antisthenes 4y ago
    > Unless you're regularly burning hundreds of calories with intense cardio, you probably don't need that many calories in a single meal. So spread it over 2 meals? I'm getting the max amount of calories I can when I eat out, because I want value for my money. If I can get 1500 calories for $10, why not? > A small amount of cheese in addition to that and you're pushing 30-40% of your daily calories with ease. 200 calories is only 10% of your daily calorie requirements, even less if you're a healthy, active adult male. A small amount of cheese does not equal 20-30% of daily calories.
    - vanilla_nut 4y ago
      Splitting it up between two meals is definitely a game changer. As long as your other meals include some leafy greens or vegetables, this is a pretty damn efficient way to eat. I used to do this right out of college when I had a crappy kitchen, few kitchen implements, and not much time on my hands.

dgfitz 4y ago

> ...as long as you go light on the cheese and sour cream. Huh? Why do you claim cheese and sour cream are unhealthy?

PragmaticPulp 4y ago
Calorically dense foods like cheese and sour cream are fine in moderation. They are easy places to introduce caloric excess if not used in moderation.
rom-antics 4y ago
Together they're hundreds of extra unsubstantive calories. Not unhealthy per se, but it pushes the calorie count of the meal pretty high.
- antisthenes 4y ago
  Dairy is one of the most substantive protein-rich calorie-food there is, right up there with meat and eggs. For active people and those trying to gain weight, it's a godsend.
2devnull 4y ago
Cheese is just pure saturated fat, sour cream is … cream.

simonsarris 4y ago

> And you can get a pretty healthy meal as long as you go light on the cheese and sour cream. As someone who gets at least ~30% of their daily calories from dairy, that sounds backwards. Nutrient dense animal products (especially cheese and thick yogurts, maybe less so sour cream) are the healthiest things you can eat. The 1980's-borne thinking that says otherwise had only produced obesity epidemics. So I'd say you can get a pretty healthy meal if you skip the rice, double the meat, and always get cheese and sour cream.

vanilla_nut 4y ago
I load up on the veggies, personally. There are plenty of nutrients in dairy, sure... but also a LOT of calories. Meat is also very calorie dense. Unless you're regularly burning hundreds of calories with intense cardio, you probably don't need that many calories in a single meal. I am not surprised you get 30% of your daily calories from dairy; drinking a single glass of whole milk contains 200 calories. A small amount of cheese in addition to that and you're pushing 30-40% of your daily calories with ease.
- antisthenes 4y ago
  > Unless you're regularly burning hundreds of calories with intense cardio, you probably don't need that many calories in a single meal. So spread it over 2 meals? I'm getting the max amount of calories I can when I eat out, because I want value for my money. If I can get 1500 calories for $10, why not? > A small amount of cheese in addition to that and you're pushing 30-40% of your daily calories with ease. 200 calories is only 10% of your daily calorie requirements, even less if you're a healthy, active adult male. A small amount of cheese does not equal 20-30% of daily calories.
  - vanilla_nut 4y ago
    Splitting it up between two meals is definitely a game changer. As long as your other meals include some leafy greens or vegetables, this is a pretty damn efficient way to eat. I used to do this right out of college when I had a crappy kitchen, few kitchen implements, and not much time on my hands.