Mexican goodness in America

It is no secret that there is a large hardworking Hispanic population in the USA. They brought with them their catchy, infectious music and their wholesome, flavourful food.

Tired of fast food or complicated cuisine, a rather smart founder, Steve Ells, came up with the concept of a simple, delicious, assembly-line eatery offering authentic, affordable and tasty Mexican food.

They would roll it out as a franchise and keep the business model and the process simple and easy to replicate in order to open several branches quickly.

Chipotle Mexican Grill was born in 1993, thanks to a start-up loan Ells received from his father. They calculated that to make a profit, they would need to sell just over 100 burritos (wraps stuffed with beans, rice, vegetables or meat). Within the first month of opening, Chipotle was selling over 1, 000 burritos per day. Today, Chipotle has about 1, 800 outlets spread across five countries.

I ate at several Chipotle outlets, the most recent being one at Ohio. I enjoyed the simplicity and freshness of Chipotle. The décor is modern and culturally neutral. The conveyor belt system is similar to that of Subway, an international sandwich chain that opened its first outlet in Kenya in 2013.

You queue as you study the neon menu above the counter. Once you get to the counter, you tell the first server what you would like and they place some of the ingredients in a dish. You do the same with the other servers who add different ingredients until your dish is complete.

They wrap the ingredients up for you, then you pay for it at the final counter. At Chipotle, you can order a bowl, a burrito, tacos or a salad. Burritos, a traditional Mexican food, remind me of stuffed chapati rolls or wraps, but they are larger, perfectly round and completely flat with no air pockets.

Typically you’d fill in the wrap with rice, beans, grilled capsicum, onions, sour cream, sweet corn, cheese, salsa (kachumbari) and a main protein, to make the burrito. This protein could be steak, slow-cooked/ pulled beef, barbequed chicken or a meat substitute made of tofu (blocks of curd made from soy milk).

Tacos are similar to burritos but they are made of smaller wraps made of maize flour instead of wheat flour. You can have guacamole on the side with both tacos and burritos.

The burritos at Chipotle are tasty, consistent and satisfying. The added bonus was that they were reminiscent of a Kenyan meal. The servings are huge and you will often carry half of it home to eat later. On average a meal here will cost you approximately Sh900.

There are Chipotle branches countrywide in the US and there are also branches in the UK, Canada, Germany and France.

We can only hope that they will consider bringing this Mexican goodness to Kenya in future. The good thing about Chipotle, is that whichever branch you visit, the menus and systems are exactly the same so you know exactly what to expect – something Kenyan chains can learn from. Pure genius.

RATINGS

Hygiene - 4/5

Food - 3.5/5

Value - 4/5

Service - 4.5/5