Kind of annoying to read this thread. I've shopped Chipotle for about a year. Was assigned two shops a month as I was in a rural market and that was fine with me, even got to do both Chipotles each month. (Jealous of anyone doing 4+ a month). This was when they had the long form reports. Come last December, I was busy with the usual holiday commitments and the weather was less than ideal to 'commute' to my nearest Chipotle. So after the first week, I canceled my planned shop as I didn't feel I'd be able to complete it with the visit and the long report. Well, after that I couldn't catch a cold from Chipotle. They had their health scare ordeal and changed many things bigtime. Well my monthly Chipotle shop requests went to 0 and I had to start begging for shops. I'd get one each month I'd begged, but have not gotten anything for the last 4 months. When pressed, they said they had more shoppers than locations. It blew my mind I was good enough to shop the 2 Chipotles in this rural area, but once I missed doing one of them, they conveniently had 2-3 shoppers that they must be rotating through without giving me a bone. Such loyalty. If I weren't such a Chipotle fanboy, I wouldn't care. But all the time I spent reporting didn't mean diddly to the MSC. Whatever, can't wait for them to come crawling back when they don't have their special auditors.

When the company cut back several months ago I went from two shops assigned a month to one. I listed all the restaurants within 15 miles of me as possibilities, but usually only get assigned to a four or five of them. In this area there are no orphans to be had.

They cut back to one shop a month 6 months ago. I still got 20-25 between what I got regularly and orphans. I took a lot of leftovers home.

I request orphans now and they sit there till the end of the month. I have no idea when they'd rather have shops not be done than give them to me. They said something about "taking feed back and etc etc etc" into account, but that only happened after they canned the scheduler I was working with for years and transferred the Mid-Atlantic shops to someone who was already doing another area plus the Shake Shack shops. I'm still in the dark as to their exact reasons for capping me and it happened rather suddenly and I've never gotten an answer that was more than boilerplate.

I am personally unaware of a limit on shops. The first month I was assigned one shop. The second month, I was assigned two shops. The third month, I was assigned four shops. This month, I got three shops.

I guess I could decline some if it got to be too many, but I wouldn't want to go back to just one shop. The form is a little clunky so practice makes it nearly perfect. I have had minor feedback on my reports. The first three reports, I had no feedback. Then, I got tiny nuggets primarily regarding terms that the client prefers in reports (pans not trays, for example.)

All in all, my experience has been great. I agree with others that one does not have to order a two-pound burrito. A salad with minimum toppings or three tacos with just a protein or veggies and sauce is fine. When the chips are properly made, they are worth the calories.

The pay is on time. Considering that restaurant reports for some (fill in your favorite MSC here) are for reimbursement only and take as long or longer to write, this is a good deal. I live in SoCal so Chipotle shops are a nice anchor for a day's route.

Edited to add: I just went on the California Tortilla website. I punched in my area code and found that the closest shop to me is 2,118.8 miles away in Tampa, Fla. I guess there really are no California Tortillas in California. Do they add avocados to everything to make it "California"?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/03/2016 09:12AM by PuaM.

California Tortilla is really good, but probably not worth a 2,000 mile drive. By the time you got it home, it'd be cold.

I enjoy shopping Chipotle, of course I like the food. I get between 1 and 4 shops a month. I love not having to fight for assignments like with many other companies. The revised forms take a lot less time although I do have trouble remembering the problem visit phone call. The slightly dropped pay is more than offset by the easier form.

So? Rarely on a shop of any sort is a kids only meal allowed.

@Oldsmobilelady wrote:

They do not accept children's meals you must order an entree and chips.

Chris, you know those Street Tacos wouldn't make it to the end of the strip mall! The chips and queso may be a challenge to eat in the car.

eh, I'll give it a try.

Pua, they add avocado to a lot of their dishes. Even when I lived in WLA, I never had avocado on a taco (I like the way that sounds). It's pretty darn good!

@ChrisCooper wrote:

California Tortilla is really good, but probably not worth a 2,000 mile drive. By the time you got it home, it'd be cold.

She was letting me know that kid's meals are not allowed on the shops.

Sometimes when I go out to eat, I will order a kid's meal as a way to reduce the portion size.

@CANADAMOMMY wrote:

So? Rarely on a shop of any sort is a kids only meal allowed.

@Oldsmobilelady wrote:

They do not accept children's meals you must order an entree and chips.

For the first time since they cut back to one shop per location per month I was assigned two shops this month instead of the one I have been getting. And last month my assignment was a location not on my list. So I am thinking some other shopper or shoppers in my neck of the woods is not available anymore.

I was doing 8 to 10 shops per month before they cut back on the lunch and dinner same locations visits. I requested to cut back to 3 to 4 visits a month since I felt I needed a break. You don't have to eat the entire entree. What I usually do is cut my portion in half before eating it, eat the half portion only and take the rest home.

I bring my son and we eat a bowl as a dipping bowl. Leftovers are great to freeze too. I like to average around ten locations while traveling. Love the schedulers and editors! They are great to work with.

And I was saying they are RARELY if ever allowed on ANY shop for ANY company for what is needed as an entree.

@HonnyBrown wrote:

She was letting me know that kid's meals are not allowed on the shops.

Sometimes when I go out to eat, I will order a kid's meal as a way to reduce the portion size.

@CANADAMOMMY wrote:

So? Rarely on a shop of any sort is a kids only meal allowed.

@Oldsmobilelady wrote:

They do not accept children's meals you must order an entree and chips.

That's a good idea cat! Out of sight, out of mind.

@catgrannyof5 wrote:

I was doing 8 to 10 shops per month before they cut back on the lunch and dinner same locations visits. I requested to cut back to 3 to 4 visits a month since I felt I needed a break. You don't have to eat the entire entree. What I usually do is cut my portion in half before eating it, eat the half portion only and take the rest home.

I am intrigued that some Chipotle shoppers may be unaware that one does not have to get every item on the service line. A lower calorie meal choice can be the salad greens, a protein (sofritas), corn, a scoop of the red chili salsa and the fresh tomato salsa. The vinaigrette on the side is tasty, too. I would be surprised if that is more than 400 calories (without eating the entire bag of chips. My freezer is filling up with chips.) Hint: After tasting the mandatory chips, I crumble two or three on top of my salad for crunch.

This month I was assigned four shops. (Was just assigned a fifth.)



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/05/2016 07:15PM by PuaM.

I always get a salad, sometimes with meat, but usually just a veggie salad (with fajita veggies), and ask them to go light on the extras (beans, cheese, sour cream, and guac). I try to go when I'm not real hungry, divide the bowl in half and eat it there, then take the rest home. It's great left over! But that vinaigrette dressing is high in calories! I love it, though, and use it sparingly. I eat part of the chips and bring the rest home for the rest of the family. I get water to drink.

On the other hand, if I'm hungry when I go, I have NO problem polishing off the entire salad! At all. They are soooo good....

Pua and Birdie, thank you for the low(er) cal tips!

LOL. I generally get extra sour cream and extra cheese on mine, but I go light on the rice and rarely eat many of the chips (my hubby likes to dip his bowl with chips so I just taste a few). I never finish my bowl and I ask for a lid at the register, because if you ask for one at the tortilla warmer then the salsa person will think it's to go and will tightly place the lid on it and the cashier will ring it as to go, which is a no-no since all shops must be dine in. There was a time I did 4-5 Chipotle shops a month. I scaled it way back because my husband won't go with me that much. I do 1-2 a month now...for the winter only 1 and in the spring I will go back to 2.

I never get viniagrette dressing for me salad, but I have been known to ask for extra green salsa.

I do the old weight watchers trick-pile up on the veggies as the filler. Get fajitas, the salsas, the sofritas, no cheese, don't do lettuce or sour cream, sometimes get the guac., along with my chicken meat, brown rice since it has more fiber, do both beans for the bowl entree order. My bowl entree doubles as my dip for the chips. When you eaten enough of the entrees, you try to mix up the order. Sometimes I ask for double servings of the roasted corn salsa.

@BirdyC wrote:

But that vinaigrette dressing is high in calories! I love it, though, and use it sparingly.

Yes, Birdy. All in moderation. There are no food police there to make a diner dump the whole container on the salad. BTW, it is also very high in sodium (according to the nutrition on the web site.)

High sodium goes with dining out. Salt is naturally in everything that grows from the ground and animals. When a meal is made, the flavor gets enhanced by adding more salt. And then if an ingredient is processed, the salt is off the charts.

If you have great kidney function and metabolism, salt isn't that bad.

Occasionally I do get a salad but the salsa is my dressing.

True JAS, but why risk it? High blood pressure doesn't have symptoms.

It sometimes does have symptoms, though more often it doesn't (hence the nickname "the silent killer"). Usually by the time you have symptoms you are off the charts. I am not advising people to dump salt on everything. I use it sparingly myself, but mainly because I do not enjoy heavily salted foods. I am just stating what my pathophysiology professor told us...he is a retired nephrologist. Someone with a family history of kidney disease and/or hypertension, or who already is in the beginning stages of kidney disease and/or has hypertension should steer clear of salt.

That was not supposed to be a winking smiley face.

@JASFLALMT wrote:

It sometimes does have symptoms, though more often it doesn't (hence the nickname "the silent killer"). Usually by the time you have symptoms you are off the charts. I am not advising people to dump salt on everything. I use it sparingly myself, but mainly because I do not enjoy heavily salted foods. I am just stating what my pathophysiology professor told us...he is a retired nephrologist. Someone with a family history of kidney disease and/or hypertension, or who already is in the beginning stages of kidney disease and/or has hypertension should steer clear of salt.

Since we are going off the stated topic ... One would not expect a couple of tablespoons of salad dressing to have nearly 500 mg of sodium. For some, that's a third of the daily allotment (for most folks it is 2,000mg on average daily.) Sodium in salad dressing is one area where a restaurant could help diners cut back on salt without the customer noticing it.

Pua, that's just the salad dressing. All of the other ingredients, I'm assuming, have similar levels of sodium. Add all of it together....

Not that I have any health issues, but this is why I minimize my eating out. When I cook at home, I know exactly what goes in my food.

I know. I smiled because I removed that phrase from my post.

Our bodies need salt for our muscles to function. We can easily get what our bodies need from fresh produce and meats.

Salt is also a great preservative, and makes our chicken and pork pieces moist. That's more added salt.

We won't even discuss ingredients in a jar or bottle.

@JASFLALMT wrote:

That was not supposed to be a winking smiley face.