October Restaurant Review: Burritos X 3

Chipotle, Baja Fresh, and Qdoda: All semi-fast food joints; all serve burritos. Chipotle has been my favorite for years. They have a very simplisitc menu, similiar to In and Out Burger, which is good for those who have a hard time making decisions. They have a burrito bowl which has all the fixes without the tortilla wrap. All their meats have been marinaded in something yummy, but luck for us, the marinade is gluten free. I typically get the chicken, which has a distinct semi-spicy flavor. For me the bowl is quite filling because they give you a very generous amount of rice, and really the bowl is two meals for roughly $8. Their chips are made out of corn and there may be some issues with cross contamination there, but I have not had any issues with them, which is good, because I absolutely love them! The sea salt is finger licking good.

Qdoba has what they call the naked bowl, which is comparable to Chiptole's burrito bowl, except it's smaller and has a significantly smaller amount of rice as a base. In that sense Qdoba seems like a sightlier more healthy choice. The flavor is much more mild in comparison to Chiptole, but for a similar price, it seems like less of a deal. Their tortilla chips are cruncher than Chitpotle's but less salty. As for their menu, it's a little more diverse, including a selection of burritos, quesadillas, nachos, soups, tacos, and salads, making them less fast foody and more of a sit-down place.

Lastly there is Baja Fresh, which is the most fast foody of the three. They call their bowl bare style. I've only been there once and got the Baja Burrito, and unlike Chiptole and Qdoba they serve it on lettuce, not rice. This seems like the most healthy choice of the three, especially if you eat an entire bowl from Chiptole in one sitting. The food was just blah so much so that I don't really remember it much. I do recall that there chips were also quite crunchy.

Overall I would say that Chiptole is still my number one choice out of the three, for both the burrito and the tortilla chips, with Qdoba coming in second place. Which one is your fav?