The Internet Thinks Chipotle Has Gone Downhill

There was a time when walking into Chipotle Mexican Grill felt like you were beating the fast food system. Massive burritos. Bowls heavy enough to qualify as a kettlebell workout. You could spend ten bucks and leave feeling like you just robbed the place.

Now? A growing number of customers are saying the chain has officially entered its “man…this place used to slap” era.

According to a recent article from Eat This, Not That!, Chipotle has become one of the restaurant chains people most commonly accuse of going downhill. The biggest complaints are the same ones you hear around Montana every time somebody gets handed a burrito the size of a rolled-up sock: smaller portions, higher prices, and inconsistent quality.

Montana Knows When Portions Start Shrinking

That’s the dangerous thing about building your brand around giant portions. The second that customers feel like they’re getting less chicken than they did three years ago, everybody notices immediately.

Especially in Montana.

This is a state where people still judge restaurants based on whether a logger, ranch hand, or construction worker leaves full. If a burrito bowl costs almost twenty bucks after guac and a drink, folks expect that thing to weigh about the same as a truck battery.

Instead, social media has been flooded with people filming their orders like they’re documenting a wildlife sighting. There was even a viral “Chipotle camera trick” where customers claimed workers gave bigger scoops if they knew they were being recorded.

That is an absolutely insane sentence to type about a burrito chain, but here we are.

The “Fast Casual” Problem

Part of the issue is that Chipotle accidentally drifted into an awkward middle ground. It’s no longer cheap enough to feel like fast food, but it’s also not quite good enough to justify restaurant pricing.

People will still pay extra if the quality feels worth it. Montanans do it all the time with local burger joints, breweries, and taco trucks. But once customers start feeling like they’re paying premium prices for random scoop sizes and cold rice, the internet turns on you fast.

Even national food writers are starting to question whether Chipotle still delivers the same value it used to.

To be fair, not everybody thinks the chain has fallen off. Some longtime fans say it still tastes basically the same. But the fact people are debating it this hard probably tells you everything you need to know.

Because once a restaurant enters the “remember when this place was amazing?” conversation, it’s tough to get out.