Sunday, April 6, 2008 |
14:30 - Be it known
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Qdoba < Chipotle.
I maintain this even in the face of the latter's increasing hippification and explosive nationwide growth and ubiquity as a result of McDonald's' fostering it as an investment property through 2006. The fact remains—and I persist in asserting that it is a fact, editorial correctness be damned—that their burritos freaking rule. And Qdoba's, though their formula is almost identical to Chipotle's and their pedigree almost as long, puts one in mind of a cargo-culty clone that gets all the basics right but misses all the flair.
I mean, the rice is just rice—whereas Chipotle's is a lime-cilantro concoction that I could eat as a side dish. And the steak, while tasty, is dry and lifeless, whereas Chipotle's is fresh and moist, straight off the grill, with enough spice in its marinade that you hardly need any salsa to get it building up on you.
The main thing is that I should still be tasting the burrito four hours later. In this case, though, by 2:00 I've forgotten what I had for lunch. And that's a sad state of affairs.
'Tis a fine burrito, English, but sure 'tis no Chipotle.
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