Down with the Chains!

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Chipotle
711 Church Street
Evanston, IL

I do not like Chipotle. I never have. And that was even before eating there. My biggest gripe with the Mexican-style chain restaurant is I believe it drove Burritoville, a NY-only more authentic version of Chipotle, out of business.

Despite my feelings against Chipotle, I let me friends Samantha and Lisa convince me to try it. They are Chipotle fanatics. They crave Chipotle the way I crave Mexican food -- always.

After a disappointing Northwestern University football game, I walked with Samantha and Lisa to Chipotle to see what all the hype was about. Carnitas have become a favorite taco flavor of mine throughout this journey, so I decided to continue the tradition and perhaps add another favorite carnitas taco joint to my list.

I have decided I need to take the "only hard corn tortilla shell" sign as a warning.

The shells were flavorless and even a little stale, the meat was over-spiced, the guacamole was tasteless--boring and flat, and I could barely taste the cheese (which I was hoping would mask the bad the rest of the taco embraced). After finishing one and one half of the three tacos my stomach was already hurting and I knew I would not be satisfied.

Sorry, Sam and Lisa, Chipotle does not make the cut for good ol' authentic Mexican tacos.

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