Battle of the Burritos: Chipotle vs Pancheros

Mitchell Feldman  

After economics class, there’s only one thing to do, and that one thing is to eat a burrito. I’ve been doing it for days at this point, and it’s practically a religion. This semester, however, I don’t have the pleasure of eating in solitude; I have to eat with Quad Cam, who lives in the quad in my hall, and Bowen, who is fresh out of China. Of course, they do not believe Pancheros even exists, as it is invisible from the sidewalk. But I proved them wrong. Walking into Panchero’s, the first aspect I get to hardcore-judge is the store itself. Pancheros’ line starts all the way to the left despite it seeming to start towards the right. This makes me feel stupid every time I go there. However, the restaurant does have t.v.’s, which were important back when I used to try to convince myself that I wasn’t eating alone. In addition to having no way of distracting me from lonely sadness, Chipotle starts to have crazy lines every half hour (when classes end). ADVANTAGE: PANCHEROS

So we get to the line, and, of course, the entire menu is in Spanish. Bowen’s just learning English for the first time and I have to be the one to break it to him that we use other languages here too. Why do we do that? To confuse the shit out of the foreigners? I don’t know. All I know is, I made sure Bowen will never forget what queso means.

Speaking of queso, Pancheros has queso, Chipotle does not. ADVANTAGE: PANCHEROS

So now we’re all prepared in our basic Spanish phrases, it’s time to order, and we understand this restaurant perfectly. Oh wait, I forgot, Pancheros has a crazy magic tortilla-making machine. The tortilla is actually the primary difference between Chipotle and Pancheros. At Pancheros, the tortilla is “baked” to order, creating a fantastic flavor and warmth that Chipotle’s pre-packaged tortillas cannot compare with. The taste of the tortilla adds a depth to Pancheros burritos beyond what can be found at Chipotle. ADVANTAGE: PANCHEROS

We start telling the burrito-builders what we want, moving down the line. I get my mild salsa, and start paying. Quad Cam and Bowen request the extra-spicy-I-have-no-fear-of-death salsa. And I remember. Bowen’s from China, and he’s a man. Obviously I’m not, and I look like the loser in this situation. We sit down to eat the burritos, and I try to pay attention to all the food details so I can compare this thing to chipotle (kind of kills my eating-vibe there, but I make sacrifices for my dedicated readers).

The common opinion holds that Pancheros has slightly more flavor in its meat, however I don’t see that being much of a factor considering all of the add-ons. More importantly, Chipotle offers one meat option that Pancheros does not: barbacoa, the shredded beef. This meat is so moist and flavorful that I give Chipotle the edge. Everyone knows quantity goes over quality, anyway. ADVANTAGE: CHIPOTLE

We decide that this was such a great experience that we should do some kind of three musketeers bs and eat lunch together every Tuesday and Thursday. Wonderful. Throughout the meal, I describe to my new buddies all the little things about burritos that no one besides me cares about, however they obviously don’t listen. It’s impossible for people to cover their ears when I write, so:

As I found out recently, Chipotle offers a salad dressing which tastes incredible when poured gently on a burrito, and it breaks up the monotony of burrito-eating very well. Try it. Pancheros, though, offers a mild salsa without obnoxious amounts of tomatoes, allowing me and other tomato-haters (I know you’re out there) to get salsa on our burritos. I also have to take into consideration the nostalgia factor of Chipotle. Chipotle exists in many of our hearts as the first chain burrito place we went to, while Pancheros is this new-comer trying to build a reputation.

But, I can’t let my irrational fruit hate to influence my decision, so ADVANTAGE: CHIPOTLE

Final Verdict

With so many advantages towards each side, I have to look towards the biggest factors in flavor, and I find that the queso and tortilla outweigh salad dressing. I might regret telling people that Pancheros is better than Chipotle as I like the short lines, but it’s my job.

WINNER: PANCHEROS