Cheap Eats - Lofty ambitions

Chipotle’s concept offers a fresh take on burrito chains

Looking for a quick bite in Atlanta is a lot like searching for an apartment. When you’re in a pinch for either, exhausted by the options and limited by finances, a run-of-the-mill, corporate offering can be one viable solution. Sure, not everyone can bear the thought of living in a gated complex whose wholly beige apartments bear strong resemblance to an office cubicle. Some people refuse to step foot inside a restaurant whose menu items are dictated to franchises from a home office thousands of miles away. But the cookie-cutter option can have its utilitarian charms — cleanliness, attention to clients and predictability. Or at least that’s how, as longtime supporter of locally owned restaurants, I can justify eating at Chipotle.

Spacious deck and guacamole cost extra: The Denver-based Chipotle chain is the fast-food equivalent of the Post Apartments empire. While you don’t expect unique, charming details with either, both offer a certain level of quality for the price in stylized surroundings. Chipotle strives for a cool, modernized look that may feel dated in short order. The eatery’s interior consists almost entirely of blond composite wood, concrete and raw steel. A large multilevel patio gleams with brushed steel chairs and tables. Chipotle’s polished industrial look is strikingly similar to the one you’d find in a corporate-owned loft.

Roll it up and have a go: Chipotle’s menu couldn’t be any simpler. Carnitas ($5.50), barbacoa ($5.45), chicken ($5.25), steak ($5.35) and a vegetarian option ($4.95) are offered in four incarnations. Burritos are a huge, messy affair. Mashing your face into the steaming, spicy ‘n’ meaty center feels a lot like making out with food. Tacos, available crispy or soft, are generously sized and apt to spill their contents yet are more manageable for the less voracious eater. Fajita burritos are a lighter, healthier option to burritos, as sauteed peppers and onions replace the latter’s beans. Burrito bowls suit those with even daintier tastes, as there’s no mass of tortilla to contend with — just rice or romaine lettuce and choice of filling.

Pretty McGood: I must confess that as much as I would like to bash a chain restaurant associated with McDonald’s, Chipotle actually offers an excellent product. The five times I’ve visited a Chipotle, the food has always been outstandingly fresh and skillfully prepared. Niman ranch free-range pork is used in the carnitas, and the steak, barbacoa and chicken are rich from long braising. Their tenderness belies quality, not chemicals or additives. The guacamole advertised as prepared several times daily on-premises actually tastes like it is. Roasted chili-corn, tomatillo-green chili, tomatillo-red chili and the mild tomato salsas sparkle with bright vegetable flavors.

Eating at Chipotle may feel like a cop-out to many foodies, but there is a valid argument to be made for supporting this aggressively expanding fast-casual concept. Corporate-owned it may be, and exciting and daring it isn’t, but Chipotle certainly does one thing — it seriously raises the bar for chains. There’s nary a wilted leaf of lettuce or off-tasting bit of tomato to be had there, and service is by-the-training- manual fast and polite. Chipotle’s lack of uniqueness shouldn’t deter diners. After all, sometimes there is safety in numbers.