I used to go there a lot when I worked in the middle office pre-covid, they never ran out of anything.
I have heard from a lot of restaurants that they have issues getting stuff from distributors these days, we went to a pizza place last year that was out of dough.
This complaint seemed familiar to me so I googled it and I found multiple articles from 2016 about them always being out of food! I think they try to really order the bare bones of ingredients so they don’t have extras on hand. But eventually you’d think they’d up their produce order if the demand is there. The excuses I saw from back then is that they can’t really guess what customers are going to want which seems really strange since other restaurants seem to be able to figure that out? Or close?
Of course, recently I had to go to three stores to find onions so who knows what’s going on now.
Post by donutsmakemegonuts on Jan 27, 2024 10:06:05 GMT -5
I really wanted hard shell tacos once and they were out of those, but I don't go to Chipotle that often. If I do get it, I order in the app for pickup because they closest one is always so busy. I'm usually still waiting for my order to come out even if I order ahead. I've noticed that the restaurant itself is usually very dirty. Like stuff on the floor and tables in the dining area.
On a separate but related note, I have a Chipotle gift card that I was all ready to use by doing what I usually do, ordering ahead on the app for pickup, but apparently only their giftcards can be used in store. So that's annoying.
The Chipotle near me generally has the full range of items when I stop by. It's less than 1/2 mile from a large campus with a high and middle school and less than a mile from a community college in a strip center targeted to the youngs-- Ulta, Lululemon and Crumbld all in one place.
My son eats it maybe 4 nights a week; if I'm out around dinner he'll ask me to pick it up for him. Our Chipotle did have a slump around supplies about 6 months ago and the place is disgusting, but these days it's well stocked when I'm there around 4 or 5pm. Morale seems low there with little management supervision. The trash is always overflowing, tables are unbussed and the prep areas look messy AF. Sometimes you have to ask them to go get more "from the back"; I'm there enough a few recognize me and take care of my order. The other day they "had no money" and were only taking plastic.
On the weekend parking there is a shitshow because of some other restaurants nearby, so I'll grab him Qdoba instead. I find they're more organized-- it's smaller and I think the franchise owner is there often. They tend to have replacement trays ready to swap out when they run out.
This complaint seemed familiar to me so I googled it and I found multiple articles from 2016 about them always being out of food! I think they try to really order the bare bones of ingredients so they don’t have extras on hand. But eventually you’d think they’d up their produce order if the demand is there. The excuses I saw from back then is that they can’t really guess what customers are going to want which seems really strange since other restaurants seem to be able to figure that out? Or close?
Of course, recently I had to go to three stores to find onions so who knows what’s going on now.
I think one difference is that Chipotle uses fresh food, so over-ordering could lead to spoilage.
Post by thebreakfastclub on Jan 27, 2024 13:38:59 GMT -5
I work as a buyer in retail, but we have inventory planning systems that help forecast sale rates by item by store.
There is no way that Chipotle doesn't have a usage forecast for every ingredient by day by location to guide what they prep and cook.
I think some locations are better managed than others. I would guess that some managers try to order less to eliminate waste, or a supplier shorts them etc.
This complaint seemed familiar to me so I googled it and I found multiple articles from 2016 about them always being out of food! I think they try to really order the bare bones of ingredients so they don’t have extras on hand. But eventually you’d think they’d up their produce order if the demand is there. The excuses I saw from back then is that they can’t really guess what customers are going to want which seems really strange since other restaurants seem to be able to figure that out? Or close?
Of course, recently I had to go to three stores to find onions so who knows what’s going on now.
I think one difference is that Chipotle uses fresh food, so over-ordering could lead to spoilage.
I think many restaurants use fresh food and manage to order enough to get through lunch (and dinner!) without a ton of waste though. It’s a massive chain. How hard can it be to figure it out? It’s been an issue for 8 years!
Chipotle has a really limited menu. Aren’t the fajita veggies basically bell peppers and onions? They both will keep for a long time properly stored. Salad chain places aren’t routinely out of major ingredients by 1 pm.
Honestly, I think it’s deliberate even though it seems counterintuitive to annoy customers and not be able to sell your whole menu for most of the day. I guess once people are there they aren’t likely to leave if they are out of something so they are still making money? People in this thread keep going back so maybe it’s working for them.
Chipotle has a really limited menu. Aren’t the fajita veggies basically bell peppers and onions? They both will keep for a long time properly stored. Salad chain places aren’t routinely out of major ingredients by 1 pm.
Yes, they are just bell peppers and onion strips that are cooked on the grill.
I just looked at their stock ticker on Yahoo Finance. Their current price is 3x to 4x what it was in March/April 2020. I'm no stock expert but that sounds like a company with money to me.
Ugh, maybe DD and I should go try Qdoba. I used to be a fan of Qdoba many years ago but moved over to Chipotle when the Qdoba locations weren't as convenient.
I'm so irrationally bothered by this lol. It should be very easy to keep a chipotle stocked. It's like food management 101 that you continue to up production until your food spoilage is above a certain amount, and then you can see the pattern of how much should be prepped day to day. The amount of money you're losing in spoilage is less then the amount your losing from customers not ordering due to you being out. Unless you're grossly mismanaging. But there's clear patterns and systems for food management it's not all just a great mystery that you have to guess at daily.
I'm so irrationally bothered by this lol. It should be very easy to keep a chipotle stocked. It's like food management 101 that you continue to up production until your food spoilage is above a certain amount, and then you can see the pattern of how much should be prepped day to day. The amount of money you're losing in spoilage is less then the amount your losing from customers not ordering due to you being out. Unless you're grossly mismanaging. But there's clear patterns and systems for food management it's not all just a great mystery that you have to guess at daily.
Exactly! Or if for some reason this is completely beyond the abilities of (some) individual restaurants to do that, take that item off the menu at those locations.
We just ordered from them last night! We got home last night with a big order. Like $80 worth of stuff. We opened our large chip bag and there was legit 20 chips in there. I was so pissed. What good is a large order of queso and quac without fucking chips? Why was the bag not overflowing? Those things cost zero dollars.
We just ordered from them last night! We got home last night with a big order. Like $80 worth of stuff. We opened our large chip bag and there was legit 20 chips in there. I was so pissed. What good is a large order of queso and quac without fucking chips? Why was the bag not overflowing? Those things cost zero dollars.
Maybe it is the training and management like everyone on the thread is saying. I've had a few experiences there that make me wonder if the current youths have any problem solving skills.
The one close to my old office was always out of some ingredient but never the fajitas. I remember, before COVID, there were always lines outside the restaurant. Now, there are no lines. Most people order online. I stopped ordering online as my order was always wrong. The restaurant looks messy and dirty. I don't know what is going on with Chipotle but their employees aren't happy.