Chipotle is one of those rare eateries that everyone in our family likes. We have been to Chipotle many times now and always find the food fresh, healthy and delicious. The funny thing is that we always get the same item: The vegetarian burrito bowl.
The vegetarian burrito bowl has:
- cilantro-lime rice (choice of white rice or brown rice)
- black beans or pinto beans
- grilled vegetables
- lettuce
- corn
- salsa
- sour cream
- cheese (made with a vegetable-based rennet)
- guacamole (extra charge)
Please note: The meat is NOT halal.
The servers wear gloves when handling the food which is great. You can ask them to put on a new pair of gloves if you want. From right to left, there is chunky salsa, hot salsa (which is server is getting), mild salsa behind it, corn, sour cream and cheese.
And voila! The delicious burrito bowl is ready!
The best part is that you get to customize your bowl. So if you don’t want salsa, you don’t have to get it. Don’t like sour cream? Skip it. The food always tastes fresh and wholesome. We particularly like the combination of warm and cold in the bowl: the grilled vegetables are warm but the sour cream is cold. It’s a wonderful combination in our mouths!
Just to reiterate ourselves, the meat is NOT halal at Chipotle. We always stick to vegetarian options. Their cheese is vegetarian based (according to their website) which is awesome. Please note that the pinto beans used to be seasoned with bacon but are NOW VEGETARIAN. Please see below for details.
The vegetarian burrito bowl is $8.95 and with taxes it comes to around $10. On first glance the quantity of food might not look like a lot but it’s quite filling.
It’s great for takeout too!
We have visited Chipotle locations in Toronto, New York City and Buffalo and find the food to be consistently good. In Buffalo, they served the food on stainless steel platters and had lemon wedges to go along with the food, which we thought was a great touch.
We usually go to the Yorkdale Mall location of Chipotle and have recommended it to many friends Here are some of the complaints we have gotten so far:
– They don’t fill up your bowl enough. They will not automatically add corn, lettuce and some of the other toppings to your bowl even though it’s included in the price so you need to ask for it. They will only put one kind of salsa for you but you can ask them to put all the different kinds if you want. We usually get the hot salsa (like a paste) and mild salsa (chunky!).
– It’s very hard placing the order at Yorkdale. The Yorkdale Mall food court is crazy busy and it’s sometimes difficult to place your order. It is likely that the servers will not hear your order correctly so you need to keep an eye on what’s going in your bowl.
So the next time you’re in mood for vegetarian food and want something with a bit of a kick, try the vegetarian options at Chipotle Mexican Grill.
Website: https://www.chipotle.com
Locations:
Addendum: Pinto beans are now vegetarian. Our reader Irfan emailed Chipotle and confirmed this in November 2013. Please see the response from Chipotle below:
“Thanks for writing in to us today! Our pinto beans are indeed free of bacon or pork products. We made the switch to vegetarian pinto beans earlier this year. You’re right, the site should be updated, and I will be forwarding this to our IT specialists to ensure we get this right. Thanks so much for bringing this to my attention.
Sincerely,
NattyCustomer Service Consultant
Chipotle Mexican Grill”
halalfoodenthusiasts.wordpress.com 
December 24, 2012 at 5:43 pm
Hey HFS,
Just to mention that you guys should not advertise non-HALAL restaurants as a HALAL option for Muslims to consider trying out because they have pork and non HALAL meat in their menu.
December 30, 2012 at 2:18 am
Thank you for posting your concern Shariq. We love featuring Muslim owned establishments and promoting their business.
However, we do like to feature other eateries as well because people may not always find themselves in areas that have halal food options only. In case you’re stuck in a place where the only food options must be vegetarian, it’s good to know which places serve decent vegetarian food. One thing we particularly like about Chipotle is that they serve cheese which is free from animal rennet, which is rare to find.
Thanks again and happy eating!
September 9, 2013 at 9:08 pm
Beware of sour cream, it usually has gelatin and very few out there that are halal compatible. For example taco bells is the one thats not good to eat.
September 9, 2013 at 9:24 pm
Thank you for your comment brother. We checked the Chipotle website and their sour cream is listed under their vegetarian options. It says that their sour cream is 100% cultured cream. Please see the link below:
http://www.chipotle.com/en-us/menu/special_diet_information/special_diet_information.aspx
September 29, 2013 at 3:29 am
seriously ppl that are commenting are so irritating.
Those people must have failed reading comprehension.
The blogger clearly said VEGETARIAN alternative and as long as you can see there is no clear contamination it is an alternative for Muslims trying their best to keep their diet Halal.
When you type inane comments like the commenter above, you seem to be trying to force your narrow mindedness on others.
Secondly, fat free yogurts and things do usually have gelatin, since its a lot cheaper to make, although lately many dairy food companies have been doing their best to get everything cultured, since its a lot healthier.
September 29, 2013 at 3:34 am
Also you are allowed to eat at eateries that have non-halal items on the menu as long as one is not consuming contaminated food.
Any decent fast food place keeps their meat and vegetables seperate, and create the dish in front of you, so contamination is highly unlikely,
If you go by Mr Shariq’s logic you should also not shop at supermarkets, because, gasp, there is pork kept in the same facilities.
November 12, 2013 at 8:11 pm
Thank you for the info! Your comment about the pinto beans made me curious so I was looking around for the bacon reference but didn’t find any info. Can you please point me to where you got that info from?
Their website doesn’t list bacon as one of the ingredients for the pinto beans.
http://www.chipotle.com/en-us/menu/ingredients_statement/ingredients_statement.aspx
Thanks!
November 12, 2013 at 9:18 pm
Hello,
Thanks for your comment.
If you to http://www.chipotle.com then go to menu>ingredients>beans. It will show you pinto beans and black beans. Under pinto beans it says that it is seasoned with bacon.
Hope that helps!
November 12, 2013 at 9:51 pm
Thanks for the update! Hmm, perhaps we are seeing two different pages based on our location. Here’s what I see when I look at the ingredients for beans.
Pinto Beans:
Seasoned with several herbs and spices to achieve a smoky aroma and a mildly sweet heat.
Black Beans:
Our black beans are seasoned with cumin, garlic and other spices, then slow cooked until tender and slightly al dente.
Also, when I look at ingredients statement (http://www.chipotle.com/en-us/menu/ingredients_statement/ingredients_statement.aspx), here’s what I see for the beans.
Beans, Black
Black Beans , Water, Yellow Onion, Chipotle Chile, Rice Bran Oil, Cumin, Garlic, Black Pepper, Salt, Oregano , Bay Leaf, Citrus Juice
Beans, Pinto
Pinto Beans , Water, Yellow Onion, Chipotle Chile, Rice Bran Oil, Cumin, Garlic, Oregano , Black pepper, Bay Leaf, Salt, Citrus Juice, Kosher Salt
So, it’s possible that the Pinto Beans in Canada may be seasoned with Bacon but not the ones in the US (I’m located in California). If you send me the ingredients you are seeing then I can shoot corporate an email to get the details on the differences.
Thanks!
November 13, 2013 at 1:32 am
You are right. It’s really weird because when we use Safari and check the Chipotle website on our phone, we see a different page for pinto beans (w/ bacon) and when we use our laptop, we are seeing a different page (the ingredient list you have mentioned). We will send you the screenshot we took from our phone.
September 10, 2014 at 7:04 pm
Chipotle now uses Australian Grass fed beef in all its’ stores. All Australian beef is Halal processed for export.
January 2, 2015 at 6:06 pm
cute website
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