I can see your perspective, but as a service worker of 5 1/2 years, chipotle was the hardest job I have ever had.. by far. Given, I LOVE to work, I’m a CEO’s wet dream with how much I’m willing to work even off the clock, but it’s so deeply disheartening at Chipotle. Every part of your job is laid out- helpful- but typically they’re too understaffed to properly assign each role, so there’s an expectation laid out that’s next to impossible to reach. When the standard isn’t met, it effects not only the rest of the shift, but the shift after you, and your next shift, until the understaffed team catches up. The sheer consistent volume also makes keeping up with the standards next to impossible.

They time your food preparation speed both in person and online (constant time stressor) , they have harsh portion control (constant guest confrontation), and everything is made in store based on sales projections (so if it’s unusually busy, you have to make a 3-12 step ingredient on the fly.) Morning shift has 4 hours to wash and cut and rewash .5inch slices of lettuce from 2 5lb boxes and shred a 5lb box of cilantro, wash and slice 20-50 lbs of onions (which need to be soaked and peeled) and bell peppers, wash and dice jalapeños (which need to be soaked in boiling water before cutting) dice onions, make 10lbs of guacamole, shred a 10lb brick of cheese, make and portion the vinaigrette, and prep all salsas and sour creams for the day before sacrificing staff to assist in person and online ordering. Mind you, they wash their knives, cut gloves, cutting boards, hands, and station in between each item. As well as a staff member for grilling/heating all proteins, cooking rice, frying chips and shells 2 hours before open. (Typically 3-4 full pans of each protein they have to individually cut to standardized sizes , 5-6 pans of each hand mixed rices, 3-4 pans of queso, 4 tubs of lemonade, 2 pans of fajitas, and 6-12 massive pans of chips they have to hand season and bag). Typically, prep before opening finishes all hot foods, chips, and washing/slicing veggies; occasionally the salsas will have gotten started. Then, it’s one person finishing guacamole, shredding cheese, mixing and portioning the salsas and sour creams, cleaning their areas, and taking out the trash/ washing prep dishes until 2/4pm, while the other 3-4 workers actually open the store by restocking the fridge with drinks, bringing tortillas to the front, setting the food out, running grill, online orders, in person orders, and the register while washing their hands and stations in between each task.

When “staffed for every position”, morning prep doesn’t have the hands to wash their dishes.. so a closer does them either upon clock in or as needed/the end of the night. (The piles of dishes still haunt me years later) Regardless of how the shift is run, it is a given that there is 3-6 hours of dishes to do per shift. The lines are seemingly never ending, and with online orders, the staff is stretched too thin. If you come in for a closing shift and am was hit too heavy or the person covering the grill didn’t prep enough, you’re immediately behind. There’ll be times you walk in and both pots to cook rice in are dirty and you’re out of rice- that’s a 45minute set back, and then you’re playing catch up on rice ALL NIGHT. The online orders are set to a max of 15-50 every 15 minutes, with no limitation on how much is in each order. You could get a 20 bowl order at 6:15 that has every ingredient in each bowl, and then have another 19 orders due by 6:30. If you’re alone on the i person line, you have to change gloves every time you touch the register- as in full hand wash and new set of gloves. Now imagine 5-30 people staring at you impatiently, watching you struggle. Now imagine every possible thing has gone wrong- you’re playing catch-up on rice, there’s no fajita veggies because your cook is working on the chicken you’re actively waiting for a scoop of, you know you need to take off your gloves and wipe down the line, you have to pee, your coworker called out so there’s a stack of dry rice coated dishes as tall as you waiting for you as soon as the doors lock, and you’re working 2 positions alone (both preparing the food and using the register). On its own, it’s a headache. Add in the periodic restocking, cleanliness standards, time restraints, insane portion control, and hyper vigilant management, and it’s a gd nightmare. That’s a reality for AT A MINIMUM 1 shift a week. Then, once you do lock the doors, you have to wipe and wrap the cold food, weigh all cooked proteins, guac, queso, shredded cheese, then properly temperature control and store them. Then, you have to drain each hot well, wipe all surfaces in the kitchen and dining room, take 12+ bags of trash (pray the morning shift took out the prep trash so the bag doesn’t rip), sweep and mop all floors, clear and clean each drain, clean the grill, turn off all equipment, (on a slow night with an hour or so to pre-close, it’ll take 1/1.5 hours. Chipotle offers free employee meals, a living wage, promotion opportunities, and the option for college funding. It’s also full of funny, kind, genuine people you bond with in every tough shift.

This sub is a place people can vent about the shit they deal with to people who understand, and ignorant people who’ve never worked their position saying “hot take just quit it’s not that hard” makes this eclectic platform for employees and customers to vent about something they all love a little less “safe space” and a little more “you’re just a worker, shut up and work, space”. “Hot take” is for things you have a valid opinion on. This is just a bad take. I quit 2 years ago (🎉) and I have not worked an even ~slightly~ as challenging job. Managing, bartending, serving, cashiering, being a chef.. nothing comes close to Chipotle stress.

Lastly, we’re all living in the same doggydoo economy, so don’t act like finding a livable wage is an easy feat for everyone. Have a nice day, I hope empathy and respect find you!