For years now, frustrated Chipotle customers have complained about the portions in their burrito bowls, tacos, and other menu items getting skimpier and skimpier. But it appears that these hungry diners have come up with a unique, unconfirmed hack to get more food.
According to several people on social media, all you have to do is whip out your phone when your food is being prepared at Chipotle and you'll get a bigger serving. The motivation behind the bizarre move is that workers would rather pile on the toppings than go viral for all the wrong reasons.
In fact, in a post that has since gone viral, X user Alex Friedman (@heyalexfriedman) wrote that an alleged memo instructed workers to be generous with the fillings if they think they're being filmed.
"People on social media have been dragging Chipotle so hard that allegedly a memo was sent out to Chipotle employees, instructing them to fill up the bowls as much as possible if someone has their phone out or is filming while ordering," Friedman wrote.
Another user on X took it upon themselves to test out the "method" and the results were pretty shocking. In the video, you can see the Chipotle worker loading the man's burrito bowl with massive heaps of rice, beans, and chicken.
While many people now seem eager to play amateur videographer for a heftier burrito bowl, others have found it to be extremely greedy of customers.
Given the amount of attention this peculiar hack has received across social media, Chipotle has issued a response. In a statement to People, a rep for the restaurant confirmed that "there have been no changes in [the company's] portion sizes."
Chipotle CEO Brian Niccol recently went on CNBC's Mad Money to refute claims that the chain's portions have shrunk. He said, "The whole thing is kinda crazy to me," referring to online reports, and recalled the old ad campaign for the brand that said the burritos were "as big as your head," adding that the sizes have "never changed."
He added that it bums him out when people video workers because it's "a little rude to our team members."
Chipotle’s chief corporate affairs and food safety officer, Laurie Schalow, told Today.com that there have been no changes in the chain’s portion sizes. She added that Chipotle has reinforced proper portioning with its employees.
Much of the renewed drama around Chipotle's portions was started by food critic Keith Lee's review of chain earlier this month. “Lately, Chipotle has not hit the same, in my opinion. Is it still like that, or has something changed? I truly want to find out," he said in his review.
“In my opinion it’s going from a 10 to a 2.5 out of 10,” Lee said of the quesadilla. He also noted how small the portion of chicken was in his bowl.
“This is my opinion you can take it with a grain of salt,” he said. “I just had to be honest. I don’t mean no harm.”
Have you noticed portions at Chipotle getting smaller? Let us know in the comments.
