The One Thing Chipotle Employees Wish You Wouldn't Order
By now, we've come to accept the fact that Chipotle charges extra for certain menu items we might otherwise expect would come for free (and actually do come for free at some of the other Mexican restaurant chains). And sure, we've come to accept that the company has perfectly valid business reasons for doing so. But what we've never fully come to terms with is just how annoying it can be to place an order at Chipotle and have the person behind the counter remind us – just like yesterday and the day before and the day before that – that the guacamole, or the salsa, or the extra tortilla "costs extra, is that ok?"
Yes, it's okay, we've always replied, trying not to scowl. But that's all changed for us thanks to TikToker @thecharlesniko. In a revealing TikTok post, the Chipotle worker offers a rare, behind-the-scenes glimpse at some of the most annoying ingredients for Chipotle employees to prep, which include lettuce, cilantro, and, of course, guac. Now that we've seen it, especially the part about the guacamole, it occurs to us that when a Chipotle employee tells us that something costs extra, it might actually be a secret cry for help. In fact, we might go so far as to say that because of all the work that's involved, this may be the one thing Chipotle employees wish we wouldn't order, period.
Customers and employees pay a price for guacamole
We understand that Chipotle has to charge extra for guacamole because of the high cost of importing avocados from Mexico and to mitigate produce price fluctuations (via CNBC). And we've come to accept paying a little extra as a result. But our pursuit of the tangy, creamy green stuff might come at great personal cost to Chipotle employees. It's not immediately obvious just how labor-intensive the making of Chipotle's guacamole actually is – at least not until we took a look at this TikTok post by Chipotle employee @thecharlesniko.
We had to know more. So we did some research, and what we came up with is this Instagram post by Chipotle's Executive Chef, Chad, who devotes more than 26 minutes to showing us exactly how Chipotle makes its guacamole. Just watching Chad methodically peel, halve, seed, and scoop the avocado was exhausting, and that was before he got to the onions, jalapeno, cilantro, and lime. Ultimately, for the sake of Chipotle employees everywhere, the kindest thing might be to think twice before ordering the guacamole. Nah, we're just kidding. Go ahead and order the guac. But it costs extra, ok?