Chipotle is a Mexican grill that allows you to customize your choice of burrito, burrito bowl, salad, or taco with a variety of sides to choose from. It’s a popular restaurant across the country that is known for ethically and naturally producing its ingredients. Their motto is “food with integrity.” They are the newest restaurant in Fort Smith. 

With any restaurant or business in general opening up there is always a buzz around it. This makes it hard to live up to people’s expectations, and unfortunately Chipotle has not done that. 

The food is simply average, nothing more, nothing less. The same can be said about the customer service. It’s the kind of place you go to once, maybe twice, and forget about. 

The biggest complaint I have is they were clearly short-staffed and underprepared. Even at one of the slowest points of the day, the line was painfully slow. The floor hadn’t been swept and no tables had been cleaned. Almost all food options were out or very low, as were the drinks. This included all four kinds of their salsa. 

They are also somewhat expensive considering the mediocre quality of their food. Yes, the ingredients are natural, but they aren’t as special as the price lets on. 

On top of all that, they were only accepting card payments. Multiple people walked up to the door, saw the “cash payments not accepted” sign, and walked off. In a time where they are at a peak number of customers, this could seriously harm their business revenue and reputation. 

Overall, it was fine. I wouldn’t necessarily avoid it, but I wouldn’t choose it over many of the restaurants in Fort Smith. Overtime as the amount of customers died down and more employees were hired it could get better. If you’re on the fence about it, I would say to go at least just to try it. Just don’t go into it with super high expectations because it’s just another regular chain restaurant.