There are four positions that I work:
Opening prep
Closing prep
Opening grill
Closing grill
When working prep, I always start by filling out the prep sheet. The prep sheet is basically a chart that tells me how much food we have, what we need to have for the shift, what I prepare for the next two shifts, and our sales projections for the shift.
The food I prepare varies by shift. With opening prep, I prepare everything for the day within three to four hours and then I go up to
the grill to back the opening grill person during the lunch rush. My shift starts at 6:30 am and ends at 2:30 pm.
In closing prep my shift starts at 4 pm and I need to be done by 7 pm at the latest. I prepare everything for the next two shifts. That means I marinade between 200 - 400 pounds of meat, I cut 30 pounds of bell peppers, and 20 pounds of onions. I also block 80 pounds of cheese. When I'm done I go, and break the grill person for thirty minutes. When he's finished at 8:30, I go on break. I come back and begin to clean the back of the house. I have two and a half hours to scrub the floors, clean the sinks, take out the trash, do the closing dishes, bleach the cutting boards, and then deep clean the dish pit. On a good night, I have almost no dishes to clean. On an average night, I'm cleaning at least 40 pans, and on a bad night I'm in the dishpit for over an hour.
In opening grill, I come in at 7 am and connect the gas lines to the rice cooker, grill, range, and deep fryer. I then begin by
Prosfree food when working, half off on days off, paid breaks, free uniforms
Simultaneously the most organized and disorganized place I’ve ever worked. It’s mind boggling.
Never written a review on here but here’s a job worth warning people about. Started working here a little over a month ago. My particular location is a newer one with a new manager that’s never worked at a Chipotle until now, my position is on grill. Overall I’ve worked worse jobs but not many. I joined because there are some pretty good perks (free food whenever you work, 30 minute paid breaks, after 4 months they’ll help with tuition assistance if you’re going to school) but beyond that it’s just been an unhappy experience. There are tons of guidelines in place for health and safety, I’m guessing because there have been so many illness outbreaks at Chipotles (if you didn’t know this look it up) and they are even stricter during COVID. I wouldn’t have a problem with it if it weren’t for the fact that my location has a new GM and I get conflicting information on company protocol All. The. Time. They’ve apologized to me several times for failing to explain everything from how to properly sanitize their bag openers to how to cook steak, but a month and a half into this job they’re still coaching me during my shift on things I didn’t know I was supposed to be doing since day one - and this happens EVERY DAY. It’s like being gaslit on my own job training. I’ve had numerous encounters where a manager would come up to me, watch me do something I’ve been trained to do that I’ve been doing for weeks and weeks, only now to tell me that I was doing it the completely wrong way. Then, wh
ProsFree food when working, tuition benefits, learning lots of cooking skills, decent employment security
ConsBad management, disorganization, terrible training, pressure from corporate, unnecessary stress for a minimum wage job
managers take advantage of hard workers and make them do the work the managers should be doing. part of chipotle employment is connecting with your people, which they think they do by having "one on ones", which really is just an excuse to get out of actually working for a half an hour or more and just talking bad about someone or something. Yes they could possibly be talking about ways too improve your performance, but stuff like that doesn't require sitting down with them and having a pointless, waste of time meeting. part of being a crew member at chipotle requires that if you see something being done incorrectly, you should point it out to either the person doing it or someone who can find out who did and correct their mistake. seems like a good way to keep everyone on the same page, unless the manager doesn't agree with what you pointed out, then it doesn't matter, even if it is against policy. Once you're a manager, youre set. they cant get fired uness they get caught stealing or something ridiculous, which still they probably wont lose their job. I had this manager who was supposed to open one day, we get there at 8, some at 7, and she didn't even call to say she was coming until almost 11, which is when we open, so the whole crew was waiting around for her for almost 2 hours. finally the GM shows up before the opening manager and they don't get the store open until 1!! and absolutely nothing happened to the opening manager...why? because the reason she was so late and
Prosfree food
Consbreaks as soon as you come in, horrible management, special treatment
Any given day working at Chipotle is different with just one common factor: customers want their burrito and they want it fast. It all depends on which position you are scheduled to work, and the only position I was never assigned to work the Grill. I worked the Tortilla station, Salsa Station, Cash register and Food Prep. No one person can do it alone, a team is required to make a day go by smoothly, like a well oiled machine. It starts with the prep person who makes the meat marinade at the begging of the night shift so that it is well seasoned for the next day's burritos. Every morning tomatoes are diced, jalapenos and salad lettuce is cut, cilantro is chopped, cheese is grated and fresh salsa and guacamole is made. Nacho chips are put in the fryer a batch at a time and salted to perfection. Salsa, Guacamole and chips are often made multiple times in one day so that the stock stays fresh. Each crew member needs to know about all of the food products sold so that they can give a customer a description of how everything is made and what it tastes like. Portion sizing is very important a chipotle, not only does it help customers be able to count the calories of how much they are getting in their burrito but it helps reduce waste at the end of the night. It is important that when working on the line a crew member is able to wrap a burrito so that the tortilla doesn't break or the contents later spill out into the customers lap. At the Cash register it is important to smile and
Exaughsting, okay pay, quick paced, REALLY depends on specific location and who you work with
It's great if you are just entering the workforce and are desperate for a job while finishing college! (Like helping you pay for college and paying you for the work you do).
It is very labor-intensive, just like many other food-service jobs; it's just how it works. You will get burned (physically - it's a kind of "right of passage,") because all of the pots and pans don't guard against heat when you're handling metal containers with fresh meat in them. It's also a very tight and compact environment, like most food-service positions. However, being very hot and exaughsted is just something you have to get used to, as well as being very mentally tough to make it through each day, if you want to survive. Some people have high egos and treat it like a toxic dog-eat-dog entitled environment, while others are so so very kind, and considerate, not to mention flexible with scheduling and training you how to accomplish everything the right and efficient way. If you can't rise to the occasion and deal with multiple tasks and people at once, then don't even apply. You know how long the chipotle lines usually are - people are working harder than customers think they are, some just don't care to notice.
Most of the people I worked with were really amazing, helpful friendly and outgoing. Your experience really depends on who you are working with though. Some managers have been awesome, as it's a very tiring and draining position with many responsibilities. If you're not careful or
ProsFree meals while working - 1/2 off while an employee but not on shift, compensatio raise with every position you move up into, hefty paycheck, free smells!
Conscompact environment, draining, very hot and crowded, unrealistically high expectations for one person, poor management sometimes
I was lucky to get employed at a grand opening for a new Chipotle and therefore had excellent training during an NRO (I honestly don't know what that stands for) week. Prior to working at Chipotle, I had no experience in customer service or working in fast food. I felt very timid about slowly learning how to do all the tasks, however, within two months I really got a decent grasp on how to do a lot of tasks and could teach others a thing or two. If you're open to learning more tasks, they'll get you trained on all you want to learn for the most part. If you don't get along with at least one manager or your peer crew members, you're going to have a very difficult time. When I started off as crew, I had many enjoyable days with my team. Management at Chipotle fluctuates very rapidly. The management of management want the highest standards done with as few workers as possible--and that makes for a very stressful time. So, if you're not homies with some people you work with, dealing with customers and management is going to be really tough on top of not getting along with the team. Chipotle is not just another fast food restaurant--it's a physically demanding, fast pace restaurant business and they take food quality and food safety seriously (as it should be). There are many rules/standards set in place for food and health quality, but on most days it is impossible to follow standard to the book--so if you're a stickler for rules, this will be tough to comprehend. If you do not
ProsFree food during break, health benefits, training, quick advancement
Consmanagement, dml need I say more?, cliquey, cannot trust anyone
If you like a toxic workplace, you'll love this job.
The entire three months I worked there, we were understaffed just about every single day after my first week. A lot of employees (including myself) have quit due to the pure bitterness, lack of communication, rudeness, poor decisions and high-school mentality of the management.
If you weren't good friends with the managers inside and outside of work or if you weren't a manager from another location coming in to help them get their stuff together, they'd just treat you like dirt and put you below everyone else and assign you to things they didn't want to do while they hid in the office or talked to each other in the back. They are extremely cliquey and biased against anyone below them. It was an every day occurrence where I'd hear them talking trash about another employee while said employee wasn't there. On some occasions, I could hear them talking down on me as if they had no clue I was even there. Some of the stuff I've heard them say about my other co-workers was absolutely disrespectful. From questioning someone's sexuality to mocking an employee's mental illness, the list can go on.
On top of that, they were ALWAYS denying breaks. I've had this issue with them a few times and I've seen it happen to others all the time. It is absolutely unacceptable and illegal for ANY employee who comes in to be denied breaks. ESPECIALLY if they are coming in for over eight hours every day. The managers would also get extremely hostile with anyone who even dared to mention that.
Terrible management. Standards change all of the time. Philosophy of leadership is to always find something wrong
My year and a half at Chipotle was the worse experience of my life. The upper management (regional s and such) always have to find something wrong. I was there for 1.5 years and never once got told I was doing a good job. They have unrealistic expectations and standards change so quickly they don't even know what they are half the time themselves. The environment is also very...political. They are proud of how quickly they can transfer or fire people, management or crew whom annoy or bother them. I had district managers lie about things I said, start gossip, blame me for their girlfriends breaking up with them, and told they'd shut my store down because I hadn't swept the floor when i was short four crew members (in a shift of 8) when fully staffed stores had mold in the back of house but they were more experienced so It was ok. I had HR reports swept under the rug and was berated multiple times for having to take five minutes out of my day to test my blood sugars as I'm a type one diabetic. I once had to threaten to quit because I had worked four six day weeks in a row, many of those days being double shifts and they expected me to cancel plans and work a seventh day when I was already coming in to cover a shift the next day, and had worked a double the day before.
GM's are basically allowed unlimited vacations. The GM's I worked for would be gone for weeks at a time, at least taking one week long vacation a month as well as calling in sick and refusing to cover shifts f
Unstable Work Environment Not Suitable For Those Still In School
As a minor in high school (who applied as a part-timer), I was given more hours than all of the other full-time employees. I was often guilted into staying later than (the already late) 11:00pm closing time by young, poorly trained managers who lacked the authority and knowledge to properly run a store.
Employees called out nearly every shift, and coverage was seldomly found. Chipotle's shift structure is uniquely devastating-- a single "call-out" would leave the store operating with only 80% of the staff it was intended to have. General Managers rarely fired any of those who would commit repeated call-outs, creating a chaotic environment in which only the employees who cared would suffered.
Higher-ups would constantly visit, only to be presented with a mirage. Stores would be deep cleaned, and employees briefed... Everything would promptly return to the inferno.
One of the saddest and least expected things, to me personally, was how it was difficult to place any of the individuals at fault. Crew became complacent and uncaring after seeing the behavior of others (who deserved to be fired, but couldn't because hiring is much too difficult). Managers allowed crew to stop caring, because they had stopped caring long before. Many of those who were promoted had little to no management experience-- just knew how to do really well on a certain station, or had worked really hard in the past. General Managers were always working-- even at home. They could hardly shower or sleep w
ProsOpportunity for quick advancement, free meals, discounted meals, flexible scheduling
A typical day started with me clocking in, and immediately jumping on the line. I primarily worked nights (4PM to close). Unless it was their second or part time job, most people were scheduled at shift changing times. This was a problem because it would be unorganized and hectic when people clocked off for others to come in. This was extremely frustrating because I would have to clean the messes left before me, while somehow having to keep the line stocked with strict and different food safety standards, communicate with the cook, and serve customers their food. My managers were cool people, but because of the high standards Chipotle corporate sets, they had to consistently remind us of our duties with nit picky opinionated details and paranoia from person to person. They would constantly remind us to act, look, and do things a certain way because if someone at corporate saw something wrong on the cameras they could be in trouble, or a Chipotle inspector could come in and flag/penalize the store or employees. The amount of responsibility each worker had was overwhelming. They stretch each employee as thin as they can to make the most money, and combat any sort of questioning or suggestion of different routine/ team collaboration with accusations that you aren't working hard and fast enough. On top of this, we were also consistently understaffed, thus making things even more chaotic. As the night would progress and people would fatigue, those who had been there longer showed
ProsFree and healthy meal each shift, tips from tip jar, 50% discount at your store location only, health insurance
ConsVery stressful work environment, not enough pay, discount was at your store only
Questions And Answers about Chipotle Mexican Grill
If you were in charge, what would you do to make Chipotle Mexican Grill a better place to work?
Asked Sep 23, 2017
Maybe your boss comes to work on time or people you work with could be nicer and definitely better training until they know where everything is and what they are doing
Answered May 4, 2021
Hire more older people, 55 is more reliable than 35
Answered Feb 8, 2021
What questions did they ask during your interview at Chipotle Mexican Grill?
Asked Jun 17, 2016
Examples of leadership, why you want to work there, personal questions like that.
Answered Oct 6, 2021
Manager introduced himself and then asked for me to introduce myself, and then he asked for availability, strengths, one word to describe myself and then he explained how chipotle is fast-paced, and then asked if I had any questions, which you should always ask them questions!
Very easy and simple interview, in-fact it was my first interview, and by the time I got home the manager called me letting me know I got the job!
Answered May 17, 2021
Do you get paid weekly or bi weekly
Asked Apr 5, 2019
I was paid Bi weekly
Answered Apr 15, 2021
Biweekly so 2 times a month sometimes 3 depending on the month.
Answered Nov 8, 2020
Can you have fake nails, if your a cashier?
Asked Jul 17, 2016
No you can't because it slow down the work
Answered Oct 24, 2020
No. Period.
Answered Dec 6, 2019
How long does it take to get your first paycheck
?
Asked Jan 7, 2017
If i started my job june 20th and get paid every two weeks shouldnt i have got my direct deposit
Answered Jul 2, 2019
I started a week ago and I'm work two weeks I'm about to be on my third week well I get a paycheck
