I appreciate the company's dedication to allergy friendly choices. The carry through at individual locations, however, is hit and miss. At this restaurant I have had some very conscientious setvrrs and some not. They will change gloves when I ask them to, saying I need gluten free, but half the time the server will turn around and set his or her gloved hands back on top of the tortillas as they ask for my order. I also notice that serving spoons for rice and beans often touch the tortillas of previous customers, so the gloves don't prevent cross contamination. I avoid the lettuce and cheese as that is handled with gloved hands and thus likely cross contaminated with the gluten from previous orders, though I have occasionally had a server offer to get me lettuce from a fresh bin under the counter, which I appreciated. Overall, I still choose to eat at Chipoltle about once every couple months, I am okay about 75% of the time, but I do get sick from gluten there sometimes. I consider it a gamble and I plan to eat there only when I know I can afford the recovery time if I get glutened.
Yes
This location does not know what gluten free is and they are not trained to change out their gloves when handling your food.
Chipotle does not have a gluten free menu but instead has a list of gluten-containing ingredients to avoid. Cross-contamination is a concern, however, so let the person taking your order know that you are gluten free and if you need them to take the proper precautions.
From their website: "If you avoid gluten, don't eat our flour tortillas. If you are highly sensitive to gluten and would like us to change our gloves, just let us know at the start of your order. You should be aware items containing corn, including corn tortillas (chips, soft corn, and crispy corn tortillas) and corn salsa, may have a small amount of gluten from potentially co-mingling with gluten-containing grains in the field."
I usually love Chipotle, but this location seems to have issues. I’ve gotten sick the last two times I’ve eaten here. Aside from cross contact, this location also just doesn’t have as good of food as other ones.
— Not at all
— Some
— Below Average
Our family has eaten here many (perhaps dozens) of times and there have been no reactions. This applies to either dine-in or take-out. They will change gloves and utensils.
— Very
— Most
— Excellent
Everytime I go I tell them about my daughter's gluten "allergy", and they usually switch their gloves, only sometimes wash their hands before switching gloves, and then prepare the food without knowledge of cross contamination. I try and tell them about you can't cross contaminate but they look confused. Chipotle definitely needs to do better with education on allergies and cross contamination.
— Not very
— No gluten-free information on the menu
— Some
— Good
They were out of rice, unhelpful.
— Not very
— No gluten-free information on the menu
— None
— Average
Never had an issue. Everything gluten free except the tortillas
— Very
— Gluten-free items are marked on the main menu
— Most
— Excellent