How to win at Chipotle

Do you like Chipotle? The delicious cilantro-lime rice, excellent beans, meat cooked to perfection, and the flour tortilla that wraps all of it together?

And the guacamole? Oh, the guacamole. Sooooooo good. "Made from fresh avocados, hand mashed, three times a day", like they say. But who likes to pay an extra $2-something for it, on top of a $7 or $8 burrito?

Chipotle is so good, but you can end up paying a lot more than you have to and then falling uncomfortably into a food coma afterward. That is what happens when you get a burrito (or even a burrito bowl) with (or even without) guacamole, but it doesn't have to happen. You can eat exactly what you want and pay less and feel great when you're done eating. You can win, bean and cheese burritos aside. You can win.

Here's how you can win at Chipotle.

1. Ask for two tacos (I like soft tacos).
2. Specify that you want one vegetarian, one with meat of your choosing (I like chicken).
3. Get rice on both tacos, and beans on one, peppers and onions on the other. (Or both ingredients on both tacos- I don't think it matters)
4. Ask for the meat on the tacos with beans and rice. This is important!!! Meat must only go on ONE taco!
5. Move on to toppings. I like to get everything: salsa (mild), corn, sour cream, cheese, and lettuce. Get the generic toppings on BOTH tacos. Then ask for guacamole on the other, only-veggie taco. This is important!!! Guac must only go on the taco with NO MEAT!
6. Pay. Make sure that the cashier knows it is two tacos vs. three (which costs $8). It is under $6 and I'd have gotten everything I wanted at a good quantity.

Under $6 for meat AND guacamole? WIN-WIN! How did this happen?

Guacamole comes free in vegetarian tacos, so if you keep one taco meat-free, you don't have to pay for the guacamole you get on the veggie one.

You may think two tacos will not fill you up, as I thought before I switched from burrito bowls to two tacos. But, surprisingly, it does. If you like eating burrito bowl style, you can dump the contents of the tacos into a bowl, too. Then it's like you got a burrito bowl with free tortillas! For under $6!!!

WIN!

You are welcome.