If you’re a Chipotle fan looking for convenient and affordable ways to meal prep for days in advance, then you’ve probably heard of this catering “hack.”
The logic is simple: Usually, when customers order large quantities of food at a restaurant, the restaurant tends to give them discounts on the amount of food purchased.
This “hack” was popularized by TikToker Alicia Briggs (@thebrownmamimelts); however, there are some users on the platform who are learning that sometimes, the hacks aren’t all that they’re cracked up to be. Either that or some Chipotle locations are just a bit more generous than others when it comes to food.
User @breakmeoffakitkat posted the results of her attempts at trying Chipotle as a meal-prepping solution, and as it turns out, it’s not as cost-effective as she had hoped, stating she ended up spending $140 for six meals; around $23.33 a piece. “It doesn’t even fill the whole bowl when measured out for a meal prep. And this, is all we have left. We got 3 whole meals, for $140. Each. So, six meals total. With a crap-ton of beans left, barely any rice left, and all the sides you could think of, but no meat,” she complains in a video that’s been viewed over 150,000 times.
@breakmeoffakitkat Pt 3 to say annoyed is an understatement
♬ original sound – breakmeoffakitkat
There are several fast-casual Mexican style chains that offer family style, assemble-your-own meals for customers. For instance, Qdoba sells family-style meals that are supposed serve 4-5 people for $39.95 (if one gets chicken) or $44.95 (if one gets steak), which includes sides like queso, salsa, beans, and rice, with an option to pick tortilla wraps or chips. Additional trays of meat come out to $12 (chicken) or $18 (steak) for customers who want more protein in their family style meal.
@breakmeoffakitkat wasn’t exactly thrilled with the amount of grub she received for her meal-prep venture, and there were a lot of other TikTokers who appreciated her candid call-out of this popular food “hack.” “Thank you for showing the real side of this! I keep seeing this hack thinking it’s like $20 of food,” one user wrote.
Someone else thought that this was indicative of the “shrinkflation” Chipotle has been accused of by its consumer base. Many customers are criticizing the brand for over-charging and under-delivering when it comes to the amount of food that they’re getting.
But there were some TikTokers who said @breakmeoffakitkat wasn’t demonstrating proper portion sizes when it came to doling out meat for her meal prep. “I mean.. you didn’t really portion your meat correctly. Which is why you have a lot of sides left and not much meat,” one alleged.
“To be fair, you both have at least double meat on your bowls. Your husband has close to triple,” another said.
However, the TikToker stated that she only had 3 ounces of meat in her bowl and her husband had 6 ounces. According to Eater, one scoop of meat is supposed to be 4 ounces at Chipotle.
The Daily Dot has reached out to @breakmeoffakitkat via TikTok comment and Chipotle via email.
