Chipotle Has Chorizo Now, and We Tasted It

This week, Chipotle rolled out chorizo in select cities (Manhattan, Sacramento, San Diego, one Denver location) -- and wouldn't you know it, my city was selected. This is the big burrito chain that (almost) definitely is not the victim of a mass corporate conspiracy's first new menu item since 2014, when it gifted its meat-adverse fanbase the tofu-esque sofritas. I had to taste this cured Spanish sausage with my own taste buds.

So I went out and bought Chipotle's chorizo in three vessels: tacos, burrito, and burrito bowl. I asked if they could just scoop some into my hand and let me be on my merry way, but apparently that's "against company policy."

So this chorizo blend is specifically chicken and pork sausage, seasoned with paprika, cumin, and (oh you guessed it!) chipotle. When I dug into my three choices -- I realized something: all Chipotle tastes exactly the same. Exactly the same. 

The tacos tasted like mini burritos. The burrito bowl tasted like all my burrito fixin's had fallen out. The burrito tasted like tacos. You could have told me this sucker was stuffed with ground chicken, and I would have believed you. The distinct, powerful flavors that have made chorizo one of the most beloved of all my meats, was lost inside the torpedo of pinto and white rice. 

The only point where I could actually taste the chorizo was when I took the meat out, and ate it with nothing else (in hindsight, I should have asked for a burrito with only meat). The chorizo was spicy, spicier than anything I've tried at Chipotle, but you know, still not that spicy. It was due to the paprika, and overall it was a fine, if not overwhelming shot at hitting chorizo on a fast-casual scale.

Overall, it is good. But it kind of blends in with the burrito, it's almost as if it feels like it doesn't belong there -- like that guy who gets stood up at the bar by his friends, but still wants to drink, so he walks around aimlessly in the crowd with his cellphone out, randomly looking at Facebook and pretending to text a person that isn't really there. But inside, if you get to know him, he's a nice and totally not-weird guy.

That's what Chipotle's chorizo is like. My recommendation? Ask them to scoop it right into your hand. You never know. 

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