The long-awaited battle has finally ended. Which is better: Moe’s or Chipotle? Many people prefer Moe’s.

“Rice to chicken ratio is far superior to Chipotle,” senior Caleb Adam said. 

For this test, I ordered similar burritos: white rice, chicken, lettuce, cheese, and pico de gallo. The differences were small but might prove impactful as Moe’s serves cheddar cheese and adobo chicken while Chipotle serves Monterey Jack and white meat chicken. 

Ordering

Although Moe’s so kindly welcomed me into their restaurant with their signature “Welcome to Moes!” Chipotle immediately gained a head start. As the employee was preparing the burrito at Chipotle, the tortilla was noticeably larger than Moe’s and for good reason, The amount of rice and meat placed in each burrito was remarkably different. At Chipotle, they dug the ladle deep into the pool of meat and rice, twice, opposed to the small, careless scoops from Moes. The same goes for the add ons, lettuce, pico, and cheese, Chipotle outshined their counterpart by loading the burrito almost until it could not close, while Moes easily wrapped their burrito, leaving much of the tortilla unused. 

Observation and Taste

After driving home, cutting open, and laying out my two burritos, Chipotle, not surprisingly, earned a point in the presentation category. For starters, Moe’s skinny, pipe-shaped burrito was no comparison for Chipotle’s packed, round, and almost bursting burrito. Cutting open Chipotle’s burrito, it was as if the gates of heaven opened before my eyes. Bright colors shot out with the white rice, juicy chicken, bright red tomatoes with a slight sprinkle of onions in their pico de gallo, and a dark green sprinkle of lettuce, all bound together with Monterey Jack cheese. Moe’s, however, when cut into, portrayed a brown ball. All that was noticeable was the rice and chicken. The cheddar cheese seemed to have melted and integrated itself into each ingredient, distorting the color and appearance and the pico de gallo and lettuce were nowhere to be found. 

The first bite was awarded to Chipotle for its outstanding presentation and once again, did not disappoint. Immediately I was met with flavor from the rice and the tender chicken that appeared to fall apart after a single chew. Then, as the flavors began to fade away, the pico de gallo came to play and the flavor of fresh tomatoes and a sprinkle of onion went into effect. Now the tables shifted to Moe’s. Unlike Chipotle, where I had to plan my attack on biting the burrito and keeping everything intact, Moe’s was so skinny that one bite I was halfway done already. And as for that bite, I was not greeted with the same heavens that Chipotle happily welcomed me with, rather a warm, flavorless purgatory. Despite Moe’s adobo chicken which might have edged out Chipotle, nothing else really stood out to me. All the flavors seemed to mesh together and become one. The pico de gallo I did not even taste until I noticed I was eating a tomato, the lettuce was not crunchy, and the rice did not have the cilantro-lime flavoring I was promised. Moe’s also lacked freshness while Chipotle tasted as if the vegetables were freshly picked. 

Conclusion 

This conclusion did not need much thought. The clear cut winner was Chipotle. From the preparation to the flavor blast received after each bite, Chipotle ran away with this competition. Moe’s lacked appearance, flavor, and contrast in their ingredients. Only the chicken and rice seemed to be present in attendance. Although Moe’s gifts the customer with free chips, it does not make up for the lackluster performance given in the burrito field compared to Chipotle.