Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Chipotle Versus Moe's Southwest Grill

Moe's perfected the burrito recipe.
God Bless,
Moe's Southwest Grill 


I don't know what has caused me not to patronize Moe's Southwest Grill ever, despite every time I've driven by the Battleground location saying "That looks interesting", but I deeply regret not going till today. You see it's the whole "Southwest" in the name that threw me off. I'm thinking Texas grilled chicken and chipotle sauce, okay, but that's not my forte', Never once did I think California Burrito with authentic salsa bar. Indeed, that's exactly what Moe's Southwest Grill is. It's an elaborate version of the burrito cart, van, or stand in Southern California, complete with its cooler of Cerveza. 

Where have you been?

Today was Cinco De Mayo, and Moe's had dollar beers and $5.50 burritos. Their menu is simple and to the point and the staff was friendly even though you could tell every time they said "Cinco De Mayo" they blamed their bosses for the silliness. Free wifi, and a clean atmosphere has made Moe's Southwest Grill the top of my list. 

I can honestly say I have a new favorite.

I ordered the Triple Lindy with Steak. This is a huge, estimated 2 LB burrito with rice shredded cheese, salsa (pico de gallo) and sour creme. Add in the salsas at the condiment bar. Not that I noticed till now, but I probably would have liked some jalapenos. I'm sure they have them, (they do) but I didn't think of it. 

The kids got quesadillas and I traded the beer for coke due to my obligations as designated driver of the children.

This is a place I won't just go to because I'm near it, I'll purposely hunt it down. When I say this is my new favorite, I do not joke. Burritos are one of my favorite foods, and I'm glad I've finally found a place locally to get a huge mammoth burrito. If only they'd serve breakfast burritos, I'd be set. 

I'm also enticed by the fact they have online ordering, (they need an app like 5 Guy's though) but only at the Wendover store. 

If I was religious, I'd say "God bless Moe's Southwest Grill" because surely this is a miracle in itself. Here's in the middle of deep fried North Carolina, I found my California style burrito. 


VS


I think she wishes she worked at Moe's
"Chipotle My Cheating Heart."

So last week in rather odd turn of events our family landed itself at Chipotle instead of Moe's for our little outing. Moe and I had something going. A relationship beyond just food, it was bond, one which I never saw much need to move beyond. After all, it was his burritos which made me find God. Oral was great as long as it was in my mouth, and covered in cheese.

I'd like to think of it more as a small fling when we walked into Chipotle over on Battleground. After all, burrito restaurants are just like men: different facades but all the same on the inside, right? Wrong. Chipotle toots itself as the tree hugger of the two, with free-range this and that, organic goodies, and a dining room set from Ikea. This makes Moe's that bad boy in town dripping in queso, and it's southwest Machismo attitude

Needless to say, Chipotle was good. I ordered a Fajita Burrito and covered it in hot sauce, ordered some chips and a nice Corona and sat down in a booth made of shingling and particle board. The experience was rather odd. The food, tasty, zesty, fresh and unique.... but is it better than Moe's?

Well Chipotle has some really good things about it. They have a great website, an apparently much easier on-line ordering mechanism, and a morally conscience menu capable of enticing the healthiest of hug-a-whalers in for a burrito. The staff was super friendly, and they quickly explained the process of left-to-right menu ordering. The burritos do also appear to be bigger. Though I'm not sure if bigger is always better.

The negatives: Chips aren't free, rather they're very expensive.... In fact, almost everything is a'la carte, and it's not cheap. There's also no salsa bar, and there does appear to be a gender bias in the customer base. In fact I did a head count that night and the female to male ratio was 3:1. It's definitely a female thing. In fact most of the men going to Chipotle were being dragged in the door by their female counterparts. Which is where I must really must be honest here. I think Chipotle is a bit of a fashion trend. There food is good, maybe even great. If I'm trying to be healthier, and maintain that trend.... perhaps I'm a bit tired of salad, Chipotle seems like a great health-conscience place where I can toss on those new pumps and go to lunch with the girls at. I'll nibble around on my fresh burrito sauteed with smokey peppers and tangy cilantro and talk about all the bargains I made shopping.... It's a different "type" of burrito. I could very easily "crave" Chipotle style burritos, but it would never, ever satisfy a Moe's "craving". Chipotle is good, normal food... Moe's on the other hand... well for those of you who understand... is the only one of the two that will solve those certain times of the month when you just need something bad.

That's when darkness falls, and I'm wearing sweat pants, trainers, and have my two kids in tow, that's when I need my bad boy across the street, where I'll drip queso all over myself, shoot salsa down my shirt, and scream at the top of my lungs while stuffing a big juicy Triple Lindy down my throat: "Welcome to Moe's".