There’s no shortage of Chipotle meal “hacks” by brand devotees who claim they’ve found a way to buy meals at a discounted price. Some of these hacks have been summarily shut down for burning up employees’ time and wasting in-store resources.
Other hacks were blasted for simply not being cost-effective enough, leaving many customers to believe that the value of ordering from Chipotle varies on the time and the location that they order from.
TikToker Emily Fuller (@itsemilyfuller) says that she orders Chipotle every single day with her husband and has devised a way for the both of them to eat a meal that keeps them feeling full for hours and costs about $5 apiece.
@itsemilyfuller Pretty life changing #fyp #chipotlehack #chipotle #foodhack ♬ Aesthetic – Tollan Kim
Fuller’s video, which shows her, her husband, and their infant child out to eat at Chipotle, has racked up more than 4 million views as of Saturday.
In the clip, her husband places a large tortilla on a metal tray in front of him, then takes the salad they ordered and begins layering ingredients from the bowl onto the tortilla. Emily points at the salad and explains her meal hack.
“So we get one salad to share and then a tortilla’s like what, 25 cents?” A text overlay in the video with an asterisk corrects her original price claim, clarifying that the tortilla actually costs 50 cents.
He then layers some chicken from Chipotle on the tortillas and begins pouring sauces on them. The husband wraps up the burrito, and Fuller says both ‘meals’ comes out to about $5 each and leave the both of them feeling “stuffed for hours.”
As per Chipotle’s website, a double-portioned chicken salad from the franchise costs $12.65, so purchasing two tortillas to turn the meal into a burrito should come out to around $13.65. There is a way to make this hack cost less, but it all depends on whether the Chipotle location you’re visiting will allow you to buy just a portion of meat for a discounted price as not part of an entire meal combo.
Customers in this Quora post expressed that different Chipotle stores have different policies when it comes to this process, but others online said it’s entirely possible and comes out to about $2.25 per side. Meats or proteins are supposed to be 4 ounces per serving at the chain, so one could order a chicken salad for $6.50, add two tortillas for $1, and then a second portion of meat for $2.25, resulting in a $9.50 meal for two.
However, a lot of viewers didn’t think that Fuller and her husband’s hack was all that frugal, especially if they were going out to eat at the retail chain every single day.
“With $5 that you can buy that kind of food for a week,” one user wrote.
Another commented that the family brought their own chicken in that day in order to add it to the burrito, which Fuller confirmed was the case, sharing, “Yeah we did that day! It makes it way more filling.”
Some viewers were shocked at the amount of salad the Chipotle they visited gave Fuller and her husband. “That works if they fill your bowl up that much,” a user wrote. “These days it’s tiny scoops of everything.”
Fuller said that going in person and asking staff members to add more is the key to getting larger portions. “We ask for two scoops of everything,” she replied. “They won’t do anything if you don’t ask.”
While Chipotle has been slammed by several social media users for nickel-and-diming its customers, extra sides that aren’t “critical” items like chicken, steak, barbacoa, pork, cheese, guacamole, and sour cream, are usually free with an order.
The Daily Dot has reached out to Chipotle via email and Fuller via TikTok comment.
