The Type Of Meat You Might Want To Avoid Ordering At Chipotle

A foodie's Chipotle order is a personal thing. After all, it's designed to be. The fast-casual Mexican chain is structured to be as customizable as possible, ensuring maximum satisfaction. However, to make sure customers are satisfied every single time they hit the line (as opposed to, say, every other visit), barbacoa is one of the nine items you should avoid ordering at Chipotle. As we noted in our Hall of Shame, the chief sin when it comes to Chipotle's barbacoa is its unflattering penchant for inconsistency.

"Barbacoa" is the Spanish word for "barbecue," and barbacoa beef is traditionally prepared using a Caribbean style of cooking in which the boldly marinated meat is slow-cooked over an open fire. Barbacoa-style cooking is customarily used to break down the muscle fibers in tougher cuts (chuck roast, brisket, and beef cheeks are common in the U.S.), as the beef's fat marbling renders and disperses through the meat, yielding tenderness. That is, at least, in theory. When it comes to Chipotle's barbacoa, fans seem to agree that something often goes wrong during the fat breakdown step.

A Quora post from an apparent Chipotle line cook shares that the chain's barbacoa arrives at stores pre-cooked ("we just heat it up on the grill or in a pot"). Also, even less-appetizingly, "Both Carnitas and Barbacoa have insane amounts of fatty meat in them, especially the barbacoa," writes the poster. "[T]here are literally frozen blocks of orange-colored fat that I mistook for carrots when I first started working there." 

Other foodies take a more apologetic stance on the ingredient. One Reddit thread in r/Chipotle asks, "Why is barbacoa so unpopular? Genuinely just curious. I was actually never huge on Chipotle and always defaulted to chicken [...] but it seems to be the least popular animal protein." The top comment, with nearly 500 upvotes, answers, "It's too hit or miss. It's either the most flavorful beefiest tasting piece of meat you had....or a disgusting glob of fat and connective tissue." Other commenters chime in to agree: "Exactly! I tried it twice and both times hardly any beef and mostly fat and tissue. I noped out for future tries."

We aren't docking points for flavor, which, according to the trove of copycat recipes created by Chipotle fans online, includes some combination of chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, apple cider, lime juice, garlic, cumin, cayenne, and dried oregano (swoon). It's the off-putting beef fat ratio in the composition. Even though Chipotle's tortilla game is on lock, the chain infamously skimps on the premium fillings (i.e., rice and bean bomb, very little protein). Still, every ingredient makes a difference. For consistently good flavor, we recommend foodies stick to one of Chipotle's other protein options, like steak or savory fajita veggies (which come with guac!). To diehard barbacoa fans, power to you. Feel free to take your chances and occasionally score a good bowlful. But, in general, ordering the barbacoa at Chipotle is a high-risk, mid-reward enterprise.