Chipotle sucks.

People seriously need to get over their lard fear.

I mostly make my own food. I admit I love my cream and cheese but at least I know how much and where its gone.

Wahoo Combo 2 blackened fish extra salsa and rice-- that's lust.

I don't really think of them as Mexican food though.

Chipotle's first ever joint is about two blocks from the law building at DU, so I get that a lot more frequently than Wahoos. No complaints.

(Thanks for the OTM-ing, Chris. You're probably as big an expert on this cuisine as I am.)

Mexicans are the third largest hispanic community in NYC.

See, I was ALMOST going to mention NYC, but thought otherwise because I didn't think the Mexican-American representation was going to be all that much. (I know there are a TON of Latinos in NYC, but I always think they're mostly of Dominican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, or South American extraction, so it's kinda cool to know the makeup of this ethnic category is changing in America's largest city. Thanks for the information!)

And I didn't know Detroit or Minneapolis/Wilmar had heavy concentrations of Chicanos. Okay. This must mean that the obvious, i.e. the Latino populations in MI and MN are pretty much concentrated in the large cities and surrounding suburbs of the two states. (And if I were ever to live in Detroit or Minneapolis and felt homesick, I'd be able to satiate that homesickness temporarily through the power of food.)

(BTW, we just recently got our first three local Chipotle Grills in. There's one close to the house I'd been wanting to try out, out of pure curiosity. Though not anytime soon, since I had a filling bowl of fideo and beans for dinner tonight.)

YOU ARE A WISE MAN.

I don't really think of them as Mexican food though.

It's a classically American story, I think -- son of immigrants becomes a surfer dude, parties down with friends in Baja, gets hooked on fish tacos and wonders what he can do about it. Wing Lam, hero.

Personally, I like Chipotle. I don't see how people can quibble about notions of authenticy anyway, when, if memory serves, burritos aren't even Mexican. I always thought their origin was American, by the border.

"In the 1950's, spicy food began to appear in the mainstream American diet for the first time. Salsa, burritos, nachoes, tequila, tacos....Many of these dishes were Tex-Mex inventions. In Mexico, only people in Durango knew what a burrito was. It was a locals-only treat."

Spencer totally owns this thread, btw. Brilliant.

The one in Brooklyn Heights is about the only decent, cheap food to be had on weekends... And their guac is very good.

not true! how about a salad or sandwich from garden of eden or lassen & hennigs? also, my little pizzeria on court street makes a serious slice.

what about Grand Canyon Burgers! Those are great hamburgers! I used to go to the one in park slope, then I moved to cobble hill. The day I discovered there was another on montague, was a great day.

lauren otm re damascus. i've been going there forever.

damascus's tahini bread is a tasty treat.

-- adam...

bullshit, there are like 5000 places to eat around there! your coworkers are lazy!