After waiting an unacceptably long time I finally managed to get a taste of the Dulles Airport Chipotle Breakfast menu.
I arrived at Dulles Airport over 90 minutes before my flight departed (which is a massive diversion from my usual 30 minute race to the gate) but since I knew Chiptotle Breakfast was on the line I treated it as if I had a flight to a foreign nation with heightened security screenings.
I made it through security and walked underground to the B terminal (my flight was in C) to reach the Chipotle storefront. As I came closer my pace quickened. Once I was upon the front door I was likely somewhere between a full-stride run and an all out sprint. The entire restaurant was empty except for two smiling employees welcoming me in to the gates of Oz. They were the gatekeepers of my breakfast burrito bliss standing from behind a glass, stone and sheetmetal counter.
I looked over the long counter and down at the meats, salsas and toppings. I normally would be looking for which meat looked the tastiest that day but I knew for sure that I would be getting the breakfast-exclusive menu items. I went for the new meat, Chorizo- a peppered sausage meat offering, on this first breakfast trial. I also made sure to order a burrito to get the full effect - though I’m sure a bowl would have gone over just as well. In addition to the Chorizo I piled on ALL of the available breakfast ingredients (scrambled eggs, potatoes, onion-jalapeno salsa) and added my traditional toppings (black beans, pico, corn, sour cream, etc).
As you can see it is otherwise business as usual down the burrito making production line. Once you pass the initial breakfast offerings all of the same Chipotle toppings and salsas are available - further compounding the number of potential combinations you can create for your foil wrapped masterpieces.
I watched and drooled a bit as my burrito was wrapped in foil and was then plopped in to a red basket. I ordered a soda cup, later to be filled with iced tea and lemonade, and grabbed a bottle of Chipotle Tabasco. The cost was no higher for the breakfast offering than a lunch counterpart (and surprisingly there wasn’t an expensive airport premium) and so less than 9 dollars later I was sitting down ready to take my first bite. The first bite seemed strange at first… out of place with the new flavors… but after a few chews the new taste began to settle in as a perfect Chipotle melting pot of hearty spice and sweet.
And before I knew it the burrito was gone… and it was damn tasty. I mean it was warm, fluffy, spicy, and huge. How this hasn’t happened sooner and at more Chipotle locations is beyond me. I’d rank it as one of the best Chipotle burritos I’ve ever had… and that’s in the company of 1000+.
Understandably I had high expectations for the breakfast burrito, and my own personal stock in Chipotle was on the line, but I can say the experience exceeded my lofty target and I plan to make the C.B. stop a mandatory inclusion on every trip I make out of Dulles Airport. Bravo A.M. Chipotle, bravo.
More drastic than expected building renovations, town permit delays, and cold weather has slowed the opening of Virginia Tech’s new Chipotle location. With paper covered windows it is hard to tell exactly what is going on within the 308 to 316 North Main Street structure, but it sounds as though there will be little similarity to the old layout used by Joe’s Barber shop (though we can still hope that young single mothers will be there to rub their breasts against our ears) once the doors open and welcome students to Blacksburg’s second chain burrito establishment.
What was once a potential New Year opening has turned in to a mid-Spring opening for the soon-to-be best restaurant in town. Still, with all the renovations I was hoping it would be open for the spring game and now it looks like that may not be the case.
Ever wonder if you can get to the gated terminal area of an airport without a boarding pass?
The inside of the Dulles Chipotle is also a new take on the traditional Chipotle formula. The location encourages eaters to sit (briefly) at highly lit stool seating. This is probably to help move traffic along and fit as many people and their luggage in to the restaurant as possible. Also, new sheet metal artwork adorns the walls and a wood grain ceiling contains noise while it accents and contrasts with the unusual slate colored entrance.
Other staple franchises have found ways to accommodate this… For instance Quizno’s makes sub length toasted breakfast sandwiches for morning travelers. Five Guys lets you top one of their delicious burgers with fluffy scrambled eggs. Even Auntie Anne’s makes Bacon, Egg, & Cheese Pretzel Pockets.
Now, Chipotle is free to simply offer its tasty menu all-day and label it “breakfast” before 10:30 AM but something tells me that they will take a chance on placing an asterisk on the Dulles location and try using the grill for more than just Chicken and Steak. I know how a breakfast version of the overstuffed Chipotle burrito tastes and it’s heaven. One morning a few years back I brought with me a bag of scrambled eggs to the Tyson’s Corner location and they happily spooned them on to my steak burrito. The combination, paired with maple syrup and original Tabasco sauce, lived up to the wet dream of how I had imagined it would taste.
So there is this book that says you should not eat “THAT!” and it shows you a steaming hot pile of gooey cheese fries covered in ranch sauce weighing in at 2900 calories and next to that it will say instead eat “THIS!” and it shows a steaming hot plate of sweet and breaded Bloomin’ Onion weighing in at 2893 calories. (You may have seen this in Men’s Health magazine actually.)
