The legacy is over! After two years and some change the Dulles Chipotle location has decided to end offering breakfast-specific ingredients as of January 21, 2012. This means that all those flights I wake up at 5am for will now again suck horribly.

Imagine my distraught when I walked in to the B Terminal Chipotle bright-eyed and in hope of a nice fluffy egg-filled burrito with tasty herbed potatoes, chorizo and jalapeno salsa. I peered over the glass partition and had a panic attack when I saw this…

I had actually perfected the Chipotle breakfast burrito too - adding steak and guac to all the breakfast offerings. But as you can see, coffee aside, the Chipotle breakfast menu is now nonexistent.

Once my hyperventilating subdued (mainly because I knew I could STILL get a “regular” burrito) I asked through a cracked voice - “why, why did you end the breakfast?” and the way-too-cheery for 5:30am staff member said “no one really seemed to like it.”

I would love to sit down and have a conversation with those people, all of them, and after smacking each and every one of them in the face I am sure it wouldn’t make me feel any better because that wouldn’t bring back my beloved breakfast burrito.

So RIP Chipotle Breakfast - to those of us who were truly burrito blissed and lucky enough to experience it, we will always have our 6am memories. (stands up, walks away, turns off light, and closes door) “goodnight my sweet and spicy prince.”

According a friend in Columbia Heights, and confirmed by this Huffington Post piece (notice the circlejerking of article links here) Chipotle has silently rolled out a second rice - brown rice - to the burrito production line. I didn’t believe it until I went and saw with my own eyes - and of course tasted with my own mouth.

Chipotle Brown Rice nestled behind the standby

I suppose its not surprising… that one metal bin behind the white rice has been waiting patiently for YEARS all alone like a magician’s hat turned upside or a butler holding the lid to a gourmet serving tray waiting to lift and reveal some regal meal. That bin sat lying in hopes of some epic and  ridiculous addition to the long-standing staples of the Chipotle menu selection and likely the bin is a little underwhelmed.

Granted the newcomer doesn’t exactly wow but it is good to know there are now options for what spongy goodness will hold our burritos and bols together. The brown rice is obviously aimed as the more “healthy” alternative to the white rice, but portion size aside, Chipotle really didn’t need to push a healthy agenda. After all there are salad (hold the dressing) and bol combinations that are decently healthy on their own but this effort by the big C just may pull one more calorie-conscious patron in for a lunch break, so why not?

In sampling the new rice I can report that its not too far of a departure from our old friend and coagulating champion, white rice. The flavor is helped primarily by a still clear and present dose of cilantro and salt, and if one gets their burritos full of spice and Tabasco the difference in the two rices is almost negligible. Its good news to me as someone who tried brown rice sushi on one occasion and thought I had bitten in to the paper lining of a tunafish can but it may give those hoping for a drastic flavor change some reason to gripe that its too little of a change to warrant that magical new slot on the menu.

Give it a go, its supposedly more healthy, or at least it looks that way…

ShopHouse Southeast Asian Kitchen in Dupont is Chipotle’s new Asian concept restaurant and I was finally able to get out there to give it a taste. The efficiency, ordering process and overall feeling is definitely Chipotle - but the flavor is anything but. Just take a look at the menu below to see its a whole new world of flavors (which was likely the point):

The prices are staggering close to Chipotle but essentially there are two entree choices: bowls and banh mi (something I never knew existed until now). Where Chipotle’s meats normally would be are round bowls offering grilled chicken satay (spicy!), pork and chicken meatballs, grilled steak or organic tofu. Then you choose a type of rice or noodles along with a number of veggies, sauces, and other toppings and spices - highlighted by healthy offerings of cilantro. The beer offering has been stepped up to BeerLao, Singha, Chang, and (horray for Von) Dogfish Head 60 Minute and there is still bottled drinks and fountain sodas. Sadly they had run out of brewed Iced Tea, the sole blemish on the evening.

To make sure I got the full effect I ordered tried three different entrees (two bowls and one sandwich). The flagship seems to be the meatballs - which I ordered over rice and added a splatter of veggies and other toppings and I was very delighted with the clean and flavorful bites that were produced. I then did a mid-spice bowl with noodles, which although good, simply didn’t feel as hearty as the rice offering (perhaps the jasmine rice reminded me of the Chipotle rice I love so much). For the sandwich I said “make it hot!” and they did not let down. The spicy heat index easily passed that of ANYTHING I have had at Chipotle - but the hard bread was so tasty I still devoured every last bit.

In the end I can’t see Shophouse spreading like a money printing wildfire the way Chipotle has, but I think every city and well traveled strip mall could support at least one location. Its also a different enough taste from the staple offerings of Chipotle that I don’t see how they would cannibalize one another’s sales. Its a brave attempt in one sense for Chipotle to break its mold with this Asian “experiment” but consistency is something Chipotle does so well that its no surprise they could swap continents and still get great culinary results.

Getting a personal look at the new Blacksburg Chipotle was surreal yet comforting. Opening a Chipotle was something that clearly needed to happen in downtown Blacksburg, and people have been barking about it for years. Nothing about the eleven day old store felt novel and plenty of burrito veterans packed out the restaurant in the middle of the day.

Taking a closer look… Perhaps the most unique aspect of the Blacksburg Chipotle is the outdoor back patio which leads down to the metered parking lot behind the restaurant.

Through the non-descriptive back patio seating you find yourself down a short hallway which offers bathrooms (sure to be handy at 9:50pm on on the weekend) and two large booths cut in to the side of the wall in a “nooked out” area that looks like it may have been a last second stroke of brilliance to add more seating. Once inside the seating takes on the bench bars with high stools we first saw at Dulles Airport.

I am happy to report that the beer fridge was stocked - so it won’t be a lengthy “Permit Pending” situation for alcohol sales as we have seen at other Chipotle locations (perhaps due in part this location’s lengthy construction delays allowing for the paperwork to go through). In typical Chipotle fashion, the ordering line wraps around the far wall before snaking back along large glass windows that currently look out on a rather dismal gravel construction area. It looks like the parking and service road has been leveled out somewhat and the parking area will finally make good use of the space while making it less treacherous for pedestrians.

Back outside the “Grande Opening” sign still boasts the “incoming” date of October 5 - a day that will leave in infamy for Chipotle loving Hokies. Finally, the remainder of the building has been redeveloped to allow for a number of new loft apartments. For those of you who have always wanted to live the dream of smelling burritos all day and expending only 10 calories to get your Chipotle, they are still taking deposits…

Thank you again Chipotle… but… I told you so.

Read about the history of the Blacksburg Chipotle:

• Chipotle, Welcome to Blacksburg, 10/5/10
• A New Date For Blacksburg Chipotle, 9/11/10
• Blacksburg Chipotle Still on its Way, 6/8/10
• Blacksburg Chipotle Delays, 1/14/10
• The Dulles Chipotle Breakfast Options 8/23/09

The perfect marriage is finally complete… in less than 15 minutes the doors to the Blacksburg Chipotle will open, forever changing the food options of the town and campus while providing much needed burrito bliss to the New River Valley.

Despite some (crazy) speculation of how well a second nationwide Burrito joint will perform just up the street from the four year old Moe’s burrito joint, it is clear that Chipotle fanatics are down in Blacksburg ready to recruit an army of hungry Hokies. Dewey Nelson, today’s hero and scholar, has been camping out along with a handful of other fans in front of the new Main Street location which once housed Joe’s Barber and Stylist salon. They await patiently in hopes of being the location’s first customers this morning but of course many of us have been waiting many many years for this day to come.

I was crushed to find out that Charlottesville would be getting a Chipotle in advance of Blacksburg, and further miffed when I sent Chipotle Corporate a digital image of the old Crossroads storefront encouraging a Chipotle to move-in ASAP only to have it fall in to the hands of lowly Moe’s. But, with enough encouragement from Facebook groups, Northern Virginia Chipotle fans, and the undeniable truth that there is money in ‘dem there hills, Chipotle clearly has wised up. The new location is fairly isolated to other Chipotles so I do applaud them taking on all the new logistical hurdles and costs likely associated with such a remote store front. Five Guys made a similar move to Blacksburg almost six years ago and it has been a success ever since. Given what anticipation has been leading up to the grand opening I believe the Blacksburg Chipotle will be a beacon of success for the company (if anyone at Chipotle is reading this - why not test out the Dulles Airport Breakfast model in Blacksburg also!).

Though I can’t be like Mr. Nelson, I will be making my first trip to the B.B. C. next weekend to have what could quite possibly be my 1872nd burrito - I gave up count long ago - but I’ll just pretend for VT’s sake. Viva la Chipotle!

UPDATE 10/5/10 3PM: Reports via Twitter and Roanoke Times say the line is 100 customers deep and the wait is between 60 and 90 minutes for a burrito.

UPDATE 10/5/10 5PM: One question has been answered - Blacksburg Chipotle WILL serve alcohol (though currently they do not have any alcoholic beverages on display). Additionally the venue features the new sheet metal high top bar tables we have been seeing at new and remodeled locations. The weather has improved and the length of the line is still down the block as lunch shifts to dinner.

Read about the history of the Blacksburg Chipotle:

• A New Date For Blacksburg Chipotle, 9/11/10
• Blacksburg Chipotle Still on its Way, 6/8/10
• Blacksburg Chipotle Delays, 1/14/10
• The Dulles Chipotle Breakfast Options 8/23/09

In what looks to take almost a year to go from rumors-to-reality, the downtown Blacksburg, VA Chipotle location is set to open on October 5th, 2010.

Hampered by continuous construction delays which included lowering the main street retail spaces floor by a number of feet combined with one of the worst winter storms on record, Blacksburg will be getting their beloved burritos almost six months later than originally expected.There is some speculation as to if there will be some kind of grand opening celebration  or promotion. Bastardized burrito pusher, Moe’s, had to resort to giving away 52 free burrito coupons to each of the first 300 people in line on opening day. Never have I heard such drastic measures from a Chipotle (much less one that is destined to be a huge success), still if its a unique Blacksburg location t-shirt and a free burrito for the first hundred or so in line, you may just see people camping out as if they were waiting in the old Cassell Coliseum first-come-first-serve student football ticket handout.

And to anyone who has just plain had it with their jobs working in the city, they are still hiring employees for the new location. Though we all hope they leave the all-important burrito rolling in the hands of a 40+ year old Latina mother with a smile - they are the only ones who really do it right.

Remember to mark you calendars for October 5… just in time for the Wake Forest Homecoming game.

The merging of two beautiful things is taking longer than expected - so I guess we can’t be all that upset that Chipotle is a number of months behind on opening their main street location in downtown Blacksburg. No one asked God to speed things up when he created man in His own image, right?

Over a year after news broke of the big C coming to Bburg the interior work now begins on the site that once held Joe’s Barber shop. Delays brought on by a harsh winter and unexpected building modifications and flooring problems appear to be over as workers are ready to assemble the familiar steel and wood eating spaces where eventually up to 42 hokies will be able to enjoy their burritos. There is also going to be a back patio with additional seating.

As for now the target open date is August, before students pour back on to campus with fully charged Hokie Passports, tons of food swiped from their parents pantry, and bitchin’ new flavors of ice tea vodka.

And Chipotle better get things wrapped up in time for the football season. That cock of a burrito joint, Qdoba Mexican Grill said its heading in to Blacksburg soon as well. I need Chipotle to get in there and crank out the bliss, the campus has suffered long enough with the likes of Extreme Pita, A&W, Philly City and Moe’s.

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.

EDIT: Chipotle Breakfast is NO MORE! A sad day for Chipotle fans everywhere. Read more about it here.

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.

Its surprising too, when you consider that after an extensive upscale building project fell through at the new Penn State location (another college I called home), Chipotle simply improvised by buying up an old 5 screen movie theater in the heart of  downtown State College and converted it to a mega-Potle. However, if standing in a 30+ minute wait during a particularly bad lunch rush at Chipotle has taught us anything - its that those burritos are worth the wait.

Read about the history of the Blacksburg Chipotle:

• Chipotle, Welcome to Blacksburg, 10/5/10
• A New Date For Blacksburg Chipotle, 9/11/10
• Blacksburg Chipotle Still on its Way, 6/8/10
• The Dulles Chipotle Breakfast Options 8/23/09

Biff’s picture has spread far and wide on food blogs as the first “in the wild” proof that Chipotle was serving breakfast burritos. I’m pleased to share that the breakfast experiment continues here months later.

I stopped by the IAD location (unfortunately during dinner hours) and found out a bit more about the newest breakfast delicatessen in the B Terminal and closest restaurant to the soon-to-be-opened Dulles AeroTrain stop.

The staff led on that starting in January the breakfast menu will be expanded to include Chicken along with the current breakfast meat options and an additional rice-based ingredient unique to breakfast will also be added. For now it seems like the response has been positive especially if they are thinking of expanding the menu further.

And no worries if you don’t plan to make it to Dulles anytime soon - the inclusion of the breakfast-specific menu is actually written in to the lease at the Dulles location. We knew Dulles required all restaurants to operate breakfast hours but now it sounds like they require breakfast items during those early morning hours (6AM to 10AM), even if Five Guys just cheats by throwing an egg on a double stack.

The next time I make a comment on the breakfast burrito I promise it will be after actually eating one…