Chipotle Geographic Woes

One of my favorite places to eat is Chipotle.  Yes, I'm one of those people.  I would like to think that when I travel say, over two hundred miles, the burrito I get will be the same.  However, recent experiences prove differently.

Last Thursday I got my same ole Chipotle chicken burrito with rice, pinto beans, corn salsa, medium green salsa, cheese, and lettuce about two hundred miles from my home.  Oddly, it tasted, well different.  Not necessarily spicier, but different flavors were more prominent.  I tasted the corn and salsa a lot more than I do locally.  Around these here parts, I typically have the rice and beans overpower the burrito.  I suppose the easy answer would be that they added more corn and salsa, but that wasn't the case.  Being overprotective about my food, I carefully follow every move of my burrito barista, and nothing appeared out of the normal.

Sunday I ate at a Chipotle about eighty miles from home.  This was perhaps one of the best burritos I've had.  Everything seemed to be in a perfect taste balance.

Today, I ate at Chipotle here at home.  Same normal home tasting Chipotle overpowered by rice and beans.

It's a tad peculiar how Chipotle changes by geographic region.  When you bite into a McDouble halfway across the country, it tastes the same.  Not with my 6 dollar burrito though.