Okay so I'm going to read and react to some of the best reviews imo about my Chipotle store. I'm sick of one manager in particular at the moment and Idk why but reading reviews cheer me up, even the negative ones

"I have been to a many different chipotle.. this was a worse experience I ever had. They didn't greet us or smiled. They were out of fajitas. Asked for sauces on the side they told me was extras. Asked for cilantro and they told me, they were not allowed to. Overall we think the staff was racists. Will never eat at this location ever again!"

Okay, so with this review I was working when this lady came in and I know exactly who she was because I was the one she asked about cilantro. And yeah, according to policy we're not supposed to give any out because it goes into our salsas and the LTO, therefore we can't give it out because we don't want to run out. Same thing with the lime juice. Now her sides of salsas, I can't really comment on how my coworker on line dealt with that but I usually never charge extra for sides unless they're getting like 3 of everything on the side. Now, I always greet people and smile even though I wear a mask, customers are constantly telling me how they can see my smile in my eyes. Now I know my coworker that was on line doesn't greet people or smile (our nickname for him is Dahmer, he has the glasses and everything lol). The fajitas being out is on my manager because he can't do his job properly.

"Out of most condiments, I couldn't roll the burrito without breaking it, so they just kept adding tortillas. It was a soggy mess. Nice staff but food was gross."

Okay, this was the same time period that the lady was in from the last review. So we were only out of fajitas, brown rice (because the manager didn't even start washing it until 3pm), and the honey vinaigrette. Thats not everything. As for the burrito rolling, I'm the second best person there at it but I was on cash meaning Dahmer was rolling, he does a poor job on it too. But yeah, if a tortilla breaks we ask if they want it double wrapped, rewrapped, or put in a bowl. I do anyways and most of the team does as well. But dude was chill and didn't make a big deal about it. I will say that for food isn't very consistent so I'll give him that.

" Queso should be placed along with non meat items. Sometimes there is good contamination when you buy queso. Please avoid if you are vegetarian/ vegan"

I have no sympathy for this man He complains about this every time he and his group of 15 come in. I've explained to him multiple times that we can't move the queso to the salsas because it will get cold and become unsafe to serve, and we can't move it to the rice because we can't keep passing food back and forth along the line. Most of us are very good about not getting anything in the queso as well. But it's the fact he brings this up every single time like we'll just magically change where it can go.

"This has to be the worst chipotle I have ever visited in a while. Terrible customer service, missing half the menu, workers are treated like garbage by the manager, trash everywhere and definitely not worth 40 mins of standing in line for."

For one, thank you for calling the manager out. It's only one who treats us like garbage and we all hope he gets fired soon. I agree with the customer whole heartedly in this one, some of my coworkers come off as rude I'm not gonna lie, though I always try to remain respectful and positive to everyone. 

"I came in from out of town. The counter was so dirty I asked them to wipe it. Asked for steak they didn't have it and was not going to make any. They had old chicken. I requested for the new chicken and the lady said it wasn't cut yet. Would not let the guy cut the chicken. Right after I paid for my food they cut the new chicken for the white people. Very racist! Will probably not ever eat at chipotle again."

Okay first of all, yeah, the counter was dirty and I was going to clean it either way with or without her input. I was on cash so I try to do anything I can to help my line people out. The whole crew working this night was very friendly. We did have steak, didn't even ask for it so I don't know why she said that. the "old" chicken wasn't old, it was just almost out (still 5 portions at the least still in there) since we just got done with a rush. The chicken was just taken off the grill and there was no one else in line but her and two other people, so it wasn't our top priority to cut the chicken, our grill guy was going to lay down more before cutting. But yeah, after this lady took forever while complaining to get done with her food and pay (not to mention yelling at me about prices) our grill guy did start cutting chicken, for the other lady in the same group, not just for the 'white people'. Calling us racist? Yeah no, we only had one lady working with us who was racist and she was fired/ put on leave.

"And the reward for SLOWEST SERVICE in America goes to this place."

*Clapping* look everyone! we finally won something!

"The staff here are just plain awful to each other, manager included. There is one guy giving it his all working a line that's going past the door, you can tell he's new but at least he's trying. Besides him, no one is helping the line. You have a gray hair lady on cashier who is just chatting with the online order blonde girl. There has not be a single person come in for an online order since I got here. I understand keeping up with orders but when a line is this long. Why are the girls just talking to each other and not helping the one line worker.

As the line goes well into the dining room, the online order asks the manager to help the guy on the line. The bale brunette pierced manager relied that it is not his job to help the line.

All while there is four other workers basically just standing around the kitchen, and one girl who came from the back to fill up ice that wasn't empty. 

The food was so low that the workers was scraping the bottom of the pan or tried to say you can get something else. There wasn't a choice to wait due to all the fresh food going to the overstocked cabinet of online orders. Which meant each item you got was only half a spoonful, including meat even though I ordered double. It looked less than one serving. While writing this I saw the cashier go over to the line and I was relieved that poor worker would finally get some help. But no, she was taking what little rice was left over to the online order station even though there is still a huge line.

I truly regret coming here and definitely will never recommend you go to this location again."

Wow. that is a lot. Okay, I was not working this day obviously or else I would have help the new hire. The gray haired cashier is the lady who was fired/ put on leave and the blonde girl no longer works here. The new guy has moved to the morning crew which usually isn't so chaotic. I have no clue who they were referring to as the manager since we don't have a brunette manager with piercings. I do feel bad while reading this review, more for the new hire. If I was asked to come in and help I would have but I was on vacation. A lot of negative reviews cam when I was out for the month.

"We were in 14 people group, we ordered veggie bowls all of them. they didn't have guacamole and veggies and when i told them can you give discount they said no and i asked at least drinks since no guacamole's available they said we cant do that. They dodnt even have ice in ice machine. Not just that one of the employee was being racist and since we are indian she said"oh immigrants dont want to work and we have to work they get free stuff so we have to work and dont have enough employees" "Dianne or diana was her name."

And there it is, the cashier I said was fired/ put on leave and it was for this exact reason right here. But yeah, we can't give discounts or just not ring up the drinks. If we are out of guac we always tell people since that is essentially the "protein" in a veggie bowl. They were well aware what we were out of before going through the line.

"Showed up 90 minutes before closing and they had basically nothing left. No fajitas, lettuce, guac, beans, salad dressing and chips.

Just ridiculous. They expect people to pay $10 for a burrito when they only have 30% of their ingredients.

I understand the staff was probably frustrated with not having their basic ingredients, but it showed with their attitudes. People picking up online orders were being told they can't do any refunds in store. Poor customer service.

Avoid this specific one.

Update: A family member mentioned they went to this store the other day and they were out of rice and queso. They seem to have issues managing their inventory."

Yeah, we tend to run out of stuff the closer you get to closing. Fajitas and guac being the main ones to run out earlier. Chips are hard to keep up with to when we get to the point we have to fry, season, and bag for every order and it gets us back on through put. Plus it's $9.10. And try doing the math a little better if we have 21 ingredients and we are out of seven that means we still have 67% of our menu. also the entire time I have worked here, we have never been out of both beans simultaneously so only 6 ingredients then making us have 71% of our ingredients. and I really wouldn't call the salad dressing essential either. Yeah, we get frustrated as PM shift when we run out of stuff because we are the ones who get yelled at for or morning prep team not making enough stuff for the day. That's not always their fault either because what people get throughout the day can be unpredictable. And We've also never been completely out of rice much less queso either.

"They don't have enough staff and services. Please don't go there."

I agree, please don't come here. 

"Please fire your management, start with a new slate, and get someone that knows how to run/train a store and make your employees feel capable of handling the high traffic that is Pigeon Forge tourism. It's clear no one from Chipotle reads reviews as things would have changed if they have noticed the consistency of bad reviews at this location. Every review in the last few months has been mostly 1-3 stars and I hate to say it but it is an honest reflection of the state of this store. Food always tastes good (it's chipotle), but unnecessary long wait times, lack of efficient food cooking/prep leading to many food items just not being available when needed, and just not having roles well defined with who is working the line, register, cooking, and who is attending to trash and cleaning front of store is nonexistent.

I love chipotle but this one is being run into the ground and if things were to change it would actually make employees and customers lives happy as everything would run way more smoothly. No reason with the amount of traffic and business that this store gets that it can't be one of their most profitable locations in this region with a prepared, well compensated team and good management support. I've ate here 8-10 times in the last few months and I wasn't going to write a review but unfortunately nothing is showing any signs of positive change. Also wages should be increased as most places pay $15-$20 and hour because staffing is limited in this area due to being a tourist destination. They have the traffic to justify the budget and is necessary to keep talent and build a successful team with the way things are in the job market.

South out to the few employees that work there that actually do try their best to hold it together and give a great experience while the majority just seem to pull the rest down with the burrito dumpster fire.

Sincerely
- a random queso obsessed burrito man from the internet-"

Okay, I actually love this one. He points out a lot of flaws manager wise and actually gives good advice while maintaining a calm tone in the writing. I love how he shouts out the people trying their best to hold the store together and I personally appreciate this. I do agree that we should get paid more due to being in a high traffic area. Also we do need new management. There is only one manager that I think is decent. Shout out to this queso obsessed burrito man from the internet

"Terrible service. Cater Customers come before in store customers."

Obviously. Catering has already been paid for so technically until you actually buy something, you're not a customer lol. But for real, you try explaining to a bride why her food catering was late because we have to deal with people in the line.

"The staff were very nice! And upon learning of a family member's gluten intolerance, the man working at the counter made sure to sanitize his hands and change his gloves, which was greatly appreciated! Food was good. This is a good Chipotle."

I don't understand why someone wouldn't do the bare minimum when learning about an allergy or intolerance. We always make sure to sanitize the line change out spoons, get fresh cheese and lettuce, and change gloves. I definitely don't mind doing these and it's actually quite nice to have something new to do while talking to the customer and getting to know them.

I can definitely make this a series. I love reacting to the reviews. the negative ones actually make me laugh sometimes since I'm reading it from a worker's mindset.