Not too long ago I came across an article comparing Chipotle to Qdoba and Moe's. When I say comparing I really mean dumping on Moe's and Qdoba and praising Chipotle like it can do no wrong, with a lot of bias as well if you ask me. If you'd like to read this nonsense here is the link: http://theodysseyonline.com/assumption-college/why...

The first thing I will say here is that I do not care about the whole E. Coli thing with Chipotle. It's over and done with. I still joke around whenever my friends go to Chipotle and I warn them to not get E. Coli. Even though it was a small outbreak I feel like it was a huge social mishap for Chipotle because now they can always be the butt-end of a joke. So in my mind Moe's and Qdoba are already have a step up on Chipotle.

Now to be fair, I'm not even going to talk much about Qdoba, because for the five or six times I've been there I never actually left and could say "that was good." Qdoba does not even come close to Moe's and Chipotle, and in this article the writer seems to think that Moe's is at the bottom of the barrel. Well I don't know if he had a bad experience at Moe's or what but I'm going to venture to guess that most people will place Moe's above Qdoba. Now back to business.

The first thing he talks about is how the food itself tastes better at Chipotle than at Moe's. All he talks about is sofritas and queso. Yeah because that's all they have there. Who even eats sofritas, or any kind of tofu for that matter. Why don't we focus on the food that really matters like the actual chicken, beef, and steak. I personally get chicken in my burritos and bowls, and I prefer Moe's chicken. Every time I get chicken at Chipotle it's either burnt a little or too chewy. Moe's gives me consistent chicken every time. I do give Chipotle credit because their cheese is better, and they also have barbacoa. However, Chipotle lacks one crucial ingredient that this writer seems to hate: queso. I have never met anyone, other than Ian Flanagan (writer of the other article), that does not like Moe's queso. I don't know if he was drunk or high when writing his article but he had the audacity to say that he would put the cheese sauce from Taco Bell's Volcano Taco light-years ahead of Moe's queso. Buddy. Just stop. I'm not sure if there has ever been a more ignorant statement published on the internet. That type of thing is something you see posted on a twitter account that just posts stupid things that people say. Moe's queso is legendary and there is no denying that. "You could melt the cheese from Chipotle and it would be better than other place's queso." Dude what are you even saying. This is not a joke anymore. Maybe he got fired from Moe's a while back and he just hates them now. I don't know what it is but as far as I'm concerned, Moe's queso is something I've always heard people praise and enjoy, as well as dream that one day Chipotle could create a queso even just a fraction as good as Moe's.

Another thing that blatantly puts Moe's ahead of Chipotle that is not taken into account in the other article is chips. Moe's gives complimentary chips with every order, and you can keep going up and asking for a refill. We all know what Chipotle does. They make you buy an extra bag of chips. No refills. Speaking of refills, Moe's has those massive Coca-Cola machines that can create a million different flavor combinations. Chipotle doesn't have that. At least not the ones I've been to. Some Moe's even have Carvel ice cream stations inside as well. While Chipotle might have slightly fresher ingredients, after taking everything into consideration, I'm going to say that it is a tie for food. Wait I forgot. Chipotle gave people E. Coli. Of course, how could I forget that? Moe's wins for food.

Next thing that this writer talks about is the name that each place has. Really? Give me a break. He says Chipotle is simple to say. If it is, then how come plenty of adults call it CHI-POL-TEE? Chipotle can easily be mispronounced. Moe's is simpler really. Qdoba can just go away because who cares. His argument is that he doesn't trust anyone named Moe making his burrito. I forgot that all the workers at Moe's are named Moe. I personally couldn't care less about the name of the restaurant, because I don't let dumb little things like that affect my opinion. Remember Ian, never judge a book by its cover. Name doesn't matter. The name doesn't affect the food. Plain and simple.

Now he tries to attack the Moe's menu. While newcomers might be overwhelmed with the menu being a bunch of weird names, it shouldn't be that hard to figure out considering there are pictures and descriptions right next to the name. Besides, I like to have a little fun with ordering my food. I agree though, Chipotle's menu is simple. Maybe a little too simple. They don't say you can order a quesarito. But you can. Seems misleading if you ask me. Also, Moe's has nachos and stacks. A stack, also known by every avid Moe's fan as the Wrong Doug, is a tortilla laid down with some cheese in the middle and a smaller circular hard taco shell. You then put whatever toppings you want on it and then place another hard shell on top. After that the rest of the tortilla is folded up and more cheese is placed on top. It is then placed on the grill to close up the top. It's like a crunch wrap supreme from Taco Bell only a million times better. Chipotle needs to start doing something like that because Moe's does it very well.

He did, however, do his research on Chipotle's ingredients. They use pasture-raised dairy and meat without antibiotics or hormones. He compared it to Qdoba's food, which I do not even consider in the realm of Moe's and Chipotle. Oddly enough, he doesn't even research what kind of ingredients Moe's uses. He just says that it's gross and he doesn't trust a Moe touching his food. He seems to have something against people named Moe. I don't know if that's racism or some other kind of ism but it is very ignorant and biased. I did a little research and only lately has Chipotle began using meat with no GMO's, Moe's is not there yet, but hey at least I'm telling you guys some facts about them instead of just my biased opinion.

Chipotle does indeed have ingredients that are better for you than Moe's. However, unless you're eating Moe's or Chipotle every day, the ingredients are not going to make that much of a difference for you in the long-run. He also brings up the sentence "So Chipotle gave some people E. Coli." Excuse me? Talk about brushing it off like its nothing. E. Coli is not just the sniffles dude. Its a little bit worse. Actually a lot worse. "At least they are owning up to it..." In comparison to who? Its not like Moe's or Qdoba have ever given people E. Coli. He compares it to Wendy's about how they didn't do anything to show they cared about someone finding a finger in their food. Since when were we talking about Wendy's? This is a battle of Mexican grills and as far as I'm concerned Moe's has never poisoned their people with E. Coli. What kind of facility allows that to happen. But hey they have the better ingredients.

I think it's clear who the winner is here. When taking everything into consideration, not just a few things, and not just some unimportant things, Moe's takes the cake here. Nice try Ian, you'll have to do better than that next time.