It was a case of Tex-Mex-tortion.
Chipotle is once again on the hot plate over allegedly pumping up prices amid inflation. This time, a California man accused the guacamole monger of charging him over $50 for a meal or two, detailing the alleged high-octane highway robbery in a TikTok video with 1.3 million views.
“Has Chipotle lost its damn mind?” Matt Reick, 47, spluttered in the clip.
According to the Anaheim-based influencer, who frequently posts business advice to his channel, he and his son had visited the restaurant on November 15 after wrapping up a workout session, Newsweek reported.
Reick said they ordered two bowls with double meat and guacamole, along with two soft drinks, for what was supposed to be a hearty but affordable post-pump meal.
That was until the customer saw the bill for $52.64 — an amount he found “unbelievable.”
“How in the world do you expect people to keep coming in?” accused the content creator. “You guys are charging people over 25 dollars to get a burrito bowl of cheap Mexican food and a regular drink….not even a biggie drink.”
He found the price hike ludicrous, given that it cost around “11 bucks” for a burrito bowl just three years ago. According to a 2024 Reuters report, the chain upped menu prices by about 2 percent nationwide to counteract inflation and the soaring costs of beef, dairy and avocados.
“This is 100% your fault that your stock is down 15%,” declared Reick, referencing the burrito hawker’s plummeting shares amid a decline in store traffic. “Because you guys have raised your prices well past the point where regular people are willing to pay them.”
Commenters sympathized with the TikTokker’s plight.
“Chipotle has gotten wayyyyy too expensive for fake Mexican food,” griped one disillusioned customer. “It shouldn’t cost $20 for a bowl and a drink.”
Another wrote, “Chipotle is just nasty and greedy!!!
“We need to stop showing up at the restaurants until they drop the prices down,” declared a third.
This comes as CEO Scott Boatwright admitted the chain is struggling to retain customers amid “persistent macroeconomic pressures.”
The burrito chain big-wig blamed unemployment, student loan payments and slower wage growth failing to keep pace with inflation, which is pummeling Chipotle’s consumer base of 25 to 35-year-olds.
This isn’t the first time the Tex-Mex merchant has been grilled for allegedly supersizing its price tags.
Last year saw a flurry of disgruntled customers on TikTok accuse the Tex-Mex merchant of downsizing its portions even as prices soared — a phenomenon known as shrinkflation.
However, the company denied scaling back servings.
“There have been no changes in [the company’s] portion sizes,” insisted Laurie Schalow, chief corporate affairs and food safety officer at Chipotle. “Our intentions are to provide a great experience every time, and our meals have always been completely customizable so guests can vocalize or digitally select their desired portions when choosing from the list of real ingredients.”
She added that customers have always been allowed to determine the serving size of a particular ingredient.
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