Most days of the week I wake up and feel a weight on my shoulders. But sometimes, out of the blue, there is a really wonderful day. A pure experience of joy that reminds me why this world we live in is so beautiful. At least once a week, I drive my car slightly over the speed limit to a delightful establishment on Vestal Parkway. With a cold breeze blowing across my face, I trudge from the car to Moe’s. As soon as I walk through the golden doors to the building, I am welcomed by the employees as if I could actually belong somewhere so wonderful and filled with strong human spirit.
“Welcome to Moe’s” is the catchy phrase that I hear as I walk into the place that has become my third, or maybe fourth, home. A sentence that immediately makes you hungry for some delicious food. The combination of free chips, delicious meat and a fantastic customer experience make Moe’s an infinitely better choice. Just listen to Pipe Dream’s Editor-in-Chief, Lia Richter, if you want to know about the infinitely better Moe’s experience. Lia says that she “recognizes that Chipotle has better ingredients and better meals on paper. However, every time [she goes] to Chipotle they get the order wrong, and Chipotle is very expensive. Moe’s is cheaper, and they don’t get the order wrong, and they have free chips, and they have ground beef.” The fact that Chipotle doesn’t serve ground beef is a major issue, since it truly matters to her.
How can someone like a restaurant which doesn’t serve meat so commonly served in Tex-Mex meals. There are, unfortunately, those on this planet that would say that Chipotle is better. They don’t feel the awe-inspiring experience of entering a Moe’s after a long day and feeling a rush of excitement as you pour soda from the machine into your cup. Julie Ha, our Assistant Opinions Editor, is one of these people. She says that “Moe’s is not what [she] grew up with. Chipotle is better because it tastes better. No matter what you put in the bowl, it always tastes consistent. Nothing can go wrong. If anything goes wrong, it’s because Opinions Editor Sean Reichbach did something wrong.” Now, I’d firstly like to say that I am extremely offended by this insult. Sure, I have made the mistake of ordering a horrible bowl from Chipotle, but that doesn’t support her claim that Chipotle is better at all.
I have been to many different Chipotle restaurants around this nation that we call the United States of America. In every single restaurant I have ever been to, the atmosphere has been darker. There are many more bleaker gray colors and more frowning faces. Not only do I prefer the food from Moe’s way more than the food from Chipotle, but the lights are brighter in the Moe’s restaurants, and the people are always smiling back at you. It would be much more likely, at any given moment of the day, for people to break out into song and dance at a Moe’s restaurant. That’s just the vibe that I get from eating my food there. It’s something that Chipotle most definitely doesn’t have to offer.
To me, food tastes bland without love and care that you can feel with every single bite. When I eat a burrito from Moe’s, emotion pours over my entire body as I am encompassed with a feeling like being embraced by a hug. Juxtaposed to this, when I consume a Chipotle burrito I just taste the lettuce, or the rice or the chicken. Each ingredient is individual and doesn’t combine with other ingredients to make something better than itself. Our country is built upon people who have collaborated and mixed together to create something more remarkable than each individual citizen put together. So, Chipotle is also betraying the nation. How could you eat from a restaurant like that?
Sean Reichbach is a senior double-majoring in philosophy, politics and law and economics and is Pipe Dream’s Opinions Editor.