Moe's versus Chipotle

"Welcome to Moe's!" said Jamesville-DeWitt High School freshman Kyle Glauber, a loyal lover of Moe's Southwest Grill, the newest restaurant on Erie Boulevard. Glauber likes the kind greeting offered each time you walk in the door into the new Mexican establishment. Right across Moe's is the highly popular Chipotle Mexican Grill, which opened earlier this fall. It's safe to say that there would undoubtedly be some competition between the two franchises over the patrons in DeWitt.

Chipotle has some variety of food choices like salad, burrito bowls, tacos and the most popular burritos. Freshman Morgan Sawyer likes to get the burrito bowl, due to Chipotle's burritos not having an attached wrapper and how they can be eaten with forks. Sophomore Owen Williams enjoys the veggie burrito, while fellow sophomore Nate Wager prefers the steak burrito. Freshman Zach Hatem likes to get the works: a burrito with rice, black beans, pinto beans, Baracoa sauce, hot sauce, lettuce and cheese.

However, Moe's has a lot more choices on their menu than Chipotle, which is why some people like it better. For example, Moe's has fish tacos as an addition to the traditional taco ingredients, while Chipotle only has chicken, steak and pork. Freshman Sophie Leavitt thinks that Moe's is "more organic," because they serve soy-made food. Glauber gets the chicken and cheese fajita when he visits Moe's, while Chipotle doesn't even offer fajitas. Sophomore Colin Stone enjoys Moe's "Home wrecker", which is a really big burrito while Senior Zach Shaw likes their quesadillas. Senior Davi Sacco enjoys the "funk meister" or, in layman terms, a taco. Sacco usually gets the $5 burrito and drink special. Freshman Mady Alfieris likes to order a soft shell taco. Sawyer and Sophomore Andrew Scibilia both admire Moe's policy of free chips with every meal as opposed to the money-costing chips at Chipotle.

More people also thought that the atmosphere in Moe's is better. "Chipotle is like a cafeteria," said Stone. Stone likes Moe's due to its better seating Wagner agrees "Chipotle is closed off." Wagner feels like Moe's is more family oriented than its counterpart
"Moe's is less crowded and [there's] one door for entrance and one for exit," said Sacco. "there's a better staff at Moe's and they're much more inviting," says Shaw. "Moe's is more rustic," said sophomore Steve Fiacco.

Some people are loyal to Chipotle, even though it isn't as big as Moe's. "Chipotle is more crowded, but there's better music," said Leavitt. Sawyer thinks that at Chipotle, "the quality of service is much nicer." Sophomore Kaalar Wynn thinks Chipotle is alternative, in a good way. "It's so heavenly," he said.

Moe's definitely gets our vote over Chipotle. It's much more organized and comfortably designed. The beautiful pictures on the wall at Moe's really drew our eyes and the lighting and great colors set the mood. Chipotle is smaller and cramped at times. When the infamous long line by the window forms going out the door at Chipotle, no one wants to go wait on that. Now they have an alternative; drive a little farther more down Erie Boulevard and there sits Moe's, welcoming all.