What Is A 'Soup Burrito' At Chipotle And Why Do Employees Hate It?

When you think of Chipotle, you think more along the lines of bowls and burritos than anything regarding soup. But, given that customization is one of the cornerstones of how Chipotle works, you should count on the fact that customers will find a way, somehow, to order soup. Perhaps unsurprisingly, it seems Chipotle employees hate making it.

It certainly wouldn't be the first time customers have managed to earn the fury of Chipotle employees regarding their orders. A Reddit thread describes the different levels of anger and disgust that Chipotle employees feel when making a quesarito — or what is basically a burrito stuffed inside a cheese quesadilla. Insider reports how the use of a viral hack to get a "$3 burrito" became a bane for many employees, to the point that delays and inconveniences became common just to prepare it. It seems that when it comes to people trying to be quirky or show off some trick they saw on TikTok or Instagram, Chipotle workers have no patience for their nonsense.

Similar to how the quesarito and $3 burrito became hated requests, the "soup burrito" falls in the same category. But what exactly is the soup burrito? And what makes it so awful that Chipotle staff have added it to the seemingly growing list of the most annoying things customers do? 

As a Chipotle employee explained to Mental Floss, a "soup burrito" doesn't really mean a burrito filled with soup. It actually refers to a burrito that has an incredible amount of liquid or fluid ingredients, such as sauces or condiments, which makes it wet or soupy. Unlike your average burrito, which has more solid fillings, a "soup burrito," according to one employee, is incredibly hard to roll up.

"An example of one is a burrito that has barbacoa, hot salsa, sour cream, and at times queso," explained the employee. "Wrapping a burrito like that is very difficult, and at times, customers get annoyed we can't wrap it." In layman's terms, imagine taking a thin tortilla, soaking it in hot sauce, cheese, and sour cream until it's dripping wet, and then trying to roll it. If the tortilla doesn't tear, the huge amount of sauce and cheese would undoubtedly leak everywhere. On the subreddit r/Chipotle, employees shared their anger at having to make such a messy order.

"I've been telling [the general manager] for years we need to limit all liquids to 2 servings on burritos," said one user. "We get too many negative surveys for soup burritos." Another employee suggests that the only way out of this mess is to order a good amount of rice and less of the other items to soak up the excess liquid or order a bowl with a tortilla on the side.