Burrito economics
Posted on December 18, 2003 @ 7:55 am
There’s a locally-owned chain of burrito restaurants here in Athens that my wife and I frequent from time to time. Basically, the place works like this: you pick what kind of tortilla, beans, and meat you want and then choose the remaining toppings–cucumbers, black olives, freshly chopped jalapenos, etc.–Subway style. Here’s the strange part, though; while all those toppings are included in the base price of the burrito, the restaurant charges an extra 30 cents if you want to add lettuce. How can you charge extra for lettuce when you’re giving away olives? Olives! I thought restaurant suppliers gave restaurants a couple of complimentary trash bags full of lettuce when they ordered their real vegetables.
It’s like buying a car and having the salesman say, “We’ll throw in the custom floor mats for free, but we’re gonna need a buck fifty for the Coconut Breeze air freshener.”
Posted by Jess | Filed Under Random Musings |
4 comments so far...
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Is that the Chipotles chain? They’re the same sorta get up.
Never seen them charge for lettuce though. That’s asanine.
Maybe you should ask them to add some metamucil, see how much it would run up the bill.
It’s a local chain, but I have a feeling it’s one of those weird chains where they franchise the concept and menu, but not the name (kinda like how La Carreta in Bristol has the exact same combos as all the Mexicali Grilles here in Athens). After all, why would you ever want to capitalize on name brand recognition?
I get annoyed by the people who charge 25 cents for a cup of ice water.
While you’re talking about cookie cutter mexican restaurants, don’t forget El Porton in Memphis