Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2024/06/02/chipotle-insists-it-hasnt-shrunk-its-portions-defying-tik-tokers.html
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Americans freaking out over portion size is one of the most embarrassing elements of being an American. Under any circumstance, you’re getting over a pound of food in one shot.
I guess it’s at least something that boomers and influencers can find common ground on. The healing of America has already begun.
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There’s no disputing the fact that American portion sizes are large; but that doesn’t seem to invalidate concerns over whether portions received are actually in line with portions advertised and paid for; especially when that is a particularly obvious place for sneaky margin optimization.
Moralizing about it also seems less promising in the context of a lot of the menu items that a place like Chipotle has, which are fairly modular and readily packaged for later consumption.
Demanding enough food that you can bask in the abundance of it being sent back half-finished after you’ve gorged yourself to repletion is, certainly, vulgar; but someone being concerned that the amount of burrito they are actually getting is dipping below the level that previously allowed them to turn one into both lunch and dinner implies neither gluttony nor waste.
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I’m a big guy, though I’m working on it, and I swear, I stopped going to Chipotle not because of the scandals and so on, but because every time I ordered a burrito, my favorite, they started overloading them to the point where they’d need a second burrito wrap after they blew out the first. I was getting two, sometimes three meals out of one burrito, which while it might be a good value, isn’t what I wanted for a quick lunch or on-the-road biology break.
If portions have shrunk, maybe I’ll go back. Carnitas, rice, hot and mild salsas, fajita veggies, and enough hot sauce to cause heartburn in mortal stomachs. Ambrosia, at least if I’m not the one stuck with the cooking and cleaning.
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If they wanted to control portion sizes they would measure each one with a scoop or scale. Plenty of restaurants do. I had pizza/rotisserie restaurant client with different scoops for each type of food / recipe. You just use the right spoon and scoop the chicken.
This is my experience as well and is almost certainly more attributable to the quoted Reddit user’s experience as an employee than @fuzzyfungus’s well-made points. I have a much harder time believing (evidence-free) that a chain like Chipotle is secretly shrink-flating burrito portions than employees constantly upping the portion size in the face of hostile customers. Not that I trust a corporation like Chipotle, but I’m willing to bet that if there is a corporate mandate, it is much more likely in response to a particular location over-consuming ingredients because of greedy customers. Americans losing their shit over already-massive portion sizes is a constant and anyone who’s worked in good service has had to deal with it.
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This leaves the real possibility that while Corporate may not have ordered smaller portions, regional or individual store management may have other ideas in order to make their stores more profitable so they to get bigger bonuses and setting-up for promotions. 
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