Students express excitement over Chipotle's opening on Forbes
On Thursday, April 13, it finally happened. The new Chipotle Mexican Grill opened on Forbes Avenue next to Craig Street. After months of watching the construction, the students of Carnegie Mellon University now have a Chipotle restaurant all to themselves (of course students of other colleges are always welcome).
Chipotle is one of the most popular restaurants in the country. There are three restaurants in the areas surrounding campus: on Forbes Avenue in Oakland near the University of Pittsburgh’s campus, on Baum Boulevard in Shadyside, and on Centre Avenue in East Liberty. For many Carnegie Mellon students, the closeness of the new restaurant to our campus is a big factor in the excitement. “I go to the Chipotle near Atwood a lot because it’s got good food,” first-year Jeremy Ong said. “I’m excited about it being closeby because then I won’t have to walk as far.”
The interior of the restaurant is quite narrow, with only enough space for the line and serving area. There are two small tables near the entrance with limited seating in an upstairs loft. Because it is usually busy, it is hard to find seating, and most customers have to get their food to go. For many students, however, getting food to-go is their intention.
“It was really nice,” first-year Matt Spettel said. “The line was almost out the door, but the line moved extremely quickly and the staff was nice, and they could tell that many people were in a rush because this is Carnegie Mellon. I appreciated that.” Spettel also expressed interest in potentially being able to use DineX at Chipotle. The Carnegie Mellon Undergraduate Student Senate has a petition on change.org to add Chipotle as a DineX location in addition to Eat’n Park, Eat Unique, Quiznos, Subway, and Vocelli Pizza.
At the time of writing, the petition, which was started on the restaurant’s opening day, has already amassed 465 signatures in support. Only 35 more students are needed to reach its goal of 500 signatures. Students’ reasons for signing include the wish for more options to use DineX, especially for those who finish the semester with a lot left over in their accounts. There is also an interest in diversifying Carnegie Mellon’s meal plan, and all students who signed the petition emphasized their love for Chipotle and how the use of DineX would be a great incentive to eat there more. “That would be an absolute game changer,” first-year Sarina Stein said on potentially using DineX at Chipotle. “I would eat there a lot.”