Taco Bell vs Chipotle: Which is Better? (Updated)

Last Updated on September 14, 2024 by Shari Mason

Taco Bell and Chipotle stand out as shining stars in the food world, known for their **tasty menus** and **affordable** prices.

However, their menus differ in many ways while serving burritos and tacos. In this article, we’ll take a closer look at Taco Bell vs Chipotle and analyze their drastic differences. Read on to find out.

Taco Bell & Chipotle In-Depth Comparison

On July 13, 1993, Steve Ells established Chipotle, a Mexican-themed fast-casual restaurant. Chipotle’s bestsellers include burritos, bowls, quesadillas, salads, and tacos. [1]

With over 2,500 stores in the Middle East, US, UK, Germany, France, and Canada, it’s one of the fastest-growing fast-food franchises in the world globe.

Meanwhile, Taco Bell by Glen Bell [2], a subsidiary of Yum Brands, was founded on March 21, 1962. This chain serves Mexican food like burritos, tacos, quesadillas, specialty items, nachos, and value meals.

The restaurant serves millions of customers annually, with over 7,000 locations. Its locations span numerous continents and nations.

Read:

• Is The Pollo Asado At Chipotle Spicy?
• Where Does Chipotle Get Their Tortillas?

Head-To-Head Combat

Menu Items

Chipotle Mexican Grill restaurant is a fast-casual restaurant that lets customers pick all the ingredients for their bowls to eat for an extra cost.

They can add seasoned beef steak, black beans, lettuce, or chicken steak, to their burritos and bowls for healthier options.

Similar to Subway and Quiznos, where you go down the line and choose the ingredients you want, this concept allows for quick service.

On the other hand, Taco Bell takes a similar business plan to other fast food chains like Burger King.

However, some menus are no longer available. They stopped selling Mexican pizza in late 2020 but returned it in 2022. [3] Taco Bell has a significant edge over Chipotle in that most locations are open until 2 AM or later.

Customization Options

Customers at Chipotle are given a wide selection of ingredients from which they can customize their bowls, burritos, and tacos with rice, lettuce, steak, chicken, or cheese.In contrast, Taco Bell’s menu items do not have a customization option to accommodate individual preferences.

Read: In-N-Out vs Culver’s

Food Quality

Chipotle obtains its ingredients from local farms where the veggies are primarily organic, and the animals are raised by their humane standards.

Taco Bell offers a variety of diverse food sources. However, Chipotle still offers better local farm-grade food, despite Taco Bell’s efforts to raise the caliber of its suppliers.

Packaging Design

Taco Bell restaurants pledged to make its consumer-facing packaging sustainable in the new year. By 2025, the brand plans to recycle, compost, or reuse all packaging worldwide.

Taco Bell already has 100% recyclable cold cups and lids. Chipotle’s latest packaging campaign emphasized that they employ fresh, high-quality ingredients because they’re delicious.

From bistro bags, cups, and napkins to tray liners, Jd&co. They designed Chipotle’s packaging. They illustrated and lettered Chipotle’s diverse ingredients and lighthearted brand voice to convey that food is real at Chipotle restaurants.

Transparency

Chipotle made history as the first major restaurant chain to declare GMO ingredients in March 2013 voluntarily and then commit to switching to non-GMO foods.

Most of its GMO ingredients have been used in taco shells and chips cooked in soybean oil. In 2015, Taco Bell Corp. vowed to remove artificial colors, flavors, additives, trans fats, palm oil, and high-fructose corn syrup from most of its menu items.

In response to California Consumer Privacy Act, the menu has been simplified and made more transparent using natural products.

Flavor & Taste

The flavor will vary depending on the food style you want. Chipotle’s bestseller dishes come with tomatillo red chili salsa to make them more flavorful.

Taco Bell restaurants have a different approach to their food than Chipotle, which tends to have a more authentically home-style Mexican flavor.

To develop unique and delectable dishes like the Doritos Locos Tacos, it aims to combine American and genuine Mexican foods with their best red sauce or sour cream inside.

Nutrition

Since Chipotle meals are custom-ordered, their nutritional content is difficult to predict. It depends on your meat, veggies, cheese, and sauces.

Loading your flour tortilla with everything will add calories quickly, as expected. The menu at Taco Bell has nutritional information. Their cuisine is fast and cheap.

Deep-fried dishes add calories and fat quickly, which is bad for health. [4] Taco Bell has a limited “Fresco” menu featuring lower-calorie and fat selections. Try a Fresco item if you’re monitoring your calories.

Chipotle is a healthier option if you pay attention to the ingredients.

Price Point

Prices at Chipotle are about the same as those at other higher-end fast food chains. You won’t find anything with a dollar menu there.

Chipotle and Taco Bell have very different prices, and Taco Bell is more affordable. The beefy crunch burrito at Taco Bell costs around $1.49 only, and their Black Jack taco costs around 89 cents.

While at Chipotle, a bowl of pork carnitas costs around $6.95.Many things cost less than $2 at Taco Bell, and the taco party packs are an even better deal. There are also drive-thrus at Taco Bell so you can get in and out quickly.

Are They Similar In Any Way?

Chipotle and Taco Bell are both fast-food restaurants that are similar in some menu items.

“I know once people get connected to real food, they never change back.”

– Alice Waters, American Chef

Taco Bell’s burritos have the same ingredients as Chipotle’s but differ in price, and Chipotle is customizable.

They also offer a large menu of Mexican-inspired tacos, quesadillas, and salads. But Taco Bell’s menu is more of a Tex-Mexican food.

Also Read: A Guide To Cancel Your Order From The Chipotle App

FAQs

Final Thoughts

In this battle, we declare Chipotle the winner because of its meal’s fresh and high-quality ingredients that have sound health effects.

Chipotle’s option to customize meals based on customer preferences also excels, which lets customers manage their calorie intakes.

However, regarding price points, Taco Bell wins the battle. It is more affordable and accessible because it has more branches.

It can be challenging to decide where to eat between Chipotle and Taco Bell, yet both places serve fantastic fast food choices.

References:

1. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/quesadilla
2. https://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/19/business/19bell.html
3. https://abc7news.com/mexican-pizza-gone-again-taco-bell-why-theres-no-pizzas-when-will-return/11912886/
4. https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/why-fried-foods-are-bad