Rice Bowls - Chipotle vs Chili's

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ericlm
ericlm Posts: 8 Member
in Food and Nutrition
So Chili's has a new Fresh Mex Bowl that has margarita chicken, rice, beans and corn and some avocado slices. I got the lunch portion and was surprised to see it was 790 calories (from website). I order something similar at Chipotle, but it seems like a lot more food and is way more filling for 740 calories (from website). I never finish it. I've also ordered the margarita chicken entree at chili's which seemed like more food than the bowl (and similar ingredients) and that is listed at 610 calories. What gives? Is someone lying?

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  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
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    It's going to depend on the ingredients, not the volume. Do you get avocado on your Chipotle bowl? a mere 75 grams of avocado is 115 calories...more calories doesn't always mean more volume or more food...you have to look at the ingredients and how much of each ingredient is in the bowl. You also have to consider cooking oils. You also have to consider that someone making minimum wage is in the back throwing your meal together...what is stated on the website for calories is a decent guestimate at best...it can easily be +/- 20% at least.
  • ericlm
    ericlm Posts: 8 Member
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    There were maybe 3 slices of avocado. I figure you get maybe 100 calories from that. A smallish portion of black beans and corn (~200 calories?), less than a cup of rice (<200 calories), and about half a chicken breast (80 calories?). Maybe they use more oil and sugar in their recipe. Seems like a waste if it's more that 200 calories worth of oil and sugar on such a small amount of food though.
  • ericlm
    ericlm Posts: 8 Member
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    The websites say the total fat content is 25g for Chilis vs 19g for chipotle.
  • EvanKeel
    EvanKeel Posts: 1,904 Member
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    Macro breakdown aside (and that could explain part of it certainly), it's also entirely possible that portions that they give out at the Chipotle are larger than their nutrition menu suggests. Of course the same could be true for any restaurant. I know the Chipotle I go to doesn't use a scale. And just for kicks, I'll weigh the the burrito on my food scale when I get back to work. I was a little surprised at the variation in weight for the same food item at the same restaurant.

    On a related note having nothing to do with either of those restaurants, Papa murphy's seems to be significantly more consistent for weights, but I do see them actually use a scale to measure some of their ingredients.
  • ericlm
    ericlm Posts: 8 Member
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    Well that settles it. Next time I go to Chipotle, I need to bring a scale. I'm getting to the bottom of this. :smiley:
  • chouflour
    chouflour Posts: 193 Member
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    IME, Chipotle bowls as prepared contain significantly more rice, cheese and sour cream than the website thinks that they do. For the meat and beans it's usually a smaller difference.

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