It turns out that Chipotle customers were right in their complaints about skimpy portion sizes at some locations. On Wednesday, CEO Brian Niccol disclosed that a company investigation found that 1 in 10 of its restaurants were too meager with their servings.
Chipotle looked into the issue after rumors of shrunken portions circulated on social media, including from influential food reviewers on TikTok who shared images of small helpings. Some customers claimed they got bigger meals when they filmed workers putting their orders together.
The issue came to a head after two years of bruising inflation has made consumers increasingly cost-conscious, with many grousing about surging prices at restaurants. The smaller portions at Chipotle were especially hard to swallow after the restaurant raised prices in recent years, some customers said on social media.