Eating Vegan at Chipotle

Sofritas Bowl

Chipotle is a very vegan-friendly quick service restaurant. We can usually find one (or two) in nearly every town here in Orange County, CA. The food is always fresh and served up fast. They’ve rolled out two amazing changes to their menu this year. The first is the addition of Sofritas…shredded organic tofu braised with chipotle chiles, roasted poblanos, and a blend of spices. You can order it as part of your burrito, tacos, salad, or bowl. Sofritas is currently available in California, Washington, Oregon, Colorado, and several locations on the East Coast including Baltimore, Philadelphia, and Richmond.

Then a few weeks ago, we saw a sign saying that their pinto beans are now vegan!

This was a surprise, as their black beans were already vegan. But now vegans have the choice of either the black or pinto beans! We tried the pinto beans, and found they have a very pleasing smoky flavor.

Chipotle raised eyebrows a couple months ago when this Scarecrow video they released went viral. The video is set to a beautiful and haunting rendition of "Pure Imagination" from the 1971 film "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory", sung by Grammy Award-Winning artist and vegan, Fiona Apple. Even if a business isn't 100% vegan, it’s great to see them trying to increase awareness of various issues.

As part of our “big tent” philosophy, we welcome these changes. Seeing vegan options in national mainstream restaurants can help skeptical non-vegans become more comfortable with vegan food, and might make them more willing to try it.

Thank you for reading, and thank you to Chipotle!  Peace and love to all who live.

Susan