Consistently rated top fast-food restaurant, this gourmet burrito chain is everything its mother company, McDonald’s, is not. Just as McDonald’s is vilified as the cause for every societal dysfunction from obesity to unsafe and unhealthy agricultural and labor practices, Chipotle is celebrated for natural ingredients (“Food with Integrity”), an honest food chain and happy employees. It may be the founder’s roots in Denve...

Consistently rated top fast-food restaurant, this gourmet burrito chain is everything its mother company, McDonald’s, is not. Just as McDonald’s is vilified as the cause for every societal dysfunction from obesity to unsafe and unhealthy agricultural and labor practices, Chipotle is celebrated for natural ingredients (“Food with Integrity”), an honest food chain and happy employees. It may be the founder’s roots in Denver (home of the first Chipotle) or professional culinary training, but Chipotle has changed the popular perception of the humble burrito. Clean locations, efficient assembly line and ultra-fresh fillings have helped propel this chain into the league of the lunchcraving (“I feel like Chipotle’s today”) and gold standard (“This cafeteria burrito is not exactly Chipotle”). Enjoy your shredded meat and pico de gallo, and know that Chipotle’s strategically timed marketing scheme means that your ingredients will be more politically correct as time goes by (for example, this past January, Chipotle switched to hormone free sour cream).