I Love a Good ‘Fast-Food’ Burrito but Would You Wait 51 Minutes?

I did but was it worth it?

Over the last few months, the Hudson Valley has watched as a bunch of new places have opened their doors for business. We've had new Starbucks, Smoothie King, Jersey Mike's, and Chipoltle all open in the last few weeks, and after doing my part to support new businesses I wanted to make sure that everyone is aware that the wait time at some might be longer than anything else you've ever experienced....LOL!

Living in Poughkeepsie when I heard the news that two of my favorite places to grab a "quick" meal were opening within a week of each other I knew that I had dinner plans for at least two nights this week.

Poughkeepsie Jersey Mike's

The first stop was the new Jersey Mike's on Route 9 on Wednesday, and honestly, when I got inside I ordered a #13 and was in and out in less than 10 minutes. PERFECT and boy did I enjoy watching some college hoops while I chowed down.

Poughkeepsie Chipolte

Now my second stop didn't quite go as well. Let me start by saying I understand that when a new place opens there are hiccups and such. Things happen I get it but to make sure anyone who plans to visit the newly opened Chipolte located in Hudson Heritage off of route 9 at 5 Winslow Gate Rd Unit 2, Poughkeepsie, is ready for what awaits them....LOL.

Here's what happened...

My daughter and I got to the restaurant around 6 p.m. on Thursday evening (5:53 pm to be exact) and as soon as we pulled in we knew it was going to be crazy. As expected there were a ton of people waiting in line for their favorite burrito or bowl and I decided to time how long it would take to get in and out. So we stood in the line that started at the counter where you order and it weaved around the tables and back around towards the front door. It was probably 25 or so people deep and as soon as we got in the line people started to come in behind us which had the line almost extend to the outside of the restaurant.

To their credit the staff got through the line quicker than I thought as I told my daughter at one point that we were going to be there for at least an hour but we got up to the counter to order at 6:40, we started to place our order and when it came time to tell them what we wanted inside the burritos they were out of corn. WHAT???....LOL. I get it, the Hudson Valley loves its corn in a burrito.

As we got to the cashier to pay for everything they started ringing up our order it came to $29.38 and as I went to pay them cash for our meals the woman working the cash register told me they don't accept cash unless you have exact change. Exact change? Who walks around with exactly $29.38 in their pocket? Not me! She said I needed to pay with a card and of course, I didn't bring my wallet in with me so I had to run outside to my car to grab it.

After searching my car for my wallet I finally found it and headed back inside. Now I'm the one holding everyone else up and as I got back inside to pay the people behind us started to clap as I came over. LOL. I laughed but my daughter didn't, she had that teenager look on her face that if looks could kill it would have dropped me in my tracks! We got into the car and I looked at the clock and it was 6:47 p.m.

A little less than an hour and if I subtract 3 minutes for my car run, it took us 51 minutes to get in and out. Was it worth it? HELL YES. I would do it all over again minus the embarrassing my daughter part....LOL!