Restaurant Round-Up: Neato Burrito, Chipotle & Moe’s Southwest Grill

We're doing things a little bit differently this week. Spotobe headquarters is choc-full of Neato Burrito devotees, and regular contributor Lily wrote about it in the normal Restaurant Round-Up fashion. But instead of including two more reviews, this week, we're rounding out the Round-Up with an essay of sorts about the merits of Neato as compared to Chipotle and Moe's Southwest Grill. Moe's has two locations in the area, but Chipotle has yet to infiltrate Central Pennsylvania. It has, however, developed an absolutely rabid fan base. If you don't believe me, check out this story in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette by a friend of mine who drove more than four hours round-trip from Pittsburgh to Kent, Ohio for a burrito. Crazy. As always, we'd love to hear from you, so leave comments.

Neato Burrito
Name: Lily
When: Last week at lunchtime.
Been Before:Yes
Ordered: I usually get a bowl instead of a wrap with black beans, chicken, cheese, lots of salsa, guac and tomatoes.
The Food: 10 out of 10. I’ve never had a complaint about Neato’s Burritos.
The Ambiance: Very retro-designy and filled with burrito-baristas that have really interesting tastes in personal style and usually lots of piercings. For some reason, it just wouldn’t be the same without them. They usually have good music playing too.
Company: Myself
Cost: I never pay more than about $7
The Service: Always friendly and patient even when the lines are super long.
Notes: The only issue I have with Neato Burrito is that they don’t take credit cards – cash only. They could probably get a lot more business if they did AND I wouldn’t have to walk to the bank first every time I want some Neato!
Recommendation: Yes

Neato Burrito, Chipotle & Moes Southwest Grill
Name: Josh
Growing up, I was indoctrinated into this belief that if a new franchise restaurant came into the area, somehow the place was automatically better than anything we had around already. Why wouldn’t it be? Chain restaurants have slick TV ads showing people entering into episodes of euphoric joy just by sitting down at a table, ordering some food and packing away the immaculately presented plate that resulted. If you tried the new chain and didn’t have the joyful experience you witnessed in those ads, more than likely it was because, in the end, the “locals” were still cooking and serving your food. Of course, there was nothing wrong with the franchise, it was the people running the place. At least that’s the explanation I came up with, because there’s no other way I could comprehend people piling into TGI Fridays every night. That said, many of us don’t really appreciate smaller, local restaurants until they’ve had to shutter their windows because their clientele got lured in by the TV ads for the latest franchise that just parked itself down the road.

This past weekend I was traveling out-of-town for family reasons, and for lunch on Saturday, we decided to stop at a Chipotle Restaurant. If you aren’t familiar with Chipotle, it’s basically a nationally-franchised burrito and taco shop, much like Moe’s Southwest Grill or locally-owned Neato Burrito. It had been a few years since I had actually eaten at a Chipotle, and I was anxious to try it out again. I expected to fall in love, wishing with each succulent bite that the chain would finally move itself into Central Pennsylvania. Then I ate the burrito and all my visions of grandeur receded quickly into thoughts of a Neato Black Pesto or Cilantro Burrito.

Chipotle isn’t a horrible restaurant. It’s just that in the time since my last visit, my appreciation of locally-owned spots has grown and my enjoyment of franchised restaurants has dwindled considerably. I just enjoy restaurants that are owned and run by people who live in the same community that I do. Typically that kind of place is started by people who love food and know how to cook and serve it extremely well. Granted, Neato, at times, feels a little bit like a local Chipotle knock-off, but that doesn’t negate the fact that they serve some amazing food for a reasonable price (as compared to Chipotle and Moe’s Grill).

There are definitely days when I feel like Neato doesn’t get anything right and I wish someone would bring a “Chipotle-like” chain into our area. Usually that moment passes, and I appreciate that while Neato isn’t perfect, it’s still ours and no one has a local burrito restaurant just like it. It’s probably inevitable that somebody like Chipotle will move into this area. Moe’s already seems to have come out of nowhere to place itself in seemingly every new shopping center within the mid-state region. Neither Moe’s nor Chipotle are horrible—it’s just that I feel Neato is a little bit better in customer service, ambience and food quality. And the fact that it’s local? Well that just seals the deal for me.