Chipotle.

Three or four years ago, during my last summer in Baltimore, I discovered Chipotle. I first heard about it at church, when my pastor detailed his custom Chipotle order for the once-bored-turned-starving churchgoers. It quickly became a personal phenomenon, and I found myself spending so much of my snowball money on double-steak burritos with black beans, sour cream, cheese and mild salsa. After a few months of keeping the business in business, the red-headed, non-Hispanic manager approached me and commented that he saw me there quite frequently. I initially felt weird - am I THAT guy who visits a restaurant so often that you would not only recognize me, but then tell me that? My weird feeling quickly disappeared when he gave me a free burrito and a free Chipotle t-shirt.

When I returned to Pennsylvania for my junior year of college, I was determined to find the nearest Chipotle. As it has a tendency of doing, Pennsylvania fell through the cracks, and somehow managed to avoid the Chipotle ache. But as I was taught in college chapel services, I decided to stop complaining about the problem and start doing something about it. In other (read: Gandhi's) words, I decided to be the change I wished to see in the world. Over the last twelve months, I have sent bi-weekly emails to Chipotle headquarters, pleading and begging that they would expand their delicious tasty goodness to central Pennsylvania. Philadelphia and Pittsburgh had reaped the benefits, but c'mon, what about the capital? I received an email back in March saying that, this fall, they would be opening a Chipotle in this region. I continued with my emails, and was told that it would be in York. I was disappointed, but was willing to buy a car that would consistently take me there.

To my delight, Harrisburg also got a piece of the burrito, and just days ago, we celebrated the Grand Opening of Chipotle in Harrisburg. On Thursday, I spent two hours of my life waiting for their burritos because they were FREE. I went back on Friday, and I got a free burrito coupon AND a free shirt. I went back today and they gave my friend and I free burritos. Just cuz they can. This is the sort of thing that can lift a spirit and send one running for the facilities, but it's so entirely worth it. I can't guarantee that they'll give you anything free at this point, but hey, keep going and trying. Chipotle also uses all naturally raised meat, and uses almost exclusively local food. You can be full of yummy food and support local farmers at the same time. What could be better?