Trending

I’ve Had it With These Karens Posting Nasty and Incommensurate One-Star Chipotle Reviews on Google

By Kevin Kinkead

Published: Jul 17th, 2026 · 12:11 PM EDT

---

Backstory:

There’s a relatively new Chipotle up the street, in Towamencin Township. I went up there on Thursday and the employees were lamenting the fact that they have to listen to shitty music while working. I guess it’s corporate-selected fluff music? Something like that. We didn’t get too deep into it, but they wanted to listen to the radio, or at least have a say in the song selection, which I thought was a good idea because you’re more productive and generally happier when you can work in an environment that you yourself help create.

So I told them I’d leave a review and mention the radio thing. We all had a laugh about that, you know, keeping things light. I get home, fire up Google, and realize that this location only has 2.6 out of 5 stars on average. That’s surprising to me, because in my experience the service has always been good, and the portion sizes are fine, and yet I come across a significant amount of negative comments, like this:

• “Smallest portion ever seen for a veggie bowl. And since it was so small, I asked if they can give extra tomatoes which I got charged extra. Not worth it.“
• “I ordered online through the app and I was very disappointed with the portion sizes. It was very small, even smaller than a kid meal.“
• “every time i go here the portion sizes are horrible. they give you a tiny spoonful of rice and when you ask for more they look at you like you’re crazy.“

Hmm, okay that’s interesting. Maybe an outlier?

Not really. Looking at reviews for a couple of nearby locations, it was mostly the same thing. The same type of complaints.

One particular woman gave a one-star review because of salad dressing:

“This location is the only location that gives me a hard time about asking for a side of vinaigrette. They always say it costs extra and that you have to order it on the app but there is no option when ordering to order the vinaigrette unless you get a salad or quesadilla. I’m happy to pay for and order it but there is no option. I don’t have an issue getting it at any other location.”

And another woman echoes the sentiment of a Towamencin complainer, saying she didn’t get enough rice:

“They allocated only a small amount of rice for the four bowls we received yesterday. Subsequently, I felt embarrassed in the presence of my friends whom I had invited for dinner.”

This is fascinating to me. If you have a hideous experience somewhere, then go ahead and write a review. Or fill out the feedback form or call the corporate phone number. There are only so many avenues in which you can share impactful thoughts.

But what I discovered during my admittedly surface-level research is that:

1) The negativity in these reviews is not commensurate with the experience itself. Not even remotely close. And yes, this is an arbitrary thing, like maybe you are more easily offended than others, but there are people out here leaving one star reviews because they didn’t receive enough rice in their burrito. Or it was too difficult to order a side of vinaigrette.

I am sorry, but being unhappy with your rice portion is not worthy of a one-star review. It probably justifies a three or four-star review. If you opened your bowl and there was a huge piece of rebar sticking out, then yes, that is a one-star bowl. But Chipotle should not get a one-star review because they skimped on the rice. Get a life.

2) Most of the one-star reviewers are women. Feels like a 65-35 women-to-men ratio, just eyeballing it. They seem to write longer and use more photos. They seem to spend more time with their complaints. They are not beating the Karen allegations, not now, not ever. And yes, looking at photos and names, the majority seem to be Caucasian.

“Hey! Where the white women at?”

I found them. They are complaining about Chipotle on Google:

3) More of a general observation, but people seem more likely to leave negative reviews than positive reviews. Or – the positive reviews will just be five stars, but no words or images. Typically, if you go to the restaurant and enjoy your food, you enjoy your food. But you’re less likely to take 5 minutes out of your day to say something nice about a place, and more likely to take 5 minutes out of your day to say something negative.

I think it speaks to a larger societal issue in which we platform too much negative stuff and not enough positive stuff. It’s like the Eagles winning a close game. Yeah, they won the game, but 90% of the postgame talk is about how they shouldn’t have given up that field goal in the fourth quarter. It was too close for comfort! Maybe these Chipotle reviewers are WIP listeners.

4) Expectations are totally out of whack. In addition to the food itself, people were whining about the employees and their attitudes. This isn’t Le Bec-fucking-Fin. It’s a fast-casual Tex-Mex chain. The employees are high school kids and folks who are between jobs and/or just trying to scrape by and make a living. Don’t you remember working your first crappy job in high school? Did you love it? Probably not, no. If you go to Chipotle expecting five-star dining and impeccable service, then feel let down afterward, that’s on you.

Anyhow, it seems like people will complain about everything. And they’ll exaggerate the complaint, like not getting enough chicken was the worst thing that has ever happened to them in their sheltered, privileged lives. The horror! Not sure about you, but we’re one of those families that just doesn’t go back to a place if it sucks. The only negative Google review I ever wrote is because this dentist was trying to root canal two teeth that didn’t need root canals. A long story for another time. But this review-bombing culture and general whining comes from the tattletale tree of Karen-like behavior, and it’s gross. It’s cringe. It makes me tingle with unease.

“I didn’t get enough rice in my bowl, now I’m gonna tell your mother! Wahhh! Wahhh! I’m a big baby!”

Here’s my review, FYI:

editor’s note: Please don’t go into the comments of this story and write something like, “Chipotle sucks, you should go to a real Mexican place.” We do go to real Mexican places. We have great Mexican food in the suburbs. But we also go to Chipotle sometimes. If you don’t like it, go to Crossing Broad and leave a one-star review.