Chipotle CEO Says Restaurants Will Serve Bigger Portions After Social Media Complaints

Your next Chipotle order might feel a little heavier on the hands.

On Wednesday, Chipotle’s CEO Brian Niccol announced during an earnings call to investors that all of its 3,500 of its U.S. restaurants will serve larger portions of food, NBC News reports.

The change comes amid complaints on social media that the chain has been intentionally short-changing customers on their orders.

Niccol acknowledged the outcry on sites like TikTok but denied the claims of giving diners less during the call, saying that “there was never a directive to provide less to our customers.”

“Getting the feedback caused us to relook at our execution across our entire system,” Niccols said, per NBC News. “We have focused in on those outlier portion scores based on consumer surveys.”

The CEO said that only 10% of restaurants needed to be retrained to meet the “right standards,” and that consumer scores have “positively reflected” the corrective efforts.

“We are re-emphasizing training and coaching round ensuring we are consistently making bowls and burritos correct. We have also leaned in and re-emphasized generous portions across all of our restaurants,” said Niccols.

According to Forbes, Keith Lee’s viral video criticizing his Chipotle order over its small portions of chicken may have kicked off a wave of the chain’s customers trying to confirm if they were being ripped off.

In May, Chipotle customers began filming their orders being prepared and walked out if portions seemed too small, leading to rumors that employees gave larger portions to those filming. This “hack” went viral that month, with some customers claiming they received more food than they would without filming.

However, Chipotle denied issuing any instructions to their employees who were being filmed.

Despite the backlash, Chipotle’s share price in May was up 44%, hitting an all-time high, and a reported capitalization of $89 billion.