Here's the biggest mistake Chipotle makes with its burritos

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People love burritos. I love burritos. Who doesn't love burritos? In the US, that love mostly means Chipotle.

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Chipotle

Chipotle Mexican Grill Facebook

Here's a Chipotle burrito before it all gets stuffed into a burrito-like shape.

But here in New York City, there are dozens of burrito spots that are as good as - and often far better than - Chipotle. I'm not talking about fancy restaurants with Michelin stars. I'm talking about places that do exactly the same thing that Chipotle does - fast meals at slightly higher-than-fast-food prices - but much better than Chipotle. So-called "fast casual" restaurants.

Eating at these burrito spots, you realize pretty quickly that Chipotle consistently makes the same mistake: treating the tortilla as a dump for food instead of a canvas for carefully laid out ingredients.

Put simply, Chipotle treats its bowls and its burritos identically: by dumping ingredients into a pile in the center.

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Chipotle portions

Hollis Johnson/Business Insider

This results in an inconsistent, sloppy burrito eating experience where one bite is all rice, another all beans, and a third results in something else entirely. Every bite is a surprise, and that's not a good thing. But what makes burritos so good is their combination of several delicious ingredients, all in one bite.

It's a disservice to customers and ingredients alike to make such little effort in the burrito crafting process.

Thankfully, a local burrito shop named Dos Toros - there are 10 scattered across Manhattan and Brooklyn - does things right. Having eaten there a few hundred times across the past several years, I can attest: Dos Toros makes a mean burrito. It's the closest I've come to a California-style burrito in NYC. Most importantly, it's a well-prepared burrito instead of a slop of ingredients forced into a burrito-shaped object.

Here, look at this:

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Dos Toros

Ben Gilbert / Tech Insider

Yes, sour cream is for the weak. But we're not discussing that right now.

It may sound like quibbling, but this one small change makes all the difference in the world in crafting a delicious, perfectly balanced burrito.