Regional business against chain, queso against guacamole, Pancheros against Chipotle. These two chains have been competing Mexican fast-food joints present in the Quad Cities for quite some time. Each restaurant gets a multitude of customers each day, but the interest of Pleasant Valley high schoolers peaked in the debate over which of the two prevails, when Chipotle announced the release of its newly tested queso at the Davenport location this week. This was the spark, fueling the recent debate about the two Mexican joints, who each have their own unique way on the preparation of a similar menu.  While this debate could last more than a lifetime if one was to let it, I’m here to settle this right here and right now.

While most probably see me often headed to Pancheros, I must point out that much of this is because of a simple concept called convenience (and because the majority of the Pleasant Valley High School population is always at Pancheros to see me order my burritos anyways). This is a concept that many high schoolers can attest to: the importance of convenience and time. In a hectic world, the tendency to choose the closer option is prevalent, but does not overshadow the fact that going the extra distance (of approximately 1.2 miles) provides a more calming environment and service by employees of a company that cares about sustainability and producing food made with the best ingredients possible.

There is no argument about both restaurants being tasty and satisfying to the stomach, but Chipotle definitely comes to mind as the place I feel better about eating at. Things present on their company website include an extremely easy and useful calorie intake calculator based on your exact order and information about their missions for sustainability and wholesome and natural foods (including the promise of no GMO’s as of 2015). For many, I know this won’t matter; however, in a world full of questions (especially in the fast food industry), I feel a little more confident in knowing that what I’m putting into my body is completely, one-hundred percent real. I have to give Pancheros credit where it’s due: they also have a menu with calories on their website. With this being said, it was definitely harder to find and wasn’t even useful (unless I want to pull out my calculator to find the total calorie count of my entire meal).

Being entirely real and honest, I don’t use the calorie counter even though it’s probably useful for a lot of people and nice to have, and I also know that I probably didn’t change your stance on which restaurant is best. I am aware of how particular people are when it comes to their burrito needs. So by all means, eat your Pancheros burrito if it means that all ingredients will be well mixed. However, if this isn’t an issue for you, Chipotle can provide an extremely similar but cleaner and more ethical meal (and don’t forget, they have queso too).