And Now For Something Completely Different...

I feel a special connection to the eatery known as Boloco. A few years ago, when “The Wrap” transformed into Boloco (short for “Boston Local Company”), they had a free burrito day. My friends and I stormed the place and ended up with three or four burritos each. One friend posted the story to his blog, and the CEO of Boloco, John Pepper, commented on it. We had a lively discussion for a time. It was very nice to be able to discuss a company with the CEO.

Recently John Pepper has reached out again. Veronica De Zayas wrote in The Dartmouth that Boloco is unhealthy and dark and deceitful. John Pepper returned fire with his own OpEd piece, explaining Boloco’s position and offering free burritos on June 4th and 5th to anyone who prints out the OpEd piece and brings it to a Boloco.

Bravo, Mr. Pepper.

However, not all is well. I went to claim my free burrito today (this time, only one) and got a “Classic” with grilled chicken. My first bite was delicious. However, in the second I got some of the chicken. It was overcooked, somewhat tough and stringy. Ok, fine, I can live with that. Boloco was mega-busy with all the free-burrito seekers. But when I got to the end of the burrito, I bit down on something hard. After fishing it out of my mouth (always a frustrating task), I tried to determine what it was. The only thing that made any sense was that it was a chicken bone!

So now, I’m back down from the roller-coaster high of Mr. Pepper coming through again to being utterly dissatisfied with my burrito. I’m willing to give Boloco a pass, this one time, because they always try hard to appease everyone, and their burritos are usually delicious (not to mention their smoothies…. mmmmmmmm). But please, Boloco on Newbury Street in Boston, please remove your chicken bones before serving the chicken. Thank you.