Meet the Guy Who's Eaten Chipotle for the Last 103 Days ... and Counting
— -- If you had the option to eat your lunch every day at Chipotle for 100 days straight, could you? More importantly, would you?
That’s a definitive “yes” for Mark Rantal, 30, who has done just that for the last 103 days straight.
“The whole thing was totally an accident. On Monday I decided to get Chipotle and on Tuesday I made the same decision, then got lunch with my friend there on Wednesday,” Rantal told ABC News. “We laughed about it at lunch and he asked how long I thought I could go. And that began the thought.”
Turns out it was a long time. Rantal said he hit one week, then a month and just kept trying for the next major milestone.
“Every time I hit a milestone it was very easy and convenient to imagine hitting the next,” he explained. “Plus, it’s a little ridiculous.”
Rantal got the same exact meal every time: a burrito bowl with white rice, pinto beans, fajitas, sofritas, mild salsa, corn, medium salsa, cheese and lettuce. No exceptions.
“For me food is one of those things as fuel instead of celebration. I’ve just never really gotten so into it,” he said. “It became so convenient of you know where you’re going, you know the friendly faces of the staff, you know you enjoy the meal and you know you’re going to get the calories.”
Rantal has become quite close to the staff at his local Chipotle in Colorado Springs, who comps him a free meal one out of every ten times, he estimated.
“It’s fun. Right now it’s convenient and it’s a habit, so I don’t see a reason [to stop],” he said. “The [one-year] milestone isn’t appealing enough to have to put in the effort, but there is a tiny wistful part of me that just thinks, ‘Wouldn’t it be hilarious to be the guy who ate Chipotle for a year?’ But I don’t know if I want to be that guy."
