What makes you choose Coke over Pepsi or vice versa? Is your favorite fast food burger from McDonalds or Burger King. These products are essentially the same but it is the subtle differences that make the difference in our choices.

I got thinking about this concept because of burritos. On Monday I went to Boloco for my free burrito. I received a card for a free burrito at the Boston MegaTweetup. There is a Boloco location near my office and there is also a Chipotle right near the office. I like both of these establishments but Chipotle is better in my opinion and it is because of subtle differences.

I’ve only gotten burritos at each place so that is what I go with.

Chipotle

• You start with the person making your meal.

I like this as my first point of contact. I decide that I want a burrito, I want to have a small amount of rice and more beans. I like the look of the Carnitas and Barbaco so I select that. I also like picking a bunch of the salsas, the guacamole and sour cream.

• You pay at the end.

Now that my burrito is complete I pay and I also can select homemade chips and guacamole and go enjoy my lunch.

• Options

Chipotle makes Mexican type burritos and that is the extent of the options.

Boloco

• You pay first

I don’t like this very much because you have to make your decision without really seeing the choices, you see the big board but not the ingredients. So your decision is locked at this moment.

• You see the people making your meal next.

So now I can see all the options and the people making the meals get little slips and make the burritos and it is tough to know which one is yours. You can see all the options and maybe you might want corn salsa in your buffalo chicken burrito. But you already paid and now you are locked into your meal so I wasn’t sure the protocol and not even knowing which burrito was mine I was afraid to ask for additional options. Also, Boloco has prepackaged uninspired chips.

• Options

There are many different types of burritos here from traditional to Teriyaki, Buffalo Chicken and such.

Final Thoughts

Chipotle wins me over because even though the food tastes pretty much the same I have a much better personal experience at this restaurant. I like being able to make my choices and interact with the person making my meal. Even though they are both assembly lines Chipotle is more personal than Boloco. So it was that difference, the setup of the restaurant pay first as opposed to pay last, that made the difference for me.

What does that have to do with the cookie picture. The cookies up there are Archer Farms Monster cookies. Normally I pick up the Nestle Tollhouse break and bake cookies when we are in the mood for cookies. They are what you expect, standard familiar cookies. So instead I picked up the Archer farms break and back Monster cookies and found them far superior to anything that Tollhouse has yet to put out. The difference here is that the Archer farms included a great mix of flavors, oatmeal, candy covered chocolates, chocolate chunks and peanuts. Such a wonderful combination that I myself would have created and would love to eat. And they were delicious!