Response to “At Chipotle, How Many Calories Do People Really Eat?”

The way that the data is laid out in this article about Chipotle is not only visually appealing, but also helps contextualize the information better than just words could. Before each graph, there is an explanation, which helps give me background and better understand and interpret what I am about to look at. From a user’s perspective, the pictures work the best, compared side to side, with the statistics below each one. Therefore, I can see exactly what they are talking about, and have the numbers that back up that information underneath. The graphs are also more explanatory than most graphs in articles. They explain things like a bump in the graph, resulting from things like a side of chips and guacamole.

I also like how the article goes in order of percentages of meals, eventually getting to the largest at the end. This helps the reader understand the data better, while also keeping them interested. I also think that it’s important that they explained how they got the data and variables at the end of the piece, as the article, “Distrust Your Data” says you should. Almost all aspects of the article worked great for me.

However, I would like to know why they chose those two specific Chipotle locations, and why they didn’t put more locations into the overall equation. Another question I have is, does Grubhub collect data on all of their restaurants? Do they collect data differently than Chipotle does? It also might have been interesting to learn how many Chipotles there are nationwide, and a statistic of their popularity. (They mention that it’s fast growing, but since this is a piece of data journalism, it could have been interesting to have a number to go along with that.)This article makes me realize how well data reporting can help find a story or trend, and also help illustrate a story that might have otherwise been boring or lacking through just words.