The Lola Bowl is a Chipotle menu item built from an influencer, not a test kitchen.
Before it appeared in the app, it was the favorite order of Lola Winters, a creator with more than 3.4 million followers on TikTok and 53,499 subscribers on YouTube. She has a significant following on Instagram as well, usually under the handle @lola__winters.
For months, she ordered the same customized bowl, featured it on her socials, and spoke about it with the reverence of a personal ritual rather than a promotion. With enough repetition, her audience memorized the ingredients, and the “Lola Bowl” became a thing.
Chipotle took the thing and ran with it, turning Lola’s order into a one-tap menu item inside its app, so anyone could easily order the Lola Bowl, no special instructions needed.
What’s in the Bowl?
So, what’s so special about Lola’s order? We’ll let you decide for yourself.
The “Lola Bowl” Recipe
- Base: White Rice
- Protein: Half Chicken / Half Steak
- Beans: NO beans
- Toppings:
- Roasted chili-corn salsa
- Sour cream
- Cheese
- Guacamole
- Queso blanco (a key ingredient for the texture)
The Method: The bowl is famously eaten with chips (often dipped or used as a scoop) and is typically shaken to mix the ingredients thoroughly before eating.
@its_lola.winters @Chipotle ♬ original sound – Lola Winters
In the age of social media, marketers must learn to watch creators–especially high-profile creators–and build off their passion for the brand. The Lola Bowl is a great case study of monitoring user-generated content, and using it to create a user-generated product.
The genius of the Lola Bowl is that it isn’t definitive; the order is still editable. Viewers debated ingredient swaps. They stitched alternatives. They questioned the price. They filmed first-time orders and ranked versions.
It was an invitation for every one of Lola’s fans to seed their socials with their own Lola Bowl experience.
Chipotle didn’t beg for user generated content, but they got it anyway.
Chipotle’s Creator Class: Building Influencer Relationships
The Lola Bowl sits within a broader creator strategy that Chipotle has been building. Chipotle’s Creator Class cultivates long-term creator partnerships that allows the company to observe user behavior patterns that never show up in performance dashboards.
Many brands still view UGC as a loss of control. Chipotle orders it up.
When you invite UGC, you also lose control over the message. The Lola Bowl sparked disagreement, personalization, and parody. But for those who believe “there’s no such thing as bad PR,” all this controversy just embeds Chipotle deeper into culture.
Impact and Results
Finally, the Lola Bowl had an outstanding ROI.
For very little money, Chipotle generated a terrific amount of buzz. The announcement reached millions of viewers on YouTube. It triggered hundreds of reaction videos across TikTok and Instagram.
Creators documented their first orders. Fans debated modifications. Comment sections turned into forums. It’s hard to buy that kind of publicity.
The Lola Bowl worked because Chipotle treats creators as their market researchers. They give up control in the process, but they get an incredible amount of earned media (including this article).
For modern marketers, the Lola Bowl is the way to cook up a tasty UGC campaign.
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