Waterford ― In the parking lot of the new Chipotle Mexican Grill at 124 Boston Post Road on Wednesday afternoon, Eve Ceplenski of Haddam, took her first-ever bite of food from the popular restaurant chain.

The new store will be open every day from 10:45 a.m. to 10 p.m. It features a drive-thru window ― aptly dubbed the Chipotlane ― which allows customers to pick up digital orders from their cars.

At the grand opening Wednesday, Chipotle corporate staff was inside with workers behind the counter serving customers who filed in and out steadily around 4 p.m.

“I might have to get two bites,” Ceplenski said, stabbing the fork inside a burrito bowl that featured chicken, queso, beans, rice and lettuce.

“I mean, yeah. It’s good,” she said.

After the second bite, she added, “It’s better than I thought it was going to be, because I always heard about the Moe’s-Chipotle debate.”

Moe’s Southwest Grill is another popular Mexican chain restaurant and likely Chipotle’s biggest competitor. There is a Moe’s at Waterford Commons on Route 85.

Asked which was better, Ceplenski said it was hard to compare the two, because she only had Moe’s once and had ordered a burrito, not a bowl.

“I would say it’s equal to Moe’s — because I haven’t had enough of either to like, give a fully, educated (answer), but it’s good. It’s definitely good,” she said.

This Chipotle here means residents won’t have to drive to ones in Groton and Norwich.

Resident Nate Houggy, 21, said he’s been waiting for this one since last summer, when he and other residents watched it being built.

He used to have to drive 25 minutes to the Groton store for his bowl. The only thing stopping him from being a frequent customer, he said, was the distance.

“But nowadays, I probably will be,” he said.

Residents Selena Pulido, 22, and her brother Rey Pulido, 26, watched the store being built.

“And we’ve just been kind of waiting for it to open,” she added. “I saw the ad on Instagram actually, that it was open today.”

Both got the chicken al pastor ― one of the store’s limited time options. It’s a spicy chicken dish that features a marinade of seared morita peppers and ground achiote, with a splash of pineapple, according to a company description.

“Our parents are both from Mexico, and our mom is actually the one that told us about the chicken al pastor,” Selena Pulido said. “She said that she saw the commercial and she thought ‘Ah, no way.’ But she tried it and she really liked it, so that’s really why we went, too.”

Asked what he likes about Chipotle, Rey said the portion sizes for burritos and bowls.

“Usually they’re quite big. And then obviously how they taste. They taste pretty good in my opinion. Chicken al pastor is really good,” he said.

“This will be a nice place to, I don’t want to say frequent, but definitely try out every once in a while, for sure,” he added.

The store is hiring, according to statement from the company Wednesday.

d.drainville@theday.com