About a year ago, I set out on a journey: try every Chipotle in Baltimore to determine which is the best.

After trying 18 Chipotle locations inside and around the I-695 Beltway, I’m able to tell you, our hungry readers, which to visit the next time you need lunch.

And more importantly, I can tell you which to avoid.

My quest wasn’t scientific by any means, but I did have a set process.

I generally ordered the same thing every time: a bowl with white rice, black beans, regular chicken, fajita vegetables, pico de gallo, corn salsa and lettuce; chips and guac on the side. I took careful notes on the quality of food, the availability of ingredients, the service and the portions.

Each category was given a score between 0-10, and I ranked the locations using the composite score.

The order cost about $18 at every restaurant. Not counting chips and guac, I ate around 11,700 calories during this journey.

Most Chipotle locations I tried fall into the middle. And that’s OK! That’s exactly what you want from a fast-casual burrito-making machine.

A few locations rose above the average, and a few revealed themselves to be worth avoiding. Without further ado, the list:

The bottom

There are a few things that can ruin a Chipotle run. Maybe they’re out of an ingredient. Maybe the chicken is dry. Sometimes, the cold ingredients are so cold that the rest of your meal feels lukewarm.

The locations that fell to the bottom of my list did so because so much was wrong.

Chipotle Canton, 14 points: This location had multiple things go wrong, which is why I ranked it the worst Chipotle in Baltimore. The location ran out of fajita vegetables before 12:30 p.m. on a weekday. I was served one of the last scoops of white rice before staff yelled to the kitchen for more. I had clearly been given the dregs, and the grains in my bowl had an unpleasant, undercooked crunch.

The guacamole was over-refrigerated to flavorlessness, and a little brown, suggesting it wasn’t the freshest. The tomatoes and corn were nearly frozen. It is the only location on the list I would genuinely tell people to avoid.

Chipotle Glen Burnie, 21 points: Slightly outside the Beltway, this location was ranked second-worst. The dining room was unpleasantly cramped, the chips were stale and the guacamole was brown, watery and bland.

Chipotle Joppa Road, 25 points: Rounding out the bottom was this location in Towson. It was a decent location — the service was friendly, but a bit slow. The chips were oversalted, and I swear the chicken was spicier than usual.

Ultimately, this location lost points because of a BIG bite of chicken fat/gristle that made it into the bowl. It’s the kind of disruption to lunch that makes you want to take off the rest of the day.

The middle

Most of the Chipotle locations I visited fell in the middle as perfectly average and acceptable for lunch. If you’re in a hurry, any of these are fine for a fast-casual lunch.

Chipotle Windsor Mill, 26 points: They were out of fajita vegetables, but the chicken was seasoned incredibly well, and the staff were kind and efficient.

Chipotle Federal Hill, Chipotle West Pratt Street and Chipotle North Charles Street, 27 points: All fine, with nothing offensively bad. The bright point was how friendly the staff were at the North Charles Street location, including the cashier who wished everyone well as they checked out with a “Be safe.”

Chipotle Hopkins Bayview, Chipotle White Marsh and Chipotle Greenspring Tower, 29 points: Again, all fine. Nothing remarkable. The Bayview location is in a busy shopping center, and I had to wait a couple of minutes for guacamole, but it was better-than-average guac, with detectable flavors of salt and lime. The White Marsh service was a bit slow, but otherwise fine.

The Greenspring Tower location, in Hampden, stands out mostly for being better than anticipated. That location is infamous in the neighborhood as being terrible — I have friends who refuse to go there, citing poor service and a lack of ingredients. But on my visit for this ranking, I found it perfectly acceptable.

Chipotle East Pratt Street, 32 points: This is, in my view, the ideal, perfectly average Chipotle. Service is efficient, and they rarely run out of ingredients. The space is large enough for diners to spread out. Sometimes the vegetables are unevenly seasoned, but not always.

It’s the most perfectly average Chipotle. Nothing stands out that’s excruciatingly bad, nor is there anything remarkable about it. That makes it the gold standard for lunchtime reliability.

The best

The difference between a bad Chipotle and a mid-tier Chipotle is vast. The difference between a mid-tier Chipotle and a good Chipotle? Not much.

However, if you’re in a position to be choosy, these are the two locations that stood out above the others.

Chipotle Towson Commons, 35 points: The service was great. The space is large with room to spread out, and I was served such abundant scoops of food that the aluminum lid was bursting off my bowl.

The chips were excellent — fresh without being too salty. Though the cold ingredients almost bordered on freezing, the fajita veggies were excellently prepared and seasoned, creating a pleasant balance of flavors and textures.

Chipotle Quarry Lake, 36 points: This was the highest-ranked Chipotle. What made it stand out from the middle? The guacamole.

It was seasoned with the perfect amount of zest and was a shade of green that indicated it was fresh. It was the best guac during my burrito bowl journey.

The space was also welcoming — including a patio where I ate under tree shade — and ingredients were proportioned well, including cold items (corn, pico, lettuce) that I didn’t have to worry would chip a tooth.

After 18 burrito bowls, it may be some time before I’m ready to walk back into a Chipotle, but it doesn’t seem as if the chain will be hurting for my business.

The company earlier this month announced plans to expand into Asia for the first time next year. Chipotle also opened 61 company-owned restaurants across the U.S. during its second quarter, though none in our region.

Rest assured, I will try any new locations within the Beltway.

Here’s a look at all the locations I visited and their scores. Let me know in the comments whether you agree with my assessment or if you think my Chipotle order is no good.