Set your constraints. The solver searches every legal bowl build exactly,
prices it at your Boston or Cambridge store, and hands you the sentence to
say at the line.
Beta
The solver is exact, but the data underneath it — macros, prices, serving
rules — is still being verified, so treat any build as a strong suggestion
rather than gospel. Found a wrong number, a menu item that doesn't exist
at your store, or a rule the model gets wrong?
Open an issue
— corrections are the fastest way this gets better.
Constraints
References
The solver is not original work — it is a textbook method applied to one of the most pressing issues MIT students face. These are the sources it rests on.
Model and solver
Kellerer, H., Pferschy, U. & Pisinger, D. (2004).
Knapsack Problems. Springer.
Ch. 9 multidimensional, Ch. 11 multiple-choice — the two structures this bowl model sits at the intersection of.10.1007/978-3-540-24777-7
Sinha, P. & Zoltners, A. A. (1979). The Multiple-Choice Knapsack Problem.
Operations Research 27(3), 503–515.
Branch and bound over disjoint multiple-choice constraints — one scoop of rice, not two.10.1287/opre.27.3.503
Land, A. H. & Doig, A. G. (1960). An Automatic Method of Solving Discrete Programming Problems.
Econometrica 28(3), 497–520.
The origin of branch and bound.10.2307/1910129
Hart, P. E., Nilsson, N. J. & Raphael, B. (1968). A Formal Basis for the Heuristic Determination of Minimum Cost Paths.
IEEE Transactions on Systems Science and Cybernetics 4(2), 100–107.
Admissibility: why an optimistic suffix bound prunes without ever discarding the optimum.10.1109/TSSC.1968.300136
Dinkelbach, W. (1967). On Nonlinear Fractional Programming.
Management Science 13(7), 492–498.
The parametric method behind the per-dollar objectives.10.1287/mnsc.13.7.492
Schaible, S. (1976). Fractional Programming II: On Dinkelbach's Algorithm.
Management Science 22(8), 868–873.
Superlinear convergence — why 2–4 iterations is enough here.10.1287/mnsc.22.8.868
Massachusetts meals tax
M.G.L. c. 64H, § 2 — the 6.25% state sales tax that restaurant meals fall under.
M.G.L. c. 64L, § 2(a) — the local option meals excise of up to 0.75%, adopted by Boston, Cambridge and Somerville, which is what makes the rate here 7%.
malegislature.gov
Massachusetts DOR, TIR 09-13: Local Option Sales Tax on Meals.
Also the source of the receipt's wording: the two components may be combined on one line if the rate is stated.mass.gov
Data
Chipotle Mexican Grill — published nutrition calculator, for the per-serving macros in ingredients.json.
chipotle.com