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tesg's guide to big chain road food consumption
CHAIN -- Qdoba
Mexican Grill The Bloomington, IL Qdoba had a strike against it before I even set foot in the door. The reason: The difficulty actually GETTING to it. The street address is 1505 N Veteran Parkway. If you arrive there on Veteran Parkway heading south, you can see it, but you have to go all the way down to the next light, turn around in the parking lot of the dated strip mall, and come back up the street. But that still won't get you there, because you can't get there from Veteran Parkway. You have to go up to the next light, turn right, then go back south on the next block in what effectively is an alley. The sign when you turn in here says "No Outlet". At the end of the non-outlet is a big circle with three driveways but you'll only notice two…the one on the left (which goes straight into an alley behind a building) and the one on the right. The one on the right won't take you there either, but it looks like it does. So you pull in and fail. So you backtrack and realize there's a middle drive too. The middle drive takes you right at about a 45 degree angle into a cramped parking lot where you zig and you zag until FINALLY you're there, and you're REALLY mad. Qdoba was originally named after a cat called Zuma. The name was short-lived when founder Tony Miller discovered the name was also being used by another restaurant, so he came up with Z-TECA and snagged a federal trademark. But after expanding westward, a couple of similar-sounding chains with older state trademarks sued, so Z-TECA hired marketing guys Heckler & Associates of Seattle, who came up with the "Starbucks" and "Panera" brand names. They invented the word "Qdoba" and came up with the look and appearance of the restaurants. Jack in the Box bought Qdoba in 2003 because it was the fashionable thing for hamburger chains to do at the time. Wendy's bought Baja Fresh, McDonald's invested in Chipotle, and CKE snagged La Salsa. All of those have since been divested, but Jack in the Box is still running with Qdoba. You could say Qdoba is a $5 Burrito joint, but they'd have to be having a sale to qualify. As of December, 2007, the cheapest burrito at my local Qdoba (the Vegetarion Burrito) was $5.29. $6 was more like the average, with a couple approaching $7. Otherwise, Qdoba follows the "Fresh-Mex" assembly line $5 Burrito concept similar to Chipotle and Baja Fresh, but Qdoba is more colorful in several ways. The decor comes off more…complete…and more colorful than their competitors, as does the menu. Have a burrito in a tortilla or "Naked" in a bowl with chicken, steak, shredded beef, or seasoned ground sirloin. You heard right...Qdoba has real taco meat. The lean beef is flaky and tender with a smoky flavor that reminds me of beef jerky. There's a vegetarian burrito as well and some menu items offer grilled veggies instead of meat. Toppings are the usual fare for the segment...rice, pinto or black beans, five salsas, guac, sour cream, etc. Qdoba has a "3-Cheese Queso" sauce that is featured on nachos and some branded burritos. You can also get crispy or soft tacos, a taco salad, or tortilla soup. A pretty good tortilla soup that could stand to be about double the portion it is for the price. Pretty much everything on the menu except for the soup and the tacos is obnoxiously huge. The burritos are as stuffed as any Fresh-Mex chain, but could use more meat and less filler. The nachos put any full-service restaurant to shame. The quesadillas (at least the beef or chicken ones) are ridiculously thick. Everything is as flavorful as the Fresh-Mex segment gets. The number one reason my local Qdoba isn't a regular lunch stop for me is price. A burrito, a small cup of soup (with chicken, which is extra), and a regular soft drink sets me back nearly $12 after sales tax. Seriously. But they're thriving, so what do I know. Click here to return to tesg's guide to big chain road food consumption |
