Qdoba ( )
is a chain of
fast casual
A fast casual restaurant, found primarily in the United States and Canada, does not offer full table service, but advertises higher quality food than fast food restaurants, with fewer frozen or processed ingredients. It is an intermediate concep ...
restaurants in the United States and Canada serving
Mexican
Mexican may refer to:
Mexico and its culture
*Being related to, from, or connected to the country of Mexico, in North America
** People
*** Mexicans, inhabitants of the country Mexico and their descendants
*** Mexica, ancient indigenous people ...
-style cuisine. After spending 15 years as a wholly owned subsidiary of
Jack in the Box
Jack in the Box is an American fast-food restaurant chain founded February 21, 1951, by Robert O. Peterson (1916–1994) in San Diego, California, where it is headquartered. The chain has over 2,200 locations, primarily serving the West Coast ...
, the company was sold to a consortium of funds led by
Apollo Global Management
Apollo Global Management, Inc. is an American global private-equity firm. It provides investment management and invests in credit, private equity, and real assets. As of March 31, 2022, the company had $512 billion of assets under management, ...
in March 2018. At the time of the sale in 2018, Qdoba had more than 700 locations in 47 states, the District of Columbia, and Canada.
In October 2022 Qdoba was acquired by Butterfly Equity.
History
This chain traces its origins to the opening of the Zuma Fresh Mexican Grill in 1995 by
Colorado
Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...
native Anthony Miller and partner Robert Hauser at Grant Street and Sixth Avenue in
Denver
Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...
which is still in operation.
![Qdoba interior, Woodbridge, VA](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5a/Qdoba_interior%2C_Woodbridge%2C_VA.jpg)
Miller and Hauser met in New York City, where Miller was an investment banker with
Merrill Lynch
Merrill (officially Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated), previously branded Merrill Lynch, is an American investment management and wealth management division of Bank of America. Along with BofA Securities, the investment bank ...
when Hauser was attending the
Culinary Institute of America
Culinary arts are the cuisine arts of food preparation, cooking and presentation of food, usually in the form of meals. People working in this field – especially in establishments such as restaurants – are commonly called chefs or ...
and working at the famed
Le Cirque
Le Cirque is a French restaurant that has had several locations throughout the New York City borough of Manhattan for more than forty years. It is currently closed, with its future status unknown.
New York City history
Le Cirque was establishe ...
restaurant. Hauser developed most of the recipes and tried to design the menu to be healthier by replacing the use of traditional animal fats with vegetable oils and tried to use more fresh vegetables and herbs when he could.
During the first year, lines stretched out the door during most evenings at dinnertime, but it usually took roughly seven minutes for customers in a 30-person line to get served.
Zuma was a made-up name but was also the name of a friend's cat.
The
Denver, Colorado
Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...
, location was an immediate success, with first-year revenues exceeding $1,500,000. The cost of opening the store had been only $180,000.
In 1997, the name of the company was changed from Zuma to Z-Teca Mexican Grill because of a lawsuit from another restaurant using the Zuma name in Boston and confusion caused by the similar-sounding ZuZu Handmade Mexican Grill
chain that was operating in the Denver area at that time.
During the same year, Z-teca began to offer franchise opportunities to entrepreneurs to expand the chain outside of its core territory of Colorado.
In exchange for a large stake, Western Capital and other investors gave the company a large infusion of capital in early 1998 to allow the company to open 25 new locations and nearly triple its size.
Later that year, Gary Beisler was hired in 1998 to replace Miller as president and chief operating officer while Miller remained as chief executive officer.
By mid-1998, Z-Teca had 21 locations in 9 states,
with 10 of those locations being franchises.
At that time, a chicken burrito cost only $4.79.
By December 1999, Z-Teca had 49 locations in 19 states.
Even though Z-Teca was another made-up name, there were lawsuits made by Z'Tejas Southwestern Grill in Arizona and Azteca in Washington state that the Z-Teca name was too similar to their names and it infringed on their tradenames. To overcome these problems, the name Qdoba was invented in 1999
by ad agency Heckler Associates.
At the time of the name change to Qdoba Mexican Grill, Gary Beisler replaced Miller as CEO.
Jack in the Box paid $45 million in cash to obtain the
Wheat Ridge
The City of Wheat Ridge is a home rule municipality located in Jefferson County, Colorado, United States. Wheat Ridge is located immediately west of Denver and is a part of the Denver–Aurora–Lakewood, CO Metropolitan Statistical Area. The ...
-based
Qdoba from ACI Capital, Western Growth Capital, and other private investors in early 2003.
Qdoba repurchased 25 stores located in Kentucky, Indiana, and Tennessee from ''ZT of Louisville, Inc.,'' one its largest franchisees, for an undisclosed sum in mid-2012.
Tim Casey replaced Gary Beisler as CEO in March 2013.
In October 2012, Beisler announced his retirement
and was replaced the following March by Tim Casey.
Three years later, Casey was replaced as brand president by Keith Guilbault in May 2016.
In June 2013, Qdoba announced it would close a total of 67 underperforming restaurants, including 18 in and around Chicago. By late 2013, Qdoba operated over 600 fast-casual restaurant locations throughout the United States.
In October 2014, Qdoba changed their price structure to "all-inclusive" in which the price only depended on the type of protein ($7.80 for chicken or vegetarian items and $8.40 for steak, shredded beef or pork), but included all of the "extras" that previously incurred an additional charge, such as guacamole and queso sauce.
Most people who routinely ordered the "extras" with their burritos did not see much of a price difference after the new prices went into effect. However, light eaters complained that if they wanted to maintain their light eating habits by getting a simple plain item, they were hit with as much as a $2-per-item price increase (as an example, the Craft 2 which went up to $8.40 from $6.49) by paying for items they did not choose to get (like the guacamole), subsidizing other customers who usually paid for the "extras" in the past and, if they chose to get the extras which they normally don't get, those light eaters would increase their waistline through the increased intake of calories, fat, and salt that usually accompanied those "extras".
In 2014, Qdoba moved its headquarters from its longtime home in Wheat Ridge to nearby
Lakewood.
A little over two years later,
San Diego
San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...
-based corporate parent Jack in the Box decided to integrate Qdoba's headquarters into Jack in the Box's main headquarters in California starting in January 2017.
Faced with sluggish growth, management decided to make a change in their marketing strategy. As part of the new strategy, the
trade name
A trade name, trading name, or business name, is a pseudonym used by companies that do not operate under their registered company name. The term for this type of alternative name is a "fictitious" business name. Registering the fictitious name w ...
of the restaurants was changed to Qdoba Mexican Eats in October 2015 in the hope of trying to distinguish itself from similar-sounding competitors.
By July 2016, the company had 650 restaurants in 47 states, the District of Columbia, and Canada.
In December 2017, a consortium of funds led by
Apollo Global Management
Apollo Global Management, Inc. is an American global private-equity firm. It provides investment management and invests in credit, private equity, and real assets. As of March 31, 2022, the company had $512 billion of assets under management, ...
announced the purchase of the Qdoba chain for approximately $305 million. At the time of the announcement, Qdoba had approximately 700 restaurants in 47 states.
The sale was completed in March 2018. Jack in the Box Inc. received $305 million in cash for more than 700 locations in 47 states, the District of Columbia and Canada.
After Apollo had complete its acquisition, Keith Guilbault was promoted from brand president to chief executive officer in May 2018.
In June 2019, Qdoba finally moved its headquarters from the building that it had previously shared for the past two years with its former corporate parent Jack in the Box in
Kearny Mesa to the Amp&rsand building in
Mission Valley
Mission Valley is a wide river valley trending east–west in San Diego, California, United States, through which the San Diego River flows to the Pacific Ocean. For planning purposes the city of San Diego divides it into two neighborhoods: Missi ...
.
In 2021, Qdoba promoted tenured operating officer Eric Williams to chief operating officer, a position he still holds.
By May 2022, Qdoba operates over 750 fast-casual restaurant locations throughout the United States, with 12 locations in Canada.
In October of 2022, Qdoba was officially Acquired by Butterfly Equity via a merger transaction with Modern Restaurant Concepts ("MRC"), an industry-leading "better-for-you" fast casual restaurant platform consisting of two brands: Modern Market Eatery ("Modern Market") and Lemonade.
International
The first Canadian location opened on December 3, 2012, in
Brandon, Manitoba
Brandon () is the second-largest city in the province of Manitoba, Canada. It is located in the southwestern corner of the province on the banks of the Assiniboine River, approximately west of the provincial capital, Winnipeg, and east of the ...
.
A second location was opened in
London, Ontario
London (pronounced ) is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada, along the Quebec City–Windsor Corridor. The city had a population of 422,324 according to the 2021 Canadian census. London is at the confluence of the Thames River, approximate ...
, three months later.
A third location opened in
Winnipeg
Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,6 ...
in 2014. As of May 2022, there are 12 locations in Canada and no locations exist in any other country.
Fare
![Qdoba Mexican Grill](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c5/Qdoba_Mexican_Grill.jpg)
Qdoba serves burritos made in the
San Francisco burrito style,
and other foods such as
taco
A taco (, , ) is a traditional Mexican food consisting of a small hand-sized corn- or wheat-based tortilla topped with a filling. The tortilla is then folded around the filling and eaten by hand. A taco can be made with a variety of filling ...
s,
quesadilla
A quesadilla (; ; Mexican diminutive of ''quesada'') is a Mexican cuisine, Mexican dish consisting of a tortilla that is filled primarily with cheese, and sometimes meats, spices, and other fillings, and then cooked on a griddle or stove. Trad ...
s,
chile con queso
Chile con queso (Spanish (language), Spanish for "chile with cheese"), sometimes simply called queso, is an appetizer or side dish of Cheese sauce, melted cheese and chili peppers, typically served in Tex-Mex cuisine, Tex-Mex restaurants as a Dip ...
and Mexican gumbo. The restaurant fits into the "fast casual" category, offering both quick service and a higher quality of food than typical
fast-food restaurant
A fast-food restaurant, also known as a quick-service restaurant (QSR) within the industry, is a specific type of restaurant that serves fast food, fast-food cuisine and has minimal Foodservice#Table service, table service. The food served ...
s. Customers order by selecting an entrée then choosing its ingredients. All of the items are made in plain view of the customer.
To distinguish itself from some of its competitors, Qdoba serves breakfast, and some locations are open 24 hours on weekends.
Qdoba has also opened restaurants in non-traditional locations, such as directly on college campuses, and participates in some college meal plans.
Through agreements with the
Army & Air Force Exchange Service
The Army & Air Force Exchange Service (AAFES, also referred to as The Exchange and The PX or The BX) is the retailer in U.S. Army and Air Force installations worldwide. The Exchange is headquartered in Dallas, Texas, and its director/chief exe ...
, Qdoba can be found on selected
U.S. military bases across the nation.
Competition
![Qdoba, Eden Prairie, Minnesota](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/24/Qdoba%2C_Eden_Prairie%2C_Minnesota.jpg)
The main national rivals to Qdoba are
Chipotle Mexican Grill
Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (, ), often known simply as Chipotle, is an American chain of fast casual restaurants specializing in bowls, tacos and Mission burritos made to order in front of the customer. Chipotle operates restaurants in the Unit ...
(which also started in Denver, two years before Qdoba),
Baja Fresh
Baja Fresh is an American chain of fast-casual Tex Mex restaurants founded in Newbury Park, California in 1990 and headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona and is owned by Canadian franchisor MTY Food Group. The chain emphasizes fresh ingredients, ...
,
Moe's Southwest Grill
Moe's Southwest Grill, referred to informally as Moe's, is an American fast casual restaurant franchise chain that was founded in Atlanta, Georgia, in December 2000FOCUS Brands press release, FOCUS Brands to Acquire Moe’s Southwest Grill', April ...
and, to a lesser extent,
Panchero's Mexican Grill,
Salsarita's Fresh Mexican Grill, and
Rubio's Coastal Grill
Rubio's Coastal Grill, formerly known as Rubio's Fresh Mexican Grill and Rubio’s Baja Grill is an American fast casual "Fresh Mex" or "New Mex" restaurant chain specializing in Mexican food, with an emphasis on fish tacos. As of 2013, Rubio's ...
.
Incidents and lawsuits
White City Shopping Center
In 2006, the company was involved in a lawsuit in which
Panera Bread
Panera Bread is an American chain store of bakery-café fast casual restaurants with over 2,000 locations, all of which are in the United States and Canada. Its headquarters are in Sunset Hills, Missouri.
The company operates as Saint Louis ...
attempted to invoke a clause in Panera's contract with the White City Shopping Center in
Shrewsbury
Shrewsbury ( , also ) is a market town, civil parish, and the county town of Shropshire, England, on the River Severn, north-west of London; at the 2021 census, it had a population of 76,782. The town's name can be pronounced as either 'Sh ...
,
, to stop the opening of a Qdoba Mexican Grill. The clause provided that Panera would be the only sandwich shop in the shopping center. Panera argued that burritos and other tortilla-based foods were, in fact, sandwiches. Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Locke ruled against Panera, concluding, "A sandwich is not commonly understood to include burritos, tacos and quesadillas, which are typically made with a single tortilla and stuffed with a choice filling of meat, rice, and beans."
2015 typhoid incident
Three customers who got sick after eating at a Qdoba restaurant in
Firestone, Colorado
The Town of Firestone is a Statutory Town in southwestern Weld County, Colorado, United States. The town population was 16,381 at the 2020 United States Census, a +61.44% increase since the 2010 United States Census. Firestone is a part of the Gr ...
, were found to have been infected with the bacterium ''
Salmonella typhi
''Salmonella enterica'' subsp. ''enterica'' is a subspecies of ''Salmonella enterica'', the rod-shaped, flagellated, aerobic, Gram-negative bacterium. Many of the pathogenic serovars of the ''S. enterica'' species are in this subspecies, includin ...
'' which causes
typhoid fever
Typhoid fever, also known as typhoid, is a disease caused by '' Salmonella'' serotype Typhi bacteria. Symptoms vary from mild to severe, and usually begin six to 30 days after exposure. Often there is a gradual onset of a high fever over several ...
. Two of the customers had to be hospitalized. The source of the infect was traced to an infected food handler who was asymptomatic.
Violation of child labor laws
In 2019, a minor filed a complaint to the General Attorney's Office at
Newton, Massachusetts
Newton is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is approximately west of downtown Boston. Newton resembles a patchwork of thirteen villages, without a city center. According to the 2020 U.S. Census, the population of Ne ...
, stating that they had worked overtime at Qdoba. This led to a state-wide investigation that resulted in auditing all locations in Massachusetts. Qdoba paid over $400,000 in citations due to the thousands of violations they received due to Massachusetts'
child labor laws
Child labour laws are statutes placing restrictions and regulations on the work of minors.
Child labour increased during the Industrial Revolution due to the children's abilities to access smaller spaces and the ability to pay children less wage ...
.
Glenwood Springs food contamination
In 2020, four customers were hospitalized after consuming
contaminated food
Foodborne illness (also foodborne disease and food poisoning) is any illness resulting from the spoilage of contaminated food by pathogenic bacteria, viruses, or parasites that contaminate food,
as well as prions (the agents of mad cow disease ...
in Glenwood Springs, Colorado Qdoba. The food was contaminated by an unspecified chemical. Only two out of the four customers experienced symptoms. The incident caused Qdoba to close down temporarily. After the release of the individuals, Qdoba reopened. No action was taken by the individuals.
See also
*
List of Mexican restaurants
This is a list of notable Mexican restaurants. Mexican cuisine is primarily a fusion of indigenous Mesoamerican cooking with European, especially Spanish, elements added after the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire in the 16th century. The basic ...
References
External links
*
{{Fast-food chains of the United States
1995 establishments in Colorado
2003 mergers and acquisitions
2017 mergers and acquisitions
Apollo Global Management companies
Companies based in Jefferson County, Colorado
Companies based in San Diego
Cuisine of the Western United States
Fast casual restaurants
Fast-food chains of the United States
Fast-food franchises
Fast-food Mexican restaurants
Jack in the Box
Restaurant chains in the United States
Restaurants established in 1995
Restaurants in Colorado