Being the fever pitch of college football season, I thought this post could pit two very, very similar Mexican fast food restaurants against each other. In my town, Chipotle and Qdoba are recent acquisitions with Qdoba taking the lead in time spent in Stillwater, so we'll start there.
Qdoba offers burritos and Mexican dishes, "Subway style" as many people put it, in that you order which meat you want then go down the line picking and choosing what else to put in it. Qdoba offers at least two types of salsas, pico de gallo, and cheese. Sour Cream and guacamole are available for an extra $.50 each. The main thing Qdoba has going for it is the vairity of ways you can put together meat, rice, beans and cheese. Burritos, the signature entree, start at $5.79.
RATING: ***
Chipotle is Qdoba's twin brother that went to art school instead of culinary vo-tech. The decor is neo-constructionism with exposed sheet metal and bolted-on metal siding that distinguish the restauraunt from it's counterpart. The meat, however is the focus of this place. They tout the time and effort they put into the various meats and to me, it showed. I got the Carnita Burrito, which was pulled pork, rice, beans, and cheese in a tortilla big enough to wrap a football. The taste was better in many aspects than Qdoba's. The meat, once again, was very tasty for having been mass produced. Carnita pork was $5.85.
RATING: ***1/2
So in the Championship of Fast Mexican food, Chipotle beats Qdoba's 3.5 to 3.0.
