I picked up a burrito at Chipotle the other day, which is a change for me because I am a firm believer that Qdoba makes the better burrito. My burrito at Chipolte was a lot smaller than what Qdoba usually gives me, but the taste seemed to be almost equal if not better. I then wondered if the reason I preferred Qdoba all this time was simply because of their Queso sauce? I decided to organize my thoughts and do a little research to determine who was creating the better burrito.
First of all, Founder Steve Ells attended the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, NY; afterward, he became a line cook for Jeremiah Tower at Stars in San Francisco. There, Ells observed the popularity of the taquerias in the Mission District. In 1993, Ells took what he learned in San Francisco and opened the first Chipotle in Denver, Colorado in a former Dolly Madison Ice Cream Store near the University of Denver campus using an $85,000 loan from his father. The name derives from the Mexican Spanish name for a smoked, dried jalapeño chili, and ultimately derives from the Nahuatl language. In 1998 McDonalds made a heavy investment in the company expanding it from 15 stores to over 500 by 2005. McDonalds owned the majority of Chipolte until 2006 when they decided to sell all of their shares to concentrate on making even more terrible food at McDonalds locations.
Qdoba was founded by Colorado native Anthony Miller and Robert Hauser, and opened their first restaurant in 1995 in Denver. In 2003, Jack in the Box acquired the chain from a private investment firm called ACI Capital.
Both establishments have or had the backing of successful corporations that have already made millions flipping burgers. Qdoba and Chipotle offer relatively short menus, with their burritos taking center stage. You can watch your burrito being assembled in roughly the same order at both places: tortilla, rice, beans, meat, salsa, sour cream, and cheese. Following this Subway-style assembly line, you end up with a neatly(hopefully) wrapped burrito at both places.
The Comparisons
- The Menu – Both Chipotle and Qdoba offer basic burritos with chicken, beef, and steak. However, Chipotle’s beef option (barbacoa) is shredded, seared, and braised – a winner compared to Qdoba’s more boring ground sirloin. Chipotle also features carnitas, a spicy pork option. Outside of these basic burrito fillers, though, Qdoba has a much more expansive menu that includes tortilla soup, dinner nachos, quesadillas, salads, and specialty burritos (mole, pesto, etc.). If you want choices, Qdoba is much, much better.
The Victor: Qdoba offers a more extensive menu with different sauces, which includes the famous queso sauce. Qdoba is the winner here to due to quantity.
- The Tortilla – edible flour wrapper Qdoba has a thinner tortilla which is more suseptable to breaking. This seems strange since Qdoba has based a lot of their taste around the sauce that is added. Many times when eating at Qdoba the ingredients come right out of the tortilla and I am forced to eat it all with a fork, which just doesn’t work for me. Chipolte’s tortilla seems to be a stronger, thicker tortilla which seals in all the ingredients.
The Victor: Tortillas are supposed to serve as sleeping bags for their ingredients. If you take this into account, Chipolte is offering the superior product due to structural integrity.
- The Rice and Beans -Both chains offer cilantro rice, pinto beans, and black beans. The rice at Chipotle tends to be fresher, with more of the actual cilantro flavor that is bragged about on both menus.. Chipotle’s pinto beans are also more flavourful, as they’ve been prepared with some bacon.
The Victor – The black beans are pretty similar at both Qdoba and Chipotle, but Chipolte gets the nod due to freshness and a little bit better flavor.
- The Chicken – I order the chicken during the majority of my visits to both locations, so this is a very important ingredient for me. I have had a few times where the chicken at Qdoba has been a little questionable. I can’t put my finger on it, but it just didn’t taste right. Every time I have visited Chipolte, the chicken is delicious and tastes fresh. I should note that Chipolte has pledged to use only naturally raised meat, organic produce, and dairy without added hormones. All of Chipotle’s chicken and pork are naturally raised (i.e., open-range, antibiotic free, and with a vegetarian diet), as well as 50% of the beef.
The Victor – Chipolte takes this category with ease.
- The Salsa – Qdoba offers five salsas: pico de gallo, chile corn, verde, roja, and habanero. Chipotle offers four options: pico de gallo, red tomatillo, green tomatillo, and chili corn. Qdoba seems to offer more of a variety, and Chipolte has the hotter option.
The Victor – There is no winner here.. Both establishments have delicious salsa.
- The Toppings – The sour creams are both pretty much the same. If you want guacamole, you can rest assured that it is fresh at both places. Both advertise that the product is made freshly on the premises each day. Qdoba offers a wide variety of sauces which create different types of burrito including queso and BBQ sauce. Chiplote has stayed away from the sauces, allowing their ingredients and salsas to create the flavor.
The Victor – Qdoba wins easily. That Queso sauce has to contain crack and while it’s nice to have a burrito full of fresher ingredients creating flavor, sometime it’s also nice to have a big messy saucy burrito.
While Chipolte seemed to win my contest, I think both establishments are offering good products. Qdoba did copy Chipolte’s concepts but it’s not like burrito joints were invented by either company.
Comments
15 responses to “Burrito Wars”
Yes, but what about the prices? I love Chipotle, but have never been to Qdoba since there are none in Utah.
I’m pretty sure the prices are right around the same. I believe Qdoba does charge a little bit more if you order a specialty burrito with a sauce.
I would say price are similiar between the two. I like Chipotle’s salsa better, the green/hot is really good. I like Chipotle’s pork better too. Steak at both places is pretty bad.
I agree with the queso part, I think that it is a big plus for Qdoba. Plus you can get nachos & quesdilla. Qdoba has breakfast burritos here as well and they are awesome. Never tried their gumbo, but I agree their menu wins hands down.
I go to both places, put pick Chipotle 2:1. I avoid Baja Fresh, Bajio and Mo’s at all cost.
Agreed about the steak. I have never even had an itch to try it.
Baja Fresh is disgusting. I tried it once a few years ago and have been hoping they go out of business ever since.
I have heard Panchero’s is very tasty but haven’t tried it out yet.
Baja Fresh is confusing too. i used to go to one in Chicago and their whole ordering system was ridiculously confusing – and I know my way around ordering a burrito.
[…] Portions had a post about Burrito Wars yesterday and it made me want to give Qdoba another chance. I usually prefer Chipotle, but I […]
When it comes to burritos, Qdoba has to be the winner for me. 1st of all COME ON! Chipolte is owned by MCDonalds! 2nd of all, flavor and spice for Qdoba burritos wins hands down for me. I could understand, I guess, why people who love bland food, hippies, and people in general who want to think of themselves as cultured because they are eating ethnic (without the hassle of actualy trying anyhthing new) would be really into Chipolte, but Qdoba is superior Burrito happiness! Thanks for your time…
@ WIBIA … Is the “Mo’s” you’re referring to actually “Moe’s”…just checking…they have a pepperjack queso dip they serve with the chips and it’s awesome.
@ John … Baja Fresh has lackluster burritos, terrible tacos, bland quesadillas but killer tortas.
@ Nicky … Who cares if Chipotle is owned by McDonald’s…that really has nothing to do with anything in my opinion…Chipotle was an upstart up in Colorado and had a good business model and popularity so McD’s jumped aboard for financial support/push ….I don’t think they are owned by McD’s anymore are they?
-side note…I’ve never been to Qdoba but I pass by one all the time…I’ll have to pay a visit.
Oh yeah…anyone have a California Tortilla near them? They have a great queso sauce too. A nice selection of specialty burritos like Thai Chicken, Carribean Jerk Chicken and a Crunchy BBQ Ranch Burrito that is pretty stellar.
I hate it when people pronounce Chipotle as Chipolte. After reading this post I now realize I also hate reading the word when people mis-spell it as Chipolte. Thanks.
I may be a bit late to the discussion, but as I have both of these and a Panchero’s near me at Michigan State…
1) Qdoba. I’ve always hated it. Sure, they have more selection, but I’ve always found their tortillas to taste like rubber, and their burritos have always been mostly rice, and little else, even the specialty ones with the sauce.
2) Panchero’s. Not too bad. Their tortillas are delicious, because you can see them press them and heat them. However, they’re even more boring selection-wise than Chipotle, if I recall correctly. I really feel like the filling needs more flavor to fit the delicious tortilla.
3) Chipotle. I’ve loved Chipotle from the day I had it. Good tortillas and delicious ingredients. Sure, you don’t have 30 different kinds of sauces, but I don’t really want to eat at Bobby Flay Tortilla Company, where everything and it’s cousin has a different sauce. Sometimes meat, cheese, rice, beans, and salsa is enough.
[…] Portions had a post about Burrito Wars yesterday and it made me want to give Qdoba another chance. I usually prefer Chipotle, but I […]
Chipotle to me has superior flavor as a result of their fresher ingredients and better use of ingredients. I don’t know what you guys are talking about with the steak, Chipotle’s steak is fantastic. Qdoba suffers in the flavor department so they mask it by smothering everything with sauces and their so called “variety”. Don’t get me wrong though I love a good queso burrito from Qdoba every now and then, however, I’m never as satisfied as I am with a good ‘ol Chipotle burrito.
dark markAugust 17, 2010while i love me some chipotle (chipotle iphnoe app ftw), they need add the ‘roasted garlic’ option that ‘Treebirds’ offers. once they do, i’ll never have to cheat on them ever again.
Now I’m like, well duh! Truly thankful for your help.