Chipotle vs Qdoba - Milton Ave Rivals

Forget McDonald's and Burger King or Taco Bell and Taco Johns - there's a new rivalry in town! With the increasing popularity of the FAST CASUAL restaurant, Milton Avenue is adding yet another to the line up. The grand opening for Chipotle Mexican Grill (Chipotle), located at 3515 Milton Ave next to the NEW Diamond Center, is slated for a June 18, 2015 OPENING.  

You may know that Chipotle is a chain of restaurants specializing in

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burritos and tacos. Its name drives from chipotle, the Nahuatl name for a smoked and dried jalapeno chili pepper. The company mission statement, Food with Integrity, highlights its efforts in using organic ingredients, and their restaurants serve more naturally raised meat than any other restaurant chain. Chipotle is said to be one of the first chains of fast casual dining establishments. 


(To learn more about fast casual dining see my previous blog What is Fast Casual Food?).  

The Chipotle concept might sound a bit familiar to some of you, say Qdoba Mexican Grill, the fast casual establishment on the corner of Milton Ave and Humes Rd. Qdoba serves burritos made in the San Francisco burrito style. The name? It was made up by an ad agency, Heckler & Associates. The company slogan is "We Live Food". One of the founding partners, Robert 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. Qdoba Mexican Grill was founded just two years after Chipotle in the same city, Denver, Colorado.

So why am I telling you all of this? I wanted to give you a little background before I move into the really important stuff...

WHICH FAST CASUAL RESTAURANT IS BETTER?

I decided to compare the following: nutritional value, price, and taste. I couldn't compare service locally since I had to take a field trip to visit a Chipotle; I selected their Machesney Park, IL location. I chose a flour shell chicken burrito with black beans, salsa, and guacamole from both Qdoba and Chipotle. 

To start, I compared the NUTRITIONAL VALUE. According to Everyday Health, there are 5 Essential Nutrients to Stay Alive. I have italicized four below; the fifth is WATER. I also compared calories, calories from fat, fiber, sugar, and sodium, nutritional information I try to be aware of. 

NUTRITION:             QDOBA          CHIPOTLE
Protein                 44g              49g
Carbs                   87g             81g
Total Fat               28g              40g
Saturated Fat           6.5g             7.5g
Trans Fat                0g               0g
Monounsat Fat           11g               ?
Polyunsat Fat            4g               ?
Cholesterol             130mg            125mg 
Vit A                   14%DV            26%DV
Vit C                   15%DV            36%DV

Calories                785              850
Calories from Fat       225              345.5
Fiber                    20g              22.5g
Sugar                     4g               5g
Sodium                 1920mg           1845mg

Kind of a toss up, huh? Personal preference? The last five things are what I like to compare so my opinion = Qdoba. Less calories and calories from fat but the sodium content... Wow!

Next I compared PRICE.

QDOBA          CHIPOTLE
$7.80            $8.45

Through this comparison, I learned that guacamole is free at Qdoba and $1.95 at Chipotle.

Then I compared TASTE. Typically I hear that people prefer Chipotle over Qdoba. Why, you ask? So did I! I hear things like the salsa is spicier, the steak is better, the guacamole is tastier, and the beans are drained better. In my opinion, I thought that the flour tortilla at Qdoba did a much better job of holding everything together, but the flavor was about the same at both locations. I preferred the chicken at Chipotle; it was seasoned well, moist, and tender. The black beans at Qdoba were better drained, making the tortilla much less soggy than Chipotle. I thought the guacamole at Qdoba was better; creamy, fresh and perfectly seasoned. Again, kind of a toss up?

So which do you think is better? Chipotle or Qdoba? It's closer than reputation had led me to believe. Let's face it - indulging in an entire burrito at one sitting (785-850 calories) equates to nearly two meals for my dietary needs. I do love guacamole and the fact that I thought it was tastier and FREE at Qdoba makes me tingly inside, but if I had to give up the guac, I'd say the chicken at Chipotle was better. And since I'm skipping the guacamole, that means that the Chipotle price would be less than Qdoba, $.65 less. But what about the watery black beans at Chipotle? Ugh.. IN THE END IT'S ALL JUST A MATTER OF PERSONAL PREFERENCE!

IN THE NEWS: 

Chipotle - the first national restaurant chain to cook with only non-GMO (genetically-modified organism) ingredients. 

Chipotle to offer tuition reimbursement to hourly workers