Qdoba Mexican Grill began in 1995
in Denver and has become one of the leading national restaurant chains serving
fast casual Mexican food. After 16 years in business it can now be found in 43
states with more than 500 restaurants overall. The company continues to grow,
rapidly expanding especially in Los Angeles, New York and Philadelphia with both
corporate owned and franchised restaurants.

According to Ted Stoner, the head
chef of Qdoba for the past 6 years, “We run restaurants and make money the same
way our franchisees make money and we are great at operating them. The growth
all depends on where real estate is available. We have seen great growth in New
York in the past three years as well as New Jersey. We have a corporate market
in Boston; we have franchise interest in the Providence market. The whole East
Coast is doing great, the West Coast was a little slower but we see more and
more of a presence in California.  The
challenge in going into larger markets is often brand identity. But we see great
potential with available real estate and plenty of hungry guests in those
larger markets.” The biggest market remains Denver, where the business began.

Ted Stoner and the entire Qdoba
team are passionate about the food, the flavor and always excited to meet their
guests and give the best.  As Stoner
explains, “We do so much hand preparation that is just unheard of in companies
of 500 units. Whether it’s slow cooking of shredded beef, the pork we hand
shred, whether it’s cooking beans from scratch, making guacamoles throughout
the day, the chips…”

He continues. “We are always updating our menu with new
products. We’ve done a lot but it’s the bigger you get, the more you have to
test and it’s really just a challenge to make sure the training material is
unambiguous, that we have everything figured out, that we know how our guests
are going to respond.” Qdoba’s team tries to test their new products in the
different geographical locations and it’s interesting to see how people’s taste
depends on their geographical region. For example, there are more fans of shredded
meats in the West Coast, the Midwest is more about ground sirloin, and the East
Coast sells more quesadillas than anywhere else.

Stoner is a fan of the creativity
of truly Mexican flavors and a firm believer in health consciousness. No extra
fat, only a small amount of oil that gets naturally produced in the beans, and
slow cooking for more nutrition and less calories. One of his latest innovations
is Street Tacos. Its success is based on the high quality of ingredients and
the right way to combine them. As he says, “I just wanted to hold true to the
authentic tacos of Mexico using the soft corn and keep it minimally garnished.
They are really simplistic and really allow the shredded beef and pork to come
through.”

www.qdoba.com