A Moe's knockoff

I was late to the Moe's party. It had been a very "hot" franchise that I had been reading about long before I got to try it. Now that I have tried it, I can take it or leave it. Now we have QDoba, a "me too" franchise that is, at least to me, a little bit better.

I stopped at my local QDoba the day it opened. I didn't know it when I went in, but all meals were complimentary that day. The staff didn't seem like regular fast food workers, and they were not. I found out that the company has a policy of staffing new restaurants with executives from the main office when they first open. Now that the execs are gone, service is still good.

I have had better "Mexican" food in the past, and posted about it on RF, but for fast food QDoba does a good job. Look for one near you soon, because according to the VP that I talked to, they have raised enough $$$ to open lots of restaurants fast. www.QDoba.com www.moes.com

QDoba is owned by Jack in the Box, but don't confuse their food with the greasy Jack in the Box tacos. Overall, I have been pretty impressed with the food that you get for the money, and the taste. While not quite as good as the local Mexican owned places, IMHO, it is quicker, about the same price, and definately cleaner.

quote:

Originally posted by Rt66Mike

QDoba is owned by Jack in the Box, but don't confuse their food with the greasy Jack in the Box tacos. Overall, I have been pretty impressed with the food that you get for the money, and the taste. While not quite as good as the local Mexican owned places, IMHO, it is quicker, about the same price, and definately cleaner.

I realize I'm replying to posts that are over two years old, but I have to say that perhaps my single worst fast food experience was at the QDoba here in Athens, GA. We went one Sunday afternoon, catching the end of the after church crowd. We were greeted, if that's the word, by ther manager behind the counter yelling---yes, yelling at us to place our order. This rude greeting without even giving us a chance to look at the menu board and even figure out what was on the menu.

Once we got past him and to our actual food, it was excruciatingly mediocre, bearing only a passing resemblence to even Taco Bell-class fast food Tex-Mex.

Needless to say, we never went back and even less surprisingly QDoba is no longer there. It's tenure here was very short-lived and it must rank up there in the Top Five of fast food restaurants to come and go within six months. Not at all surprising.

If I had someone yelling at me to place my order, I guarantee I would not have eaten there.

quote:

Originally posted by buffetbuster

If I had someone yelling at me to place my order, I guarantee I would not have eaten there.

In retrospect, we should have just walked out.

Customer service is so crucial these days when consumers have so many choices it is a wonder you still encounter rudeness as we did. I doubt ours was an isolated incident and given the fact that the place came and went so fast, I have to think most people who went there were one time customers.

Chipotle is a first cousin of all these "big burrito" places and is doing big business here in chain-friendly Cincinnati.

I like Chipotle because it seems to be the only one of this group that offers pork - they call carnitas, right or wrong.

Good mexican\hispanic or even tex-mex is fairly hard to come by in Cincinnati, despite a rapidly growing hispanic population

quote:

Originally posted by TJ Jackson

Chipotle is a first cousin of all these "big burrito" places and is doing big business here in chain-friendly Cincinnati.

I like Chipotle because it seems to be the only one of this group that offers pork - they call carnitas, right or wrong.

Good mexican\hispanic or even tex-mex is fairly hard to come by in Cincinnati, despite a rapidly growing hispanic population

While working in Crystal City, VA, I relied on Chipotle heavily for lunch. Their salads rock. Their food was fresh, service was outstanding, and I really felt like they cared about their product, the experience and my patronage. I've been to other Chipotles, and they are good too, but that one was run exceptionally well.

I've eaten at the Qdoba in the Atlanta airport. It was pretty good and fairly cheap (at least for an airport eatery).

There's a Moe's here in Clemson but I'll probably never make it in there, as one of my favorite restaurants, Super Taco, puts all other quick Mexican places to shame. I need to do a proper Roadfood write-up about Super Taco one of these days.

improviser-
Is Super Taco an independent or part of a chain?

We just got a Moe's in the Chicago-area; we've had Chipotle for at least 5 years now and Qdoba's, too, but I've never been to one. I generally stick to the mom & pop taquerias that are abundant, except for the area around where I work, which happens to be where the Moe's is (and a Chipotle) I tried Moe's- meh. It wasn't very flavorful and the menu was confusing. As chain Mexican food goes, I'd say it's like an upscale Taco Bell.

I heard that at the Moe's in Florida, they have fish tacos. Now that might be worth going in there for.

Baja Fresh had fish tacos, too, but the locations closest to me closed.

Alas, mom and pop tacquerias are nowhere near abundant here in Cincinnati

There is a Moe's location in Edmond (N. of OKC) but I've never tried it. Now they are set to open a Chipotle's next month. I might give them a try because I've read good things about the chain. But I'm sure it can't beat my favorite taqueria in taste and value (maybe ambience tho).

By the way, there used to be an Atomic Burrito location in north OKC that was pretty good, but it disappered not long after I ate there. Are these still around?

I kind of like the chain burrito places, especially when I have to travel-- they're reliable and reasonably priced. I had to laugh at tfrelin's experience in QDoba, because the almost exact same thing happened to me at the Moe's here in Columbia MO...only it was part of their shtick. They were yelling "welcome to Moe's" and such, but it was still annoying as hell. Maybe it's a generational thing. I also didn't care for the cutesy/obscure names they put on their food, but I did like the salsa selection they offered after you got your food.

I've gone to a QDoba on the west side of StL a couple of times because it's more or less on my route when I go for business, and it was fine, nothing objectionable. For me, it, Moe's, and Chipotle are more or less interchangeable.

The Moe's here in Flint, Mi. recently closed. I did go once to try it, but like Cyrano, I was so put off by the Psycho cheerleader waitstaff hollering greetings at you as soon as the door opened, that I never went back. The food was OK, but nothing special.

quote:

Originally posted by Michigander

The Moe's here in Flint, Mi. recently closed. I did go once to try it, but like Cyrano, I was so put off by the Psycho cheerleader waitstaff hollering greetings at you as soon as the door opened, that I never went back. The food was OK, but nothing special.

"psycho cheerleader" stuff.... good choice of words..

It definitely turned me off, too! And I'm the kind of person that really likes friendly food servers and grocery clerks, etc ("have a lovely day", etc), but this was too over the top and wierd..

Tried Moe's... Eh.. I am like tmiles... I can take it or leave it.
The time I went, they were understaffed, and they got hit hard, and it took forever to get my food.

Tried Moes, Chipitos, Taco Bell, Qdoba, Taco Time and Dell Taco. Dell Taco serves the most southern Califonian Mexican style food by far. Unfortunatly I only have one in my area and it is 25 miles away, but well worth the drive.

Even in little Oxford, MS we had a Moe's for awhile. Then, the owner got in a fight with the corporate office and changed it to a place called Redneck Burritos. Mostly the same menu, but just not as good imo. It closed and now the building houses a local pizza place.

My parents in Cincinnati got a Moe's in the past year or so and I can still get it when I'm up there.