Today my co-worker Colleen and I had the wonderful idea to pit two similar Mexican-style restaurants together in a taste test. As we both love food, this was the highlight of the day! We decided to get equal meals from Chipotle Mexican Grill and Qdoba Mexican Grill. We both had previously dined at both restaurants and liked them both. I made the joking, yet-somewhat-serious remark that “they are the same restaurant” so we decided to set that theory straight!
Below are my and Colleen’s accounts of our experience. Other co-workers also weighed in on this taste test with their opinions as well.
We ordered the same meal from both restaurants; I went to Qdoba while Colleen went to Chipotle. We ordered a chicken burrito with cilantro lime rice, black beans, pico de gallo, corn salsa, salsa verde, and lettuce. A bag of chips and guacamole also accompanied the burrito.
We met back at the office in the lunchroom. In the midst of our excitement we did make sure to label each half of the burritos we would be eating to properly determine our thoughts. We also kept the tortilla chips and guacamole separated.
Both burritos looked identical on the outside and inside. I tried the Qdoba burrito first as they were who I was betting my money on (no money exchanged hands except for the purchase of said food). I found the burrito to taste as expected. I then tasted the Chipotle burrito and couldn’t believe my taste buds. I had a prejudice held against Chipotle because of their name, as I do not like chipotle flavoring of any sorts. The Chipotle burrito had a fresher taste to it. I went back and forth to confirm the flavor explosions going on in my mouth (similar to a fiesta). The more I ate the Qdoba burrito, the more I found it to be bland and a heavy, thick taste clung to my tongue. The taste reminded me of a flavor enhancer that sometimes finds it’s way onto food to make it taste a certain way. Each bite into the Chipotle burrito had me experiencing a taste of each element…such as the corn salsa. I could taste the natural sweetness of the corn in the Chipotle burrito, but not in the Qdoba burrito. Towards the last bites of each burrito, I noticed that the Qdoba burrito had a brown/black color, which came from the black beans. It made the rice, which is normally white, look like brown rice. The Chipotle rice maintained it’s white color throughout the eating process. I don’t believe this distinction affected the taste of the burrito, except to mask the different flavors in the Qdoba burrito.
Once I demolished the burritos (as they were both worth eating, I was just enjoying one a lot more than the other) I turned to the tortilla chips and guacamole. For this round, Chipotle won again. Their chips tasted fresher and the guacamole had a fantastic taste that was enhanced further with chunks of red onions. The chips from Qdoba tasted chewier, as if they were on the border of going stale. The guacamole had a sweetness to it that wasn’t necessarily bad, but in comparison to the other guacamole just did not meet my taste buds desire.
On a positive side to Qdoba, they offered me a salsa to go with the chips (at no extra charge) and I chose the salsa verde, which is their medium salsa. I had it in my burrito, but couldn’t pick it out separately from the other ingredients. On it’s own with the chips, it was fantastic. Everyone in who tasted the salsa around me agreed that it was definitely a winner.
The final comparison I made was the bill between the two stores. Qdoba was cents cheaper than Chipotle, but not enough to make it a reason to choose one over the other. They were very close in price to each other.
(Colleen’s point of view in her words): First of all, I have to get this out. I do not like the flavor of chipotle so the name of the restaurant, Chipotle, instantly turned me off. However, being a fan of Mexican food I decided to give it a try and I am so glad I did.
Since Chipotle (CB) and Qdoba (QB) offer essentially the same basic items, we decided to test a chicken burrito. Christa was kind enough to let me choose the toppings. This burrito consisted of: chicken; cilantro-lime rice; black beans, pico de gallo, corn salsa, salsa verde and lettuce. We each got a bag of chips and guacamole as well.
Both burritos looked exactly the same; shoved into a piece of foil not big enough to contain them (similar to the way my stomach is relating to my pants at this point). Also, both had more rice than the other ingredients – this is where the similarities end. I dug into the CB and found each ingredient to be flavorful and noticeable. The chicken tasted as if it had been grilled and it had a pleasing consistency. Typically beans do not have much flavor but that was not the case in the CB. Overall, this was a great burrito and the only word I can think of is FRESH. Everything tasted as if you’d just purchased the ingredients at the market and cooked them yourself.
Now onto the QB. There was barely any chicken in my side of the QB and the chicken that was inside could have been tofu. The beans lacked any flavor and that seems to be my overall consensus of the QB – it was boring. The food seemed to be fresh but next to the CB, it tasted as if they were making up for something, maybe the quality of the ingredients?
The chips and guacamole were also polarizing. Overwhelmingly, the Chipotle chips were crisp and salty; the guacamole actually had distinguishable pieces of onion and cilantro. Perfect. The Qdoba chips were rubbery and possibly bordering on stale, the guac could have been a day overdue for the trash. They did give us a side of salsa verde that was very good. I had to say something positive so you don’t think I am being paid for this review.
Perhaps I would not have noticed these small nuances if I did not have them side by side, but the QB lacked flavor on all levels. I won't go as far as to say I would never eat at Qdoba, if given a choice, I would pick Chipotle.
As you can see, Colleen and I had very similar views on the eating experience. We expected to have different views, so it made for an interesting meal! Below are some more tidbits regarding today’s taste test.
A co-worker, Karey, went with me to Qdoba and ordered the Vegetarian Mango salad. While she wasn’t taking her salad apart as we were with our food, I asked her for her opinion on the salad. It consisted of the tortilla bowl (which she devoured at the end), lettuce, black beans, tomato, cheese, mango salsa, and cilantro lime dressing. She said the salad was overall very tasty and the mango salsa/cilantro lime dressing blended very well together. Her only complaint was that the black beans did not have any flavor and she started to pick those out of the salad.
A co-worker, Maureen, had purchased a vegetarian burrito bowl from Qdoba yesterday, so she decided to get one from Chipotle today as a comparison. Before she even tasted the Chipotle burrito bowl she commented that the bowls from Qdoba are bigger. She also said that the Qdoba burrito bowls stay warmer longer (both restaurants are approximately 5 minutes from our office). She did like the taste of the Chipotle burrito bowl better, stating that the flavors were more pronounced. She did notate that both Qdoba and Chipotle will charge you extra for guacamole in a burrito bowl.
As a side note, I picked up an identical burrito for our boss, who did not know we were doing a taste test and I did not tell him which place I was getting his burrito from. After our taste test, he stopped at my desk and said, “That was from Qdoba wasn’t it?” to which I replied, “Yes”. He then said, “I thought so, Chipotle is better”. I found it funny that he was able to guess that without having to put the two burritos against each other.
Overall, this was a fun taste test to have. I initially went into this fully expecting to pick Qdoba as the winner as I let the name of Chipotle’s restaurant mess with my psych. While Qdoba offers a much larger menu, Chipotle has impressed me with the freshness of their food. I will continue to frequent both restaurants, and I’ve already thought of my next taste test between the two of them: tacos.
