Oh wow.. it has been forever since I last updated this blog. The main reason was because I forgot the password AND the username for the account. Absent-minded me haha, but it’s all good now. I got everything in control.
The incentive of this post (which also pushed me to regain the account) was to compare some fast food brands. I know.. not that exciting. I would have tried to post something that I made but I just moved to Nashville recently and was trying to get used to the place. I certainly did become familiar with their mexican fast food locations, including Chipotle, Qdoba and Baja Express.
Chipotle and Qdoba have always been on the balance table, but I would love to know how they both evolved over time. I guess when I have time I will write something about the business and development of both brands later. Baja Express is an entire new entity for me, and I am glad I tried it. I would say, although I am going into the workforce, my mentality is still of a college student, so I am writing on prices based on my personal wallet. However, for the moment, it’s about the food – taste, quality and worth.
Chipotle: pricy but fulfilling
If anything, Chipotle speaks quality as a fast food brand. I love their chicken selection, very flavorful and adequately seasoned. Their salsas are nice with acceptable heat level (the hot salsa is never hot enough for me). Other ingredients such as pico de gallo, corn and lettuce are fresh and still have that crunch. But I bet everyone also comes here for their guacamole. Yes, there is an extra charge of about $1.20, which in Nashville could bring a $7 burrito to close to $10. However, it is worth the money. The guacamole is very creamy with that beautiful green shade of avocado, and it actually tastes like one. I was happy to find that prolonged exposure to air does turn the thing brown 🙂 Not pretty to the eye, but good assurance.
In terms of price, for my pocket it is a little pricy, only because I haven’t started making money yet. I do believe for the quality, quantity and the freedom of choices that you have, this is a great option for nights when you are too lazy to prepare food. One thing, however, they are not used to greedy people. I know that because one time I was too cheap to refuse any topping options (except guacamole), and the girl looked at me in an interesting way. I didn’t know how to interpret that, but I see just a little bit of disgust in there, like “really? u gotta get everything?”. Yes, ma’am. That burrito bowl lasted me 2 meals which I appreciated greatly, but I guess I won’t do that again..
Qdoba: there’s always room for improvement in food, not cost
I think Qdoba knows deep inside they need to improve in food quality, that’s why they offer even more selections than Chipotle. Some of them are genius, in my opinion. First they offer a wide selection of quesos (or cheesy sauces, I would call them), then they offer to dress your burrito in that quesos instead of wrapping it in your burrito. Yes, I am talking about the smothered burrito, their signature dish that I find extremely intriguing (personally burrito is dry food for me so putting sauces on top of it seems strange). This afternoon, when I came to a burrito branch near my workplace, two people before me ordered it and seemed content. So, the trick worked, and it is obvious that Qdoba has some great thoughts in terms of marketing their products.
That being said, I wish their food could match up with their brilliance in drawing customers. Of course when you want to compare two different places it is not a great idea to order two different dishes…, but I think it gives me a good idea of how things are. Instead of chicken, I ordered the ground beef burrito with the chipotle cream sauce and an extra of guacamole (of course!) at Qdoba. After all, their chicken is chewy and not very flavorful anyway.
What I would like to say is “NOT BAD”, but what I am going to say is “NOT TOO GREAT”. Qdoba offered the same price for chicken and ground meat. So with the free guacamole, overall I spent less money for this burrito. However, the flavor was not worth the amount of money I had paid. The meat was overly salty for my taste, and the guacamole was.. tasteless. Even when I ate the guacamole separately, I could not come to find the creamy avocado flavor. One thing to note, also, is that somehow the Chipotle cream sauce and the sour cream became non existent. It always happens with Qdoba for some reason, and I love sour cream..
Baja Express: different approach, different result
I am not too familiar with Baja, but I was impressed with their execution. Compared to Chipotle and Qdoba, Baja seems to incline more to the traditional mexican side of food. They offer mexican rice, guacamole, fresh avocado and cilantro. It was a pleasant surprise to see actual avocado slices and cilantro in the selection. One of the things they do was interesting: they heated the cheese with the tortilla, doing it very fast that I’m not sure you could stop them if you don’t want cheese. Overall, ok taste, everything was mildly seasoned, not very flavorful. However, I think their tortilla beats the other two’s.
Conclusion
So the verdict may seem obvious, but it really isn’t. Baja aims to present more authentic mexican ingredients, Chipotle provides great tasting and fresh food, but Qdoba is not a bad alternative. If you want to save a few dollars and guacamole, go for Qdoba. If you would like more traditional mexican options, Baja might be your friend. However, for me it will always be Chipotle, because I am willing to eat their burrito (bowls) even without the avocado goodness, because those flavors and the great feeling when you have a bite are worth $8. Plus, I like the setting 🙂
P.s.: Until Qdoba can increase their taste, I will be a loyal to Chipotle.
cook till you drop 