I remember when the first Chipotle opened up in my neighborhood. It was quite a novelty. Burritos so large you could stand them up on end. The restaurants were unique and you could make your burrito however you liked.

For years, I was a Chipotle-frequenter.

Then, on a road-trip out West, I discovered another burrito joint called Qdoba. I was hooked. They offered similar menu items to Chipotle, but I found the food tastier – with their unique queso sauces and (seemingly) fresher ingredients.

Both chains raised their prices this year – Chipotle in the spring, and Qdoba, covertly this fall (under the guise of offering free “extras”).

While Chipotle and Qdoba are very similar in taste – there are some reasons that I think Qdoba is better than Chipotle and will ultimately save you more money.

A look at their prices

Chipotle and Qdoba offer online ordering – which is a great service if you don't want to wait in their (oftentimes) long lunch lines.



Taking a look at their prices online and in my area (Minneapolis) – let's see how they match up on a chicken burrito.

[table id=18 /]

So, on price at least, Qdoba beats Chipotle by .24 cents on a popular menu item – the wrapped chicken burrito. Keep in mind that Qdoba offers all the “extras” for free – so you could really load up your burrito with queso and quacamole to boot!

Here's another menu item that folks tend to order a lot of: chips and salsa. Let's see how they stack up there:

[table id=19 /]

Even with getting beat on chips and salsa, Qdoba is still up on price by .18 cents.

Note: The one menu item where Chipotle beats Qdoba on price is on their veggie burrito bowls. Chipotle offers this for $7.22 (which comes with free guacamole), while Qdoba gets beat quite handedly at $8.66.



Save more money by switching your cell phone provider to an MVNO carrier, like Ting or Republic Wireless. Aaron spends about $11/month on his cell phone bill.

How you can really save money at Qdoba

With Qdoba being easier on your wallet than Chipotle, they offer other ways to save with them (which I really appreciate).

[creativ_pullright colour=”custom” colour_custom=”#0d72ba” text=”The only freebie's I've gotten from Chipotle was when I dressed up in tin foil”]Qdoba offers a frequent diner program called “Qdoba Rewards“. I've been with it over a year now and it is truly worth the effort to have the cashier scan the card. After every 10th meal purchase, you get a free entree.

This reward program is something that Chipotle lacks.

Going back to an earlier post about how I purchase discounted gift cards to save money on things I routinely purchase, I've gotten Qdoba cards for 8-10% off their face value. Add that on top of my free entree every 10th purchase, and that is even more savings. (AND purchase this online with a Discover card – that routinely offers 3-5% back on online buys – and you can do even better!)

Lastly, Qdoba offers its email subscribers birthday bonuses as well as other freebies off/on just by being on their list. The only freebie's I've gotten from Chipotle was when I dressed up in tin foil for Halloween.

All this said – I think Qdoba tastes better AND saves me more money than Chipotle.

What are your thoughts? Do you prefer one over the other?

Update 4/28/2016: Kudos to Chipotle who has finally had to relent to creating a rewards program similar to what Qdoba has. It's too bad they couldn't have instituted this earlier and not been forced to after slumping sales.

Update 7/21/2106: With Chipotle's new reward program called Chiptopia – you may be able to earn rewards at a faster rate than Qdoba's. Here's more info about Chiptopia and to sign up (if you wish to go to the dark side) 

Update 12/5/2016: Qdoba started their new revamped Rewards program today. Many current members will receive 1400 point that go towards free entrees. After the first initial look at the program – it appears to be a little bit of a downgrade for customers. You'll need to make a quite a few purchases for that free entree – but you will get different perks / with the ability to choose what you want after just a few visits (usually smaller items). Also the more you visit, the faster you earn reward points.

Update 9/13/2017: Chipotle announced it is now offering queso. This could be a game-changer in the who is better, Chipotle or Qdoba. Apparently, the queso leaves a bit to be desired.

Update 1/30/2018: After a visit to the competition, here's a look at my total bill from Chipotle (w/ tax). Too much!





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