Qdoba

Leadership

After 30 years, Qdoba catches a wave

Despite being a distant second in the fast-casual Mexican category, Qdoba hopes to step out of Chipotle's shadow with its signature promise of free queso and guac.

Financing

Qdoba gets a $527M investment

Butterfly Equity acquired the fast-casual chain in 2022 from Apollo. Now an affiliate of Apollo has led a significant investment to fund Butterfly's continued revitalization of the franchise brand.

CEO John Cywinski said franchisees from both QSR and casual dinning see Qdoba as their way into the booming fast-casual space.

Qdoba agreed to pay $3.8 million to settle a pay transparency lawsuit. Chipotle agreed to pay more than $3 million in a case related to alleged scheduling and paid leave violations in Seattle.

John Cywinski hints going public could be in the Mexican fast casual's future if the revitalization strategy comes to fruition as planned.

Sister brand Qdoba to see remodels and new digital menu boards as Modern Restaurant Concepts refinances debt.

The CEO of Qdoba-parent Modern Restaurant Concepts is borrowing from the playbook used during his leadership at Applebee's and KFC. The first step, however, was selling the Lemonade brand.

The No. 2 Mexican fast casual has a long way to go to get close in size to arch rival Chipotle, but Qdoba is refranchising in a shift to the asset-light model.

Customers returned to dining out and operators greeted them with a record number of limited-time offers. The result was a summer of love on restaurant menus.

Menu specials and deals are in the works to boost sales both on- and off-premise during the NCAA tournament.

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