Qudoba Mexican Grill

Qdoba opens its doors in Minot

The restaurant with the funny name is finally open in Minot, and looks to already be a hit if the steady stream of customers is any indication.

Qdoba Mexican Grill opened its doors July 18 and offers a unique take on Mexican food to go along with its unique name. Chad Thompson, owner/operator of Qdoba in Minot, said the name is invented and doesn't have any special meaning. For those wondering how to say it, Qdoba is pronounced Q-doe-bah.

The restaurant is located in the former Hollywood Video building at 1700 S. Broadway. The phone number is 420-2936. Hours of operation are 10:30 a.m. to 10 p.m., seven days a week.

Thompson said Qdoba makes its Mexican food much like a submarine sandwich restaurant makes subs. Customers go through a line, pick out the exact ingredients they want, and watch as the meal is made on the spot.

"As a guest, you're going through and you're building whatever you would like," Thompson said.

"It's an assembly line," he added. "Each team member has their duty, and that's kind of what they do and they pass it along."

He mentioned that you can eat at Qdoba every day for an entire year and have something new each day because of all the different combinations of sauces, salsas and meats available.

Food is constantly being freshly cooked all day long as guests walk through the door. With all the cooking that's done, you'd be hard-pressed to find anything that wasn't as fresh as possible.

"We cook a lot, and you can see when you walk in. We're grilling chicken steak all day, every day. So the product is fresh, we're not cooking today's product for three days from now," Thompson said. "We're cooking it all the time, every day.

"We cut our own corn tortilla chips every day. They're made daily, we toss them with lime and salt. We hand-smash avocados every day for guacamole. Fresh pico de gallo (salsa) every day."

Other items Thompson mentioned that are made daily include the adobo-marinated chicken and fresh cilantro-lime rice.

One of Qdoba's signature flavors is its warm 3-cheese queso sauce, which is used on the queso burrito.

"The 3-cheese queso sauce is phenomenal," Thompson said. "I always joke with people, they're like, 'What's that?' 'Well it might change your life,' that's what I tell them. It's just amazing."

This is the fourth Qdoba to open in North Dakota. The other three locations are in Bismarck, Grand Forks and Fargo.

Qdoba is still hiring to fill out the staff, and Thompson said anyone interested in applying can stop at the restaurant and speak with a manager. There are plenty of part- and full-time positions available for line servers and cooks.

Qdoba Mexican Grill: FREE Taco (Select States) – Hip2Save - Not ...

UPDATE: Thanks to reader, Michelle, I was just alerted to the fact this freebie is only valid in North Carolina & Chattanooga, TN locations.  Sorry for the confusion.

Yum! If you have a Qdoba Mexican Grill nearby, you can score a great freebie! Just text FREETACO to 67463 and you will receive a text message coupon back valid for a FREE Taco – with NO purchase required. This coupon is good through July 28th, so you’ll need to make use of it pretty quickly.

* Standard text messaging rates do apply. Hi! I'm Collin...

I'm a young mom to three adorable kiddos, two boys and a girl. I also have one amazing husband who serves in the Marine Corps and does his best to provide for the five of us - every single day! We are a typical American family, struggling with finances, budgeting, and the challenges that come with raising children in today's fast-moving world.

Qdoba Mexican Grill

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