At This Pace, QDOBA Won’t Be a Best-Kept Secret Much Longer

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Earlier successful the year, John Cywinski, a erstwhile Applebee's marque president who took the reins of Modern Restaurant Concepts successful January 2023—a radical that included QDOBA, Modern Market Eatery, and Lemonade astatine the clip (Lemonade has since closed store and Modern Market was sold to Thrive Restaurant Group)—called the Mexican accelerated casual a "diamond successful the rough." Namely, helium felt the marque sat squarely betwixt 2 mature, bequest battles successful QSR: pizza and chicken. Mexican accelerated casual, however, remains a "sweet spot" amid a crowded scenery and a subcategory with plentifulness of whitespace.

Outside of Chipotle and its 3,934 year-end 2025 restaurants, QDOBA closed the calendar with 827 units and Moe's Southwest Grill had 568 (the GoTo Foods marque has 722 successful 2019). Del Taco, a person examination to Taco Bell than, say, an assembly similar accelerated casual, had 576 arsenic 2026 arrived. And regarding the Yum! Brands giant, it dotted 7,784 stores crossed America. There's a crushed Taco Bell often describes itself arsenic a "category of one" astatine scale.

QDOBA, founded successful 1995 arsenic "Zuma Fresh Mexican Grill," changing its sanction 2 years aboriginal to Z-TECA earlier becoming QDOBA Mexican Grill successful 1999, deed 200 locations wrong a decade. Then, it took different six years to scope 600. It became QDOBA Mexican Eats successful 2015 and was sold to Duckhorn-backer Butterfly Equity successful 2022. Butterfly raised $527 cardinal 3 years later, led by Apollo Global Management's Sponsor and Secondary Solutions business. That continuation money gave aboriginal investors a accidental to currency retired and besides acceptable QDOBA up with much wealth to support growing.

Apollo antecedently owned QDOBA earlier selling it to Butterfly. Jack successful the Box directed QDOBA from 2003 to 2018 and dealt it to the steadfast for $305 million. The burger marque took connected QDOBA for $45 cardinal erstwhile it had 85 restaurants. Apollo owned QDOBA for 4 calendars earlier Butterfly swooped in.

The L.A-based firm, which had an inaugural $305 cardinal securitization effort successful 2023 for QDOBA earlier a caller $435 cardinal one, hired a caller enforcement squad (including Cywinski), shifted to a franchise-first model, turned toward caller portion development, and positioned QDOBA arsenic an asset-light, high-growth operator.

Store No. 800 arrived this year.

Cywinski, speaking astatine the ICR Conference, said "many, galore more" QDOBAs were coming. He outlined a 10-year way to 2,000 restaurants, $2.7 cardinal average-unit volumes, $5 cardinal successful systemwide sales, a 28 percent store-level EBITDA margin, and a $200 cardinal nationalist selling fund.