Our society's love for faux-Mexican food seems to have become an American staple. The rise of Taco Bell over the past few decades was due in part to the chain's images of Chihuahuas that were ingrained into our brains through ingenious TV commercials that most of today's young adults probably still remember.
Fast-forward some years, and the Mexican fast-food business has grown to be one of the trendiest food classifications of the millennial generation. Not only is Taco Bell still around, but chains such as Chipotle, Qdoba, and Moe's have all taken flight, usually advertising their most popular and versatile item: the burrito.
These are not just any regular burritos stuffed with beans that are a few inches long and about as thick as your wrist; our modern taste buds demand head-sized, heavy, and humongous burritos that leave you sick to your stomach after eating one, but still hungry for more!
These are the types of Burritos that we like!
If you live on the East Coast like myself, there are three big burrito businesses that seem to be the most abundant and well known: the ever-famous Chipotle, the salsa-savvy Moe's, and the queso-crazed Qdoba.
Anyone who has had all three typically tends to have a favorite burrito chain whose honor they will defend valiantly -- and that usually tends to be Chipotle. Now, Chipotle is obviously delicious, and I have spent way more money in that restaurant in the past few years than any one man who makes as little money as I do should -- but is it my favorite?
The answer to that question was always yes, but after 20 years of life I have finally lived life to the fullest -- in other words, I have officially taken it upon myself to visit all three restaurants and decide once and for all which one is my favorite!
The result?
Let me start by saying that if I had to choose between one of these three for the rest of my life, the dairy-crazed monster that lives in my boy-body would not be able to choose Chipotle. Crazy, right? At all three separate places I would order the exact same thing, or at least as close as I possibly could to a steak burrito with pretty much everything on it except guacamole.
Well, if you are like me and you can't get enough cheese on your burrito, then Chipotle will never be the same after you have essentially the exact same burrito you would order at Chipotle, but smothered in cheese at either Moe's or Qdoba -- both of these Chipotle competitors offer queso when building a burrito, but Chipotle does not.
You can disagree with my unpopular opinion all you want, but Chipotle's lack of queso drops it right out of the running for me.
Moe's and Qdoba have a similar selection when it comes to building burritos. However, Qdoba seems to have more choices for queso, while Moe's has a whole bar of different types of salsa that are self-serve and free (pretty cool, right?).
Moe's also serves free chips for the salsa, so you get your burrito, plus a bag of chips, and all of the salsa you can imagine.
So which is my favorite?
I would have to say that Qdoba is by far my favorite, based completely off of taste. There is something about the ingredients (specifically the spicy diablo queso) that I think tastes nothing short of heavenly, and unfortunately, the competitors just cannot compete.
However, Qdoba is unfortunately the priciest of the three, and if you are trying to get the most food for the least amount of money, Qdoba is not the place to go.
If I were to make a choice between the three of these based on taste, quality, and price, Moe's would be the clear winner. Its prices are cheaper than Qdoba's to begin with, and not only that, but they throw in free chips and unlimited salsa. There is never anything wrong with free food!
So while I don't necessarily want anyone to agree with me just because that's my opinion, I do always enjoy knowing what other people's opinions and favorites are. This is just mine and it's not meant to offend anyone.
May your burrito be the best it can possibly be, no matter where it comes from, and your stomach never go unsatisfied!
