Kudos to Qdoba

I find myself looking at a restaurant menu about 2-3 times a week on average. I’ve always been one of those people who can take an eternity to make a selection. Since becoming veggie, this is no longer a problem. In fact, I can now open a menu, skim the selections and make a decision in about a minute or less. Good for the people I’m eating with, somewhat disheartening for me. The reason for this sudden menu-reading speed? Vegetarian meals in restaurants are few and far between, especially the ones that go easy on pasta and cheeses.

Being fairly new to the whole vegetarian thing I’m learning, one experience at a time, not only which restaurants serve veggie dishes, but which ones do it well. From time to time, I will write about the restaurants that impress me with their veggie selections (i.e. ones that I plan to eat at again). The first restaurant of choice: Qdoba.

Qdoba, eh? Yes, it is by definition a fast food joint. Some prefer to call it ‘fast casual’. In any case, my hopes weren’t necessarily high when I entered the place, because my short experience in the veggie world has taught me that fast food joints either don’t do veggie meals, or do a really poor job trying…not the case with Qdoba.

Veggie options at Qdoba include the following:

• 3-Cheese Vegetarian Nachos
• Tortilla Soup
• Grilled Vegetable Burrito
• Vegetarian Burrito
• Vegetarian Taco Salad
• Mango Salad (summer only)
• Vegetarian Tacos
• Vegetarian Quesadillas

With so many great selections, it took me about 3 full minutes to make a decision. Feeling a bit festive, I went with the 3-Cheese Vegetarian Nachos, which consisted of nachos (of course) covered in 3-cheese queso, tomatoes, grilled veggies, black beans, green chili salsa and light sour cream. Everything was prepared as I watched, and the meal was fresh and satisfying. At about 5 bucks, the meal was well worth it. I will definitely be back.