formerly called zuma fresh mexican grill z teca mexican grill qdoba mexican grill type subsidiary industry restaurants founded 1995 ; 21 years ago 1995 denver colorado founders anthony miller robert hauser headquarters lakewood colorado number of locations 641 area served united states & canada products burritos tacos quesadillas nachos taco salad tortilla soup mexican gumbo owner jack in the box website qdoba.com qdoba mexican eats 1 kju do b kew doh b 2 3 is a chain of fast casual restaurants in the united states and canada serving mexican style cuisine . the company is a wholly owned subsidiary of jack in the box since its purchase from aci capital 4 western growth capital and other private investors in 2003 . 5 6 contents 1 history 2 growth 3 fare 4 competition 5 see also 6 references 7 external links history edit this chain can trace it origins to the opening of the zuma fresh mexican grill in 1995 by colorado native anthony miller and partner robert hauser at grant street and sixth avenue in denver . 7 8 miller and hauser met in new york city where miller was an investment banker with merrill lynch and hauser was attending the culinary institute of america and working at the famed le cirque restaurant . hauser developed most of the recipes and tried to design the menu to be healthier by replacing the use of traditional animal fats with vegetable oils and tried to use more fresh vegetables and herbs when he could . 9 during the first year lines stretched out the door during most evenings at dinnertime but it usually took roughly seven minutes for customers in a 30 person line to get served . 10 zuma was a made up name but was also the name of a friend s cat . 8 11 the denver colorado location was an immediate success with first year revenues exceeding 1 500 000 . the cost of opening the 1 300 square foot 120 m2 store was only 180 000 . in 1997 the name of the company was changed from zuma to z teca mexican grill because of a lawsuit from another restaurant using the zuma name in boston and by confusion caused by the similar sounding zuzu handmade mexican grill 12 chain that was operating in the denver area at that time . 13 gary beisler was hired in 1998 to replace miller as president and chief operating officer while miller remained as chief executive officer . 14 15 by mid 1998 z teca had 21 locations in 9 states 16 with 10 of those locations being franchises . 17 at that time a chicken burrito cost only 4.79 . 16 even though z teca was another made up name there were lawsuits made by z tejas southwestern grill in arizona and azteca in washington state that the z teca name was too similar to their names and it infringed on their tradenames . to overcome these problems the name qdoba was invented in 1999 18 11 by ad agency heckler associates . 19 20 at the time of the name change to qdoba mexican grill gary beisler replaced miller as ceo . 14 growth edit qdoba mexican grill andover st. peabody massachusetts as of 2013 qdoba operates over 600 fast casual restaurant locations throughout the united states . 21 in 2003 san diego based jack in the box company acquired the chain from aci capital a private equity management firm that was the outgrowth of commodity trader a.c. israel enterprises in the 19th century . 4 the first canadian location opened on december 3 2012 in brandon manitoba . 22 a second location was opened in london ontario three months later . 23 a third location opened in winnipeg in 2014 . 24 qdoba repurchased 25 stores located in kentucky indiana and tennessee from zt of louisville one its largest franchisees for an undisclosed sum in mid 2012 . 25 tim casey replaced gary beisler as ceo in march 2013 . 26 in june 2013 qdoba announced it would close a total of 67 underperforming restaurants including 18 in and around chicago . 27 in october 2014 qdoba changed their price structure to all inclusive in which the price only depended on the type of protein 7.80 for chicken or vegetarian items and 8.40 for steak shredded beef or pork but included all of the extras that previously incurred an additional charge such as guacamole and queso sauce . 28 29 most people who routinely ordered the extras with their burritos did not see much of a price difference after the new prices went into effect . however light eaters complained that if they wanted to maintain their light eating habits by getting a simple plain item they were hit with as much as a 2 per item price increase as an example the craft 2 which went up to 8.40 from 6.49 by paying for items they did not choose to get like the guacamole subsidizing other customers who usually paid for the extras in the past and if they chose to get the extras which they normally don t get those light eaters would increase their waistline through the increased intake of calories fat and salt that usually accompanied those extras . 30 31 32 faced with sluggish growth management decided to make a change in their marketing strategy . as part of the new strategy the trade name of the restaurants were changed to qdoba mexican eats in october 2015 in the hope of trying to distinguish itself from similar sounding competitors . 1 33 fare edit qdoba serves burritos made in the san francisco burrito style 34 tacos quesadillas taco salads chile con queso tortilla soup mexican gumbo and fresh guacamole . the restaurant fits into the fast casual category offering both quick service and a higher quality of food than typical fast food restaurants . customers order by selecting an entr e then choosing its ingredients . all of the items are made in plain view of the customer . the chain s current slogan is we live food . to distinguish itself from some of its competitors qdoba serves breakfast and some locations are open 24 hours on weekends . 21 qdoba has also opened restaurants in non traditional locations such as directly on college campuses and may participate in some college meal plans . 35 36 37 competition edit a qdoba mexican grill in eden prairie minnesota the main national rivals 38 to qdoba are chipotle mexican grill which also started in denver two years before qdoba baja fresh moe s southwest grill and to a smaller extent panchero s mexican grill . in 2006 the company was involved in a lawsuit in which panera bread attempted to invoke a clause in panera s contract with the white city shopping center in shrewsbury massachusetts to stop the opening of a qdoba mexican grill . the clause provided that panera would be the only sandwich shop in the shopping center . panera argued that burritos and other tortilla based foods were in fact sandwiches . superior court judge jeffrey locke ruled against panera concluding a sandwich is not commonly understood to include burritos tacos and quesadillas which are typically made with a single tortilla and stuffed with a choice filling of meat rice and beans . 39 however the qdoba in shrewsbury has since closed while moe s southwest grill and chipotle mexican grill remain open across the street . to keep up with its competition especially chipotle mexican grill and to draw more families qdoba introduced a kids menu in december 2009 . 40 41 see also edit list of mexican restaurants colorado portal companies portal food portal references edit a b jennings lisa october 27 2015 . qdoba mexican grill is now qdoba mexican eats . nation s restaurant news . retrieved december 27 2015 . subscription required help . ask our chef how to pronounce qdoba . qdoba mexican grill . archived from the original on september 4 2009 . retrieved 2010 10 20 . qdoba mexican grill on twitter the meltz q doh bah kew doh bah . . qdoba via twitter . january 11 2013 . a b aci capital portfolio . aci capital . retrieved 2009 07 30 . robinson jacobs karen january 22 2003 . jack in the box buys qdoba restaurant . los angeles times . qdoba restaurant chain sold to jack in the box . louisville business first . january 22 2003 . parker penny september 9 1995 . restaurant rush taking a breather . denver post rockies ed . . pp . d 01 . subscription required help . alternate link via newsbank a b cox jack december 21 1995 . devouring a dream financier chef concoct winning restaurant . denver post rockies ed . . pp . e 01 . subscription required help . alternate link via newsbank st. john bill november 17 1995 . bagels to burritos all you need to eat at 550 grant st. . rocky mountain news final ed . . p. 24d . subscription required help . alternate link via newsbank . parker penny june 10 1996 . giant burritos invade trendy eateries scene . denver post rockies ed . . pp . e 01 . subscription required help . alternate link via newsbank . a b pate kelly december 15 1999 . z teca changing its name lawsuits prompted burrito chain switch . denver post wed1 ed . . subscription required help . alternate link via newsbank . parker penny february 16 1995 . zuzu opening 35 health mex outlets in colorado . denver post rockies ed . . pp . c 1 . subscription required help . alternate link via newsbank . cox jack december 31 1996 . expansion excites restaurant owners . denver post rockies ed . . pp . e 02 . subscription required help . alternate link via newsbank . a b z teca restaurant corporation names ceo . pr newswire . december 13 1999 . p. 1 via the free library . alternate link via proquest . people on the move . denver post . november 23 1998 . pp . e 05 . subscription required help . alternate link via newsbank . a b ruggless ron july 27 1998 . z teca plans expansion of fresh made burrito concept . nation s restaurant news . 32 30 . p. 76 via highbeam research . subscription required help . alternate link via proquest . bunn dina july 28 1998 . z teca chain plans design make over this is ... from simple logo to something more sophisticated . founder tony miller . rocky mountain news final ed . . p. 4b . subscription required help . alternate link via newsbank . z teca changes name . denver business journal . december 17 1999 . eagles cynthia january 14 2002 . qdoba has recipe for success . louisville business first . berta dina december 15 1999 . z teca changing to q doba restaurant chain s name was too similar to those of longer lived eateries . rocky mountain news final ed . . p. 1b . subscription required help . alternate link via newsbank . a b yagalla mark december 1 2013 . jack in the box and qdoba look set to take down chipotle . the motley fool . mcneill murray december 5 2012 . brandon lands first qdoba . winnipeg free press . qdoba restaurant opens in london . london community news . march 18 2013 . mexican grill polo park now open . access winnipeg . april 25 2014 . coomes steve june 19 2012 . louisville area qdoba franchisees sell ky. ind. tenn. stores to parent company . insider louisville . hicks l. wayne march 8 2013 . qdoba picks tim casey as new president . denver business journal . york emily bryson june 27 2013