Right. Chipotle and outstanding mom and pop restaurants are comparable, but Chipotle and Qdoba, which are damn near identical, are like sex and Ebola.
“This bean, rice, meat, salsa and guac burrito made at a chain restaurant is fantastic, but that bean, rice, meat, salsa and guac burrito made at a comparable chain restaurant is the worst thing evar!!!”
Me neither. Why the apparent assumption that what Chipotle/Qdoba are doing is a failed attempt at authentic Mexican food? It is what it is, and you either like it on its own terms or you don’t.
So exaggeration for comedic effect and emphasis is something that’s lost on you then? Duly noted.
Yep. If I want something along those lines - which occasionally I do - I go to the local chain Willy’s. It’s still faux-Mexican, to be sure, but I think it’s much better than either Chipotle or Qdoba.
ETA: I see ** Labrador Deceiver** and **yellowjacketcoder ** beat me to the Willy’s love. That’s ok. I work at GSU and we have one on campus. 
Not really lost in me, no. Nor is the idea that someone would prefer a local burrito joint over a chain.
Well apparently it is, because this thread isn’t “Name your favorite Mexican joint.” If people want to do that, that’s their prerogative, but that’s not what the OP asks. There are a lot of locally-owned Mexican restaurants I absolutely love, some are damn-near perfection when it comes to Mexican cuisine. Doesn’t mean I can’t love Chipotle also, or humorously defend my love of Chipotle by comparing Qdoba to Ebola, or put Chipotle as one of my favorite places to eat. My first post in this thread and my second post are not at odds with each other.
Sheesh.
I picked neither. Chipotle is a perfectly fine fast food establishment, certainly one of the better ones, but I find their offerings bland. I’ve given them three tries, but they just don’t it for me. My favorite part was being able to get a beer there. I don’t think I’ve ever tried Qdoba.
As long as “neither” is an option, you’re going to have to deal with people who want to come in and talk about their favorite local joints. And I can’t think of any reason why it’s confusing to you that people would prefer their local burrito joint over a chain. There is nothing illogical about that, at all.
I’m more familiar with Chipotle, and they have sofritas, which I really love.
I also like Cilantro, which is very similar, but with more cilantro. More cilantro is always good.
DCnDC, either you live even closer to me than I thought or you’re being vague when you say that Spice 6 is close to you. There’s only one of them, and I’ve been there. I only tried it once though.
I’m a few blocks north of Bladensburg HS. Downtown Hyattsville is just a five minute drive across the tracks down Decatur.
Chipotle, by default; there are no Qdobas within 200 miles of where I live.
Hence my statement that it’s a poster’s prerogative to give their favorite local Mexican joint, but I still say for the sake of this thread mom-and-pops aren’t comparable to Chipotle/Qdoba/et al.
A thread asking Mcdonalds or Wendy’s?-- if people came in and said “Neither, I like burgers from my neighborhood pub.” Well, they’re not comparable! Yes, they’re all hamburgers, but not the same thing.
Another thread: Twinkies or Zebra Cakes? Coming in to say “Neither, I like cupcakes from Cupcakes by Design.” Well, sure they’re all cake-y desserts, but not comparable.
Again, talk about whatever you want. But you don’t need to prefer mom-and pop Mexican at the exclusion of Chipotle, Qdoba, Salsarita, or even Panera or Five Guys or Taco Bell.
I love Chipotle. I love them with the white-hot intensity of a thousand quasars on fire in the parking lot of a Walmart in Texas at 12 noon in August.
Qdoba is okay, but my Chicken burrito, extra rice, no beans, hot salsa, sour cream, no cheese is the best thing at any fast food restaurant I’ve ever eaten.
And the chips. The chips are lovely.
I sometimes eat there but consider their servings to be three portions. I’ll have 1/3 for lunch two days in a row and throw the rest out.
I thought people were talking about local places that roll up burritos, not full Mexican restaurants. If so, I think that’s a fair comparison. Comparing Chipotle to you average full-service restaurant is obviously not a fair fight, but there’s nothing wrong with comparing it to a local quick-service taco and burrito place. Especially if you’re in California, where that kind of thing is very popular.
Chipotle is great. Cheap, filling, tasty, awesome ingredients, quick, I could go on and on. Of course they’re not authentic Mexican, they’re their own thing. It’s a football sized glob of awesome wrapped up in a handy portable cylinder.
Qdoba just sucks. Maybe I should give them another chance but I see no reason to.
Chipotle can make one of the world’s tastiest foods—pork carnitas—taste like nothing. Hate that place.
Have no particular memory of Qdoba. I used to like Baja Fresh, but it’s gone downhill.
Taco Bell has never disappointed me if I stick to the menu items they have had since the '70s.
The other stuff is still the same 4 ingredients, just arranged in a different order. 
Never been to a Qdoba, looks like there’s only 4 in the LA area and none close to me. So Chipotle.