Chipotle rival Qdoba plans to open first Bay Area restaurant

Fast food restaurant Qdoba, known for its giant stuffed burritos, plans to open its first Bay Area store this month.

The Mexican fast food chain is set to debut Aug. 21 in Ygnacio Plaza Shopping Center at 1815-B Ygnacio Valley Road in Walnut Creek. The restaurant will be operated by franchise owner Karan Gogri.

“I’ve been a fan of QDOBA ever since I was 13,” Gogri said in a press release shared with SFGATE. “… I’m thrilled to bring QDOBA to Walnut Creek, the Bay Area, and throughout more communities in California.”

Gogri already has a plan to do just that. He told SFGATE via email that he’s working toward opening two more Qdoba restaurants in Hayward and Fairfield and is looking for opportunities around Fremont, Milpitas and San Jose. The Bay Area technically already has a Qdoba (pronounced cue-dough-bah), but the restaurant is not considered a traditional store because it’s at Travis Air Force Base in Solano County.

For now, Bay Area locals can count on the Walnut Creek outpost once it opens this month. On its grand opening, the first 100 customers in line at 10:30 a.m. will also have the chance to win a free burrito or burrito bowl every month for a whole year, according to a news release shared with SFGATE.

Qdoba will join other businesses headed for Ygnacio Plaza Shopping Center, including an upcoming The Breakfast Club restaurant and a Mendocino Farms soup and salad restaurant, which is slated to open Aug. 15, according to the Bay Area Telegraph.

Known for its hefty burritos, Qdoba opened in 1995 first under the name Zuma Fresh Mexican Grill before it rebranded to Qdoba in 1999. The restaurant chain, like rival fast food restaurant Chipotle, offers a customizable menu of burritos, burrito bowls and crunchy tacos. Qdoba has more than 730 locations across the U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico, with many restaurants found in Southern California.