For a few years, I have firmly been in Team Qdoba in the Qdoba vs. Chipotle War. Even though I’m in the minority, I’ve been very vocal about my preferences. What I haven’t been great at is explaining why Qdoba, in my opinion, is so much better than Chipotle.
Sure, the guacamole is free at Qdoba and isn’t at Chipotle, but that only matters if you like guacamole. And that doesn’t speak to the flavor of the guac either. I don’t find myself enthusiastic about the guacamole, only that I appreciate that the option is free, and there are others out there who are very passionate about Chipotle’s.
While I think the chicken is better at Qdoba, I don’t think it’s leagues above its rival, and the rest of the toppings are more or less the same.
Except one.
If you knew me when I was a child and you’re reading this, you’re almost certainly part of my family. You’d also likely remember me not being a fan of red onions (you probably remember me not being a fan of a lot of foods).
For the longest time, my burger order was “cheeseburger, ketchup only” and my go-to at the local Mexican restaurant was the #7: two tacos, rice, and beans. On sandwiches, I only liked lettuce and tomato as my toppings. Absolutely no onions and certainly no mustard.
It’s hard to say if there are defining moments where foods I once hated became foods I enjoyed. Not having most of the foods I was used to eating for two years certainly changed how I viewed food, although my resistance to eggs persists.
I first really noticed my taste had changed in 2017, when I stopped at a Burger King, ordered a Whopper, hated it, and then realized it was the abundance of ketchup. In ten years, my burger preferences had shifted from “ketchup only” to “anything but ketchup”. (I don’t know why I’m even talking about my burger order; I almost entirely dropped eating beef in 2020.)
I haven’t transformed into some type of adventurous eater, but I’m certainly not the picky eater I was as a kid. There are things I couldn’t imagine enjoying as a child are now some of my favorites.
After spending the majority of my childhood hating red onions, I’ve eventually come around to them. I enjoy them in most things I eat, but I don’t think I’d ever consider myself a die-hard red onion fan.
But, one day, I tried getting to the bottom of why I liked Qdoba so much more than Chipotle. After going through my order with my girlfriend item by item, we figured it out.
Unlike its Goliath, Qdoba has pickled red onions.
Those slightly sweet, slightly acidic pickled onions changed everything for me. Once we discovered that the pickled onions were the difference-maker, we decided to buy pickled onions from the store.
We started putting them in our Mediterranean bowls, then into rice bowls, then onto sandwiches. As it turns out, I love pickled onions on almost anything that isn’t a dessert.
For years, I had grown tired of just lettuce and tomato on my sandwiches, but always felt like I wasted red onions and any other produce I bought would expire before I used them.
Now, with pickled onions, I think I’ve mastered my ideal sandwich at home: sourdough, cheese (any type, really), turkey (or any meat), lettuce, pickled onions, mayo, and a touch of olive oil.
Oh, and spicy brown mustard, which is another thing I’ve grown to love.
Mitchell Barbee graduated from Calvin University with a B.A. in writing in 2021. Originally from Boone, North Carolina, he is currently residing in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He enjoys hanging out with the few friends who stayed, wearing grey hoodies, and hoping that he doesn’t get sucked into the nightly wormhole of watching a baseball game.
Justice for eggs