New Mexican restaurant to open on Forbes Avenue

Students hungry for Mexican cuisine will have a new option in Oakland. The 22-ounce burrito… Students hungry for Mexican cuisine will have a new option in Oakland. The 22-ounce burrito has landed right on Forbes Avenue.

Qdoba Mexican Grill, a Denver-based chain, will open a Pittsburgh franchise later this month at 3712 Forbes Ave., where Music X formerly stood. It will mark the 81st Qdoba franchise to open nationwide.

The new restaurant, owned and operated by Chad Brooks, founder of the restaurant management group Brooks Hospitality, LLC, will seat 62 patrons inside and 12 more on a sidewalk patio. The chain has been progressively developing outside of Colorado, and Brooks said it was a matter of time before the chain reached Pittsburgh.

“We’ve been expanding from Denver up to the East coast, so it’s sort of been a natural migration to Pittsburgh,” Brooks said.

The restaurant prides itself on its five signature burritos. Brooks said the 22-ounce burritos made the restaurant famous in Denver.

“The chicken mole burrito is the most popular,” he said. “The grilled vegetable burrito costs about $5 and the most expensive burrito, the fajita ranchera burrito, costs about $6.50.”

According to the restaurant’s Web site, the Oakland installment is the first of five local franchises under development. But Brooks said five is just a starting number.

“Denver is roughly the same size as Pittsburgh,” he said, “and there are 19 Qdobas in Denver. We actually have plans for a dozen or more in the Pittsburgh area.”

The restaurant will not serve alcohol, but Brooks said diners will appreciate the quality of the food most.

“Everything is fresh Mexican cuisine,” he said. “There isn’t a can opener or a microwave in the place. There will be a small half-freezer for cookie dough but that’s it. Everything in the store is made daily.”

Brooks said the Forbes Avenue location was University-driven since some of its most successful franchises reside on college campuses, specifically at the University of Wisconsin. He said nothing has been established as far as student benefits, but marketers are looking into it.

“Student discounts and packages will be announced but we haven’t come up with any yet,” Brooks said. “We’re checking into some of the packages of restaurants in the area to be competitive.”

Brooks likened the interior design of Qdoba to Panera Bread, with “sidewalk seating under a brightly colored awning and a warm color scheme inside.” He said that they plan on making the storefront as visible as possible, with bright lights and a large sign protruding off the flat front of the building.

“The outdoor patio will help us tremendously,” Brooks said. “We will certainly be visible.”

According to the restaurant’s Web site, Qdoba Mexican Grill first opened in Denver in 1995. Renovations to the restaurant location cost franchise owner Anthony Miller $180,000, and in its first year of business, the restaurant grossed $1.5 million.

Just across the street from Qdoba is Sultan’s Mexican Restaurant. Employee Kristin Long said their business caters to the lunchtime crowd and probably will not see much of a decrease.

“We’re more of a lunch stop, where you come in, get a burrito and leave,” Long said. “They seem to want more of a sit down and spend the evening kind of crowd.”

Trenny Bivens, the general manager of Mad Mex, located at 370 Atwood St., said the addition of a new Mexican restaurant in Oakland will not have a negative effect on other Mexican restaurants already in existence.

“I don’t see us losing much business,” Bivens said. “You’re always in competition with those around you, but I don’t see us losing customers over a long period of time.”

Bivens said Mad Mex, which opened eight years ago, has no intentions of making any changes to keep competitive with newer restaurants in the Oakland area. She said any changes that occur would be company-wide, not specifically rendered to contend with Mexican restaurants nearby. Also, Bivens noted that Qdoba is on the other end of campus, too far away to draw customers from South Oakland.

“We have a pretty strong customer base since we’re the only restaurant on this end of the neighborhood,” Bivens said. “I think we’ll be alright.”

Students had varied reactions to the opening of a new restaurant on campus.

“I’m glad the storefront will finally be spruced up,” said sophomore Paul Johnson. “The place has been vacant for a while and it’s good to see them working on it. Hopefully the food will be good, too.”

“It’ll be popular when it first opens,” said junior Crystal Wells, “but then it’ll be like every other restaurant on Forbes Avenue. And I don’t think the outdoor patio will work very well [because of homeless people and constant traffic].”

Oakland Real Estate Co., the property owner of 3712 Forbes Ave., could not be reached for comment.