Mid-Michigan Dining

• 5415 W. Saginaw Highway
• Lansing, MI 48917
• (517) 977-0063
• Website
• Menu

Qdoba Mexican Grill on Saginaw Highway in Delta Township

I don’t think I need to tell you about our shopping patterns again….do I?  Of course, we were out in Delta Township and it was lunch time.  We weren’t in the mood to hunt out a sit down place and McDonald’s didn’t sound good either. 

I remember seeing a few months ago that Qdoba was moving into the space that used to be a Ya-Ya’s Chicken.  That was a while ago, so I assumed it was open. 

I’ve only eaten at Qdoba once in my life.  I used to work with a woman that loved it.  She would have lived inside Qdoba if they would have let her.  The closest one to us was forty minutes away, but if we were ever anywhere near it, I would have to take her for a burrito.  Only once did I actually eat lunch with her.  I wasn’t impressed, but I wasn’t turned off either. 

The newest Qdoba in the Lansing area is on Saginaw Highway across from the Lansing Mall.  Parking around the building isn’t great.  The entrance is actually on the side of the building and there are a few angled parking spots there.  If there’s a lot of traffic in the area of that strip mall, finding a close spot could be a challenge. 

The restaurant is set up sort of like a Subway.  There’s a counter where you order and it’s put together right in front of you.  I don’t like rice and it seems like all fast food Mexican likes to use rice filler.  Qdoba is no different.  That limits the options for me.  There were some things that sounded good, but I had a feeling it would be 90 percent rice and 10 percent meat.  Instead, I ordered three tacos. 

You get your choice of soft or crunchy.  I chose crunchy.  There’s also a choice of meat.  There’s the standard ground beef or chicken, but there’s also a pulled pork option.  I’ve never had that on a taco and since I love pulled pork, I decided to give it a try.  At the the next station, they ask about sauce.  There’s an option of either a Pico de Gallo or hot sauce.  I’d much rather have hot sauce, but there’s three choices and they were never explained to me what they were.  After looking at the lady stupidly for a few seconds, she finally explained.  The difference is the heat level.  I went for the middle sauce.  They then put on a little cheese and passed the plate to the cashier. 

J ordered a cheese quesadilla which is probably the biggest ripoff on the menu.  They took a large flour tortilla, sprinkled less cheese than what was on my taco and topped with a little bit of Pico then pressed it.  Put a little more cheese on it…at least.  She also got an order of chips and quacamole. 

Qdoba Mexican Grill on Lansing's west side.

We added on a couple drinks for a total of just under $20.  Seems high for what is essentially fast food, but this ain’t Taco Bell.  My tacos were pretty good.  The pulled pork was an interesting meat choice.  I really liked tacos.  The salsa had a kick, but wasn’t overpowering hot. 

J ate about half of her quesadilla and offered it to me.  I’m not a fan of Pico because of the onions.  I opened it up and scraped the onions off, but by that point, you’re just eating a grilled tortilla.  She liked it though which is what really matters. 

The chips were salty.  Really salty.  She’s been craving quacamole from Andy’s Deli in Holt, but he hasn’t been open for a while, so she ordered quac instead of salsa with the chips.  I don’t like quacamole either, so I couldn’t really help her with that.  The chips were so salty they needed something to put on them.  There were quite a few chips though and we took the rest home where we snacked on them the rest of the afternoon.

I’m still up in the air about Qdoba.  I really liked the tacos, but I can get double the tacos for the same price at Taco Bell.  It was good, but not someplace I see myself eating at often.