Food & Beverage
Qdoba, Noodles & Co lean into mac 'n' cheese
November 10, 2021
The comfort-food season is approaching, and Qdoba and Noodles & Co are leaning into it with limited-time offers starring a classic winter menu item — mac 'n' cheese.
Qdoba's LTO — Mac & Queso — features cavatappi noodles and the chain's 3-cheese queso, according to a company press release. It's available in 188 restaurants in Canada as well as in Baltimore, Boston, New York, North Carolina, Philadelphia, and all Colorado locations will have it by Friday.
"We're thrilled to innovate around one of our most successful and beloved items ever — our signature 3-cheese Queso — and begin offering our fans this indulgent comfort food just in time for the fall and winter months," Qdoba Executive Chef Katy Velazquez said in a company press release. "Our Mac & Queso is the perfect blend of Mexican flavors with a classic American twist."
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| Qdoba's Tex Mex Mac & Queso Bowl is available in 188 locations. Provided |
Qdoba is also releasing a collection of exclusive chef-crafted Mac & Queso Signature Eats, including:
- Cholula Mac & Queso Bowl or Burrito (available in-restaurant and online).
- Macaroni smothered in QDOBA's 3-cheese Queso, topped with Cholula Hot & Sweet Chicken, pico de gallo, sour cream and cotija cheese.
- Tex Mex Mac & Queso Bowl or Burrito (available online only).
- Slow-Smoked Brisket, roasted tomato salsa, corn salsa and tortilla strips atop QDOBA's new cheesy Mac & Queso, available as a burrito or bowl.
- Loaded Mac & Queso Burrito (available online only).
Qdoba, which has nearly 750 locations, is offering Mac & Queso after piloting a smaller operational test in Seattle and restaurants in Ohio and West Virginia this past summer.
Not to be outdone by Qdoba, Noodles & Co. has created TRUFF Mac, a limited-edition dish made in partnership with TRUFF, a truffle-infused condiment brand.
TRUFF Mac, which combines Noodles & Co. Wisconsin Mac & Cheese with a drizzle of TRUFF's Black Truffle Hot Sauce, is available at over 450 Noodles locations across the country as a digital-only offering, available only while supplies last.
"Since we first opened our doors 26 years ago, Wisconsin Mac & Cheese has remained our best-selling item on the menu, and if you've tasted it, you know why," Stacey Pool, chief marketing officer at Noodles & Co., said in a company press release. "With TRUFF Mac, we've made this mainstay menu item even more intriguing by surprising our guests with this limited-edition TRUFF Hot Sauce pairing, and we couldn't be more excited about this collaboration and the opportunity to be the first restaurant company to offer TRUFF Hot Sauce nationwide."
Made with a blend of real black truffles and red chili peppers, TRUFF's line of luxury pantry staples are designed to elevate the dining experience, Nick Guillen, co-founder and co-CEO at TRUFF, said in the release.
"Our goal with TRUFF was to create a hot sauce so unique that it would elevate any dining experience. With Noodles & Company, we had the opportunity to reinvent a dish as classic and popular as their Wisconsin Mac & Cheese," he said. "The TRUFF Mac dish will offer Noodles & Company guests instant, craveable flavor."
