QDOBA Mexican Eats, the largest franchisor within the fast-casual Mexican segment, announced today that it has signed a multi-unit franchise development agreement with TIG Queso, LLC (“TIG Queso”), a part of the TIG Corp company. Executives Jiger Patel and Pradeep Prashar will lead TIG Queso’s development of 15 new restaurants — 10 units in the New York Tri-State area and five locations in Southwest Florida. The franchise team’s first Pennsylvania location is expected to open in Langhorne and its Florida location is expected to open in Cape Coral in Q2 2021.
“When reviewing our franchise portfolio, we recognized that there was an opportunity when it comes to fast casual dining,” says Patel, who has developed Dunkin, Checkers and The Green Turtle restaurants throughout the New York Tri-State area. “We’re eager to keep growing, and after reviewing multiple fast-casual concepts, we narrowed in on QDOBA. The brand fits the bill for everything we look for in an investment and sustainable growth.”
As decade-long friends and business associates, Patel and Prashar collaborated on the 15-unit QDOBA deal. With Patel’s multi-unit and multi-brand experience and Prashar’s development and operations background with 7-Eleven and Marco’s Pizza, the group is a perfect fit to bring the QDOBA brand to the New York Tri-State Area, Southwest Florida and continue the expansion in the south.
“When Jiger shared his vision for our investment in QDOBA, I couldn’t pass on it,” says Prashar. “QDOBA’s menu and flavor profile have always stood out to me as a huge differentiator when it comes to fast-casual brands. We know that QDOBA will be a welcome addition to both Southwest Florida and the New York Tri-State area and can’t wait to open our first two locations this year.”
Further differentiating the QDOBA franchise opportunity is its flexible footprint options that allow the brand to work well in a variety of traditional and non-traditional venues. With several dayparts, broad consumer appeal, and strong off-premises/catering business, franchisees are set up for sustained success. Furthermore, QDOBA’s streamlined and efficient buildouts reduce development costs for its franchisees.
“TIG Corp Partners are a great example of the type of top-tier operators looking to invest in QDOBA,” says the brand’s Vice President of Franchise Development Shawn Caric. “From our high AUVs and flexible footprints to the national brand awareness and great ROI generated, we provide an opportunity that’s hard to turn down.”
As QDOBA continues to expand throughout the United States, it is actively seeking qualified multi-unit and multi-segment groups with experience in development strategy and a focus on diversifying with a bold concept.
