Qdoba vs Culvers, the Cheeseburger Diet!?
June 8th, 2004I was amazed the other day when I looked up the nutritional information for the typical burrito I order at Qdoba. I have since stopped eating there and have now either started cooking more meals at home or I have been going to Culvers to get a Double Cheeseburger. This morning I looked up the nutritional information and once again I was surprised...
To start the Qdoba burrito is a massive thing, and the nutritional information reflects it. According to the FDA the Recommended Daily Allowances is 2000 calories and 65 grams of fat a day as quoted below. Amazingly a single burrito is about 1,600 calories with 90 grams of fat. If you drink Pepsi (24 fl. oz) with it, you will get another 400 calories. How convenient! You could just eat one meal a day at Qdoba and you are all set!
"For example, the Daily Value for fat, based on a 2,000-calorie diet, is 65 grams (g). A food that has 13 g of fat per serving would state on the label that the "percent Daily Value" for fat is 20 percent." - Paula Kurtzweil, FDA.gov
Alternatively, I found a Double Cheeseburger at Culvers is a light 288 calories with 32 grams of fat. Add to that an order fries for another 140 calories and 16 grams of fat. That is much better. It is a virtual diet compared to Qdoba.
In the morning I will usually just have a medium mocha from Caribou Coffee which is 347 calories and 16 grams of fat. I suppose that is OK for only a portion of my daily allowances. That is with 2% milk. I could scale that back by using skim, but I will only cut about 30 calories so I won't. When I compare this drink to a Starkbucks white chocolate mocha I find that includes 490 calories and 24 grams of fat. I usually just get the coffee for the caffeine rush, so maybe I can just cut it back to a Espresso Cooler which is only 136 calories and 2 grams of fat.
I will have to consider it.
June 8th, 2004 at 2:21 pm
Good work, Brennan. Amazing what comes across as "healthy" in the fast food market.
I was looking at the "healthy Meal" that a coworker bought at McDonalds, which was a salad, bottle of water, etc. The dressing alone, for one serving, was over 400 calories itself!
Beware,and follow Brennan's lead: read the labels, and cook at home more often. In the long run, THAT is more convenient!
July 12th, 2004 at 1:43 pm
Not that it makes much difference, but the Culver's double cheeseburger actually has 576 calories. The 288 calories you're reading is the number which come from fat. That is precisely one-half of the calories in the sandwich. So, yes, 576 calories is much better than the 1600 some odd calories which the burrito sports, but having half the calories come from fat is still not good. Perhaps I can tempt you with a turkey breast sub from Subway with an actual calorie count of 280 and a mere 4.5g of fat? That's only 40 calories from fat.
December 1st, 2005 at 6:52 pm
Wow - this is amazing. I stumbled on your blog while trying to find the calories in a Qdoba burrito (NOT AVAILABLE!). OK, I never thought their burritos were healthy and knew the calorie count had to be up there....but YIKES!! 1600 calories is my daily caloric intake for a woman my size! No wonder obesity is such an epidemic - who ever thought Culver's would be one of the better fast food options available?
January 25th, 2006 at 4:50 pm
You have to be a little wiser with your choices at Qdoba. Try changing the steak to chicken and removing the cheese and sour cream and you'll see a dramatic drop in fat/cal. Also, check out the serving sizes - it just depends on how much it takes to keep you full. Ounce for ounce, even the burrito above is healthier than the double cheeseburger.
February 10th, 2006 at 12:31 pm
Wiser with your choices??? Yeah... rrright! Not only are Qdoba's burritos ridiculously calorie-and-fat-packed, but then they fill the rest of the bag up with greasy fried tortilla chips. Plus, the one time I ate there, the rice in the burrito was extremely over-salted... like brine! All in all, you'd be better off going to a grocery store and sucking down a coupla cans of Crisco. Qdoba should rightly be charged with dumping toxic waste down the American throat!
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