Qdoba Mexican Eats just announced its first foray into the virtual dining space with Pure Gold: a queso-themed delivery-only menu. Each menu item is only available through third-party delivery in 300 locations across the country in select markets including Denver and Indianapolis, and stars the fast-casual brand’s three-cheese queso sauce.
"The launch of our Pure Gold virtual brand gives guests a convenient and craveable delivery experience,” Karen Silk, CMO of Qdoba said in a statement. “Pure Gold fulfills a promise of simple indulgence by bringing guests new ways to enjoy our signature queso.”
The menu items include multiple types of queso dips (including a build your own loaded queso, pork verde, and hot honey chicken), queso-filled quesadillas, and queso-topped tacos (available in chicken, hot honey chicken, and steak). Each of the menu items has a kitschy “gold rush”-themed name like “gold strike steak” and “24-karat quesadillas.”
"This virtual brand allows us to leverage our second make-lines, existing labor and ingredients to create a one-of-a-kind, exclusive queso menu," a Qdoba representative told Nation's Restaurant News. "Qdoba’s signature three-cheese queso has always been in demand and Pure Gold allowed us to get creative and develop an exclusive menu around this star ingredient."
Qdoba has been ramping up its digital technology investment recently, with the launch of a digital rewards program in February in partnership with Paytronix, which included a two-tiered system with “foodie status,” where customers can earn points after every visit, and “chef status,” which is achieved after 12 visits annually, and also comes with discounted queso, and exclusive offers and challenges for members.
Also in February, Qdoba expanded its physical presence by announcing the largest franchise deal in company history to bring 30 new locations to the Florida market.
To celebrate the release of the new queso-theme virtual brand, Qdoba is offering $5 off Pure Gold orders of $25 or more placed on DoorDash now through July 6.
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