Viva Los Scrabble Points

The search for a restaurant, chain or otherwise, to replace Baja Fresh continues:

Qdoba Mexican Grill
Miller Street, Winston-Salem, NC

The Reason She Was There--For once, Miss Vinegar was going to be a good little food critic and review a local attraction, Winston-Salem's Midtown Café and Dessertery. (You'll find that anything mentioning dessert on the sign is likely to attract Vinegary attention.) However, after a two-hour drive, she was in no mood to wait for a table at eleven-thirty in the morning. The Qdoba is located next to the local Whole Foods Market, the next stop on Miss Vinegar's itinerary.

The Food--Is there anyone, other than college-age males, for whom the main attraction of a burrito is its sheer mass? (Bit of a Freudian dynamic at work there, possibly...). Qdoba is yet another member of the bigger-than-your-head school of burrito fabrication: Miss Vinegar's steak burrito came with beans, rice, pico de gallo, alleged hot sauce which failed the nose-run test, and the chain's three-cheese queso. It was good and definitely filling, but...alas...no Baja Fresh. Next time, Miss Vinegar will upgrade to the hotter hot sauce and see how she fares. The sweet tea is stellar, though, and the beverage station provided the much-missed lime slices for it.

The Service--Though it took five minutes to get the order placed, once it was, the staff ran through the options with speed and accuracy. The cashier commiserated about the attrition of Baja Fresh, suggested Qdoba as a rebound eatery, and directed Miss Vinegar to the high-tech loyalty cards: cardholders can not only earn points, but track when and where they've eaten at Qdoba. Not yet decided whether this is interesting or scary, but Miss Vinegar's inner control freak could learn to like it.

The Ambience--The usual mid-price fast-food decor, except that the tables had gorgeous brushed-metal tops.

Special Touches--The lime slices, lots of Tabasco bottles.

Overall: *** (three stars out of five)