City Times Staff

Qdoba is opening its Stevens Point location next week.

Roaring Fork Restaurant Group, a Wisconsin-owned and operated restaurateur and the largest Qdoba franchisee in the United States, announced on Wednesday the opening of a new Qdoba Mexican Eats location in Stevens Point.

It marks the first Qdoba restaurant for Stevens Point and the 50th franchise location in Wisconsin for the Milwaukee-based Roaring Fork, which owns and operates 54 other regional locations, including in Illinois and Iowa. The new Qdoba will open on Thursday, July 13 at 5347 U.S. Hwy. 10 East.

“Bringing Qdoba to Stevens Point was a natural part of our franchise growth and we couldn’t be more thrilled to expand in central Wisconsin,” said Ron Stokes, President and Chief Operating Officer at Roaring Fork. “As our 50th location in our home base of Wisconsin, it really is a special moment in our history as a franchisee.”

To mark the opening of its 50th location in the state, Roaring Fork Restaurant Group is offering customers a free order of chips and queso with a purchase at any Qdoba Wisconsin location on Tuesday, July 18.

Roaring Fork opened its first Qdoba restaurant in 1998 on Milwaukee’s east side. This was the 14th Qdoba to open in the country. The company now owns and operates 55 regional locations, including restaurants in Illinois and Iowa, and is the fastest-growing restaurant group within the Qdoba franchise. The other central Wisconsin location is about 35 miles north of Stevens Point in Wausau at 2205 Stewart Avenue.

“Growth is in our DNA, it’s what we believe in both internally with the development of our team members and externally with the selection and development of new locations,” said Stokes. “We’ve continued to open about three to four locations per year for the last 19 years because of our belief in what Qdoba represents and the performance we’ve earned from that growth.”

Stokes said approximately 25 employees will be hired at the Stevens Point location, which includes drive-through service. Very few of the Qdoba locations they operate have this feature.

The Stevens Point Qdoba will be open daily from 10:30 AM to 10 PM and include shrimp on the menu for a limited time this summer.

Roaring Fork saw 57 percent growth in its Qdoba franchises in the last five years. In addition to that Qdoba growth, Roaring Fork also announced earlier this year the opening of Grate Mac & Cheese, a new, fast-casual restaurant in Menomonee Falls. In addition to Stevens Point, Qdoba locations are currently in the works in both Johnson Creek and Mukwonago.

“We’re continuing to look at additional sites throughout the state so that we can continue to grow the brand and create more jobs through the openings of those locations,” said Stokes.