A Wisconsin franchisee is bringing Qdoba back to Rockford with 3 new locations

By Kevin Haas
Rock River Current
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ROCKFORD — The second-largest franchisee of Qdoba in the country is working on plans to bring the fast-casual Mexican restaurant chain back to the city.

Wisconsin-based Roaring Fork Restaurant Group has reached a development agreement with Qdoba to bring three new restaurants here. The company hasn’t identified all the locations yet, but it is in negotiations for its potential first site, said Ron Stokes, president of Roaring Fork LLC. The goal is to open the first restaurant by 2026.

“Rockford, we’ve had our eye on for a long time,” said Stokes, whose company is based in the Milwaukee area. “We’re working diligently on a site that if it comes to pass would definitely open next year.”

The company is primarily looking at lease opportunities, although “we’re not opposed to buying and developing ourselves,” Stokes said.

“We’re excited about Rockford and being a part of the community,” Stokes said. “We give back as a franchisee. We do a ton of fundraising. We give back in terms of employment opportunities, advancement opportunities, community involvement and charity outreach, too. That’s a part of who we are as a corporation and that’s what we’re going to bring to Rockford as well when we move into the community.”

The Rockford market was a natural next move for Roaring Fork, which has the vast majority of its business in Wisconsin. It opened its 62nd Qdoba restaurant last week in Kenosha, Wisconsin. It has 59 of its restaurants in Wisconsin and two in Illinois: one in Arlington Heights and the other in Schaumburg.

The expansion in Rockford is part of countrywide growth from Qdoba, which has more than 500 development agreements across the country with various franchisees. Roaring Fork, which opened its first restaurant 27 years ago, is positioned to add to that growth.

“We have growth in our DNA. Our first store opened in April of 1998 — the brand wasn’t even called Qdoba then, it was called Z-Teca,” Stokes said. “We are very interested in growing the brand. We believe in Qdoba, what it stands for and our food quality and our offerings.”

Roaring Fork also franchises Dave’s Hot Chicken restaurants. They will open their 10th Dave’s in about five weeks in Appleton, Wisconsin. The 11th is planned for Grafton, which is north of Milwaukee, this fall.

Qdoba is known for its variety of bowls, burritos, salads and tacos with a wide range of salsas to choose from. It markets its “bold flavors” and — unlike other fast-casual Mexican restaurant chains — it doesn’t charge extra for guacamole or queso, including its premium three-cheese queso

“We think our flavor’s a rock star,” Stokes said. “We think our value equation is really, really strong.”

Qdoba previously operated in the Rockford area under a different franchisee with locations on Walton Street in Rockford and West Lane Road in Machesney Park.

The closet Qdoba locations to Rockford now are in Beloit, Wisconsin, and Dekalb.

This article is by Kevin Haas. Email him at khaas@rockrivercurrent.com or follow him on X at @KevinMHaas or Instagram @thekevinhaas and Threads @thekevinhaas