It resembled something out of a nightmare. Grown men were reduced to flinging themselves at doors bolted shut, uttering cries of anguish before they collapsed into puddles of tears. Women wailed and gnashed their teeth as they rent the clothing upon their breasts. The very sky itself seemed to darken, and the January chill bit to the bone.
Such was the scene on M Street this past Thursday when a spontaneous gathering of Georgetown students congregated before the locked doors of the Qdoba Mexican Grill. The Hoya reported the restaurant’s closing on Jan. 9, to students’ immediate dismay. Until this day, Qdoba had been a Hoya favorite, drawing large crowds of students each Tuesday evening with its “Half-Off College Night” promotion.
“This was the best deal in town,” said Butch Duchesne (COL ’15), an attacker on the men’s varsity lacrosse team. “You can’t eat anywhere in Georgetown without dropping at least $10. Getting a $4.44 burrito and drink on ‘Half-Off Night’ was the highlight of my week. I just — I just — I just can’t believe it’s gone!” the 6-foot-3, 195-pound Duchesne sobbed to The Heckler before burying a tear-stained face into the shoulder of his teammate, midfielder Jake Rothburg (MSB ’15).
Many Georgetown students shared Duchesne’s sentiments, and by mid-afternoon, a crowd five men deep had grown outside the darkened storefront of Qdoba, all come to inspect the situation for themselves and pay their last respects. As passions boiled over, several individuals attempted to batter down the doors of the restaurant in the hopes of retrieving any foodstuffs that may have remained within. One man was taken into custody by police after he gained access by way of a back door and was discovered looking under tables in the desperate hope of finding any fallen tortilla chips he could use to consume a leftover container of brown guacamole.
Despite this display on M Street, not all Georgetown students shared in the sorrow of their classmates. Indeed, some look forward to the possibilities opened by the vacant space.
“Those burritos were, like, really bad for you,” Clover Pedersen (COL ’17) said. “I hope we get something healthy to go in there, like a Chop’t or a Jamba Juice. Ooh! Or maybe a Marc Jacobs boutique. Their new line is so cute!”
Yet by and large, Georgetown students are struggling to move forward in a world without Qdoba.
“This seriously throws off my week,” Ethan Dwyer (MSB ’16) said. “Just one of those Qdoba burritos was enough to satisfy my 2,000-calorie diet. But I used to load mine up with all the salsa and queso they would give me, get some nachos on the side and wash it all down with a Coke. That would usually get me through Friday. It was like I was a python or something. I’d eat the burrito, and then I wouldn’t have to eat again for three days. Now I’ll have to go to Leo’s.”
“Life is rough in Obama’s America,” Dwyer’s friend, Peter Harrison (SFS ’16), a member of the Georgetown College Republicans, said.
As students continue to grieve, many have questioned the reason for Qdoba’s closure. While no official explanation has been released, some suspect foul play and are pointing their fingers at Qdoba’s rival up M Street, Chipotle. No evidence has yet surfaced connecting Chipotle to any culinary sabotage, but the restaurant, now monopolizing the burrito industry in Georgetown, is clearly the main beneficiary of Qdoba’s demise. But conspiracy theory or no, nothing is likely to stand in Chipotle’s way as it seeks to capture the student Mexican food market.