The Qdoba Mexican Eats at 544 William S. Canning Blvd. in Fall River's Southcoast Marketplace will shut its doors for good Friday at 5 p.m., ending an eight-year run that began when the restaurant first opened in February 2018. Once it closes, the nearest remaining Qdoba for Fall River customers will be in Wareham, Massachusetts, with other locations still scattered around the state.
The closure traces back to a much bigger financial mess involving The Integritty Group, a Pennsylvania-based company that operates dozens of Qdoba restaurants along with other fast-casual brands. As reported by MassLive, the franchisee defaulted on a $20 million loan taken out in April 2025, and Qdoba has since announced restaurant closures tied directly to that default. According to Nation's Restaurant News, lender Bank Midwest filed a federal lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania alleging the franchisee hid its liquidity problems, leaving roughly $18.3 million in outstanding debt across 41 restaurants.
A Qdoba spokesperson told MassLive the company is “grateful to the team members who served guests at this location and appreciates the community's support,” while describing Qdoba more broadly as “a strong, growing brand focused on bold flavors and exceptional guest experiences.” The fallout from The Integritty Group's finances hasn't stayed confined to Massachusetts — Qdoba has also closed two restaurants on Staten Island and one in Michigan amid the same wave of franchisee-driven shutdowns, per the same MassLive report.
A Franchisee's Debt Spiral Deepens
Court filings paint a picture of a franchise operator in serious distress well before the Fall River closure was announced. The Kansas City Business Journal reported that The Integritty Group filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in September for 10 restaurant entities, listing between $10 million and $50 million in liabilities while countersuing Bank Midwest over its handling of the loan acceleration. The franchisee's holdings span multiple fast-casual concepts, including Dave's Hot Chicken alongside its Qdoba locations.
Federal court records cited by LevittownNow.com show just how deep the shortfall ran: the franchisee reportedly owed more than $1 million in past-due royalties and marketing fees to Qdoba Franchisor LLC, $432,000 in rent for August alone, and over $1 million in unpaid sales taxes before it attempted to terminate its franchise agreements altogether. Bank Midwest alleged the franchisee secretly negotiated to end those agreements, a move the lender said threatened its loan collateral, according to the outlet's report.
Corporate Qdoba Is Still Expanding Aggressively
The chain's financial picture at the corporate level looks almost nothing like the turmoil playing out at the franchisee level. Qdoba generated $1.3 billion in domestic sales across 827 systemwide units in 2025, Nation's Restaurant News reported.
Qdoba has kept growing even as the Fall River closure unfolded. The brand announced multi-unit development deals in July to add 50 new franchised restaurants across Atlanta and Nashville, according to a release carried by PR Newswire.
Why One Franchisee's Trouble Hits Local Stores
Qdoba has been owned by private equity firm Butterfly Equity since 2022, following an earlier ownership stretch under Apollo Global Management, according to Restaurant Business Magazine. Qdoba functions primarily as a franchisor — a structure the publication notes leaves individual store stability dependent on the financial health of whichever group operates them.
That structural gap helps explain how a single franchisee's debt troubles in Pennsylvania can close a restaurant in a Fall River shopping center. MassLive also noted the brand's origins, tracing back to its 1995 founding in Denver as Zuma Fresh Mexican Grill, a name changed to Z-Teca in 1997 before the chain became Qdoba in 1999, specializing in customizable bowls, burritos, salads and tacos. For now, Fall River customers looking for their Qdoba fix will need to make the drive to Wareham once Friday's 5 p.m. closing arrives.
