QDOBA Honors Franchisee Excellence at Annual Brand Conference

QDOBA Mexican Eats®
Published: November 5th, 2025

November 05, 2025 // Franchising.com // San Diego, CA – QDOBA presented awards in 50 categories and recognized three standout franchise partners at its annual Brand Conference:

• Winters Group — Franchise Partner of the Year
• Carmen Reyes-Ibarra, General Manager of Roaring Fork — General Manager of the Year
• Froccaro Group — Operator of the Year

“QDOBA’s franchise partners are the hands and hearts behind the brand, growing alongside us and showing up for their teams and guests daily,” said Kevin Carroll, Chief Operating Officer. “We have a huge opportunity ahead of us to accelerate how guests discover QDOBA; and our franchise partners ensure that once they try us, they love us!”

ABOUT THE WINNERS

• Winters Group — Franchise Partner of the Year: Led by Franchisee Chris Winters and his team of Eric Renegar, Craig Gutierrez, Heather Heimbach and operating partners, Winters Group expanded from five to twenty-two restaurants, while maintaining best-in-class operations and consistently supporting new franchisee onboarding. Heather Heimbach earned Marketer of the Year for continued community engagement and philanthropy. The group also earned six additional awards, including for heavy investments in digital infrastructure to handle web/app and third-party orders more efficiently and elevate the digital guest experience.
• Carmen Reyes-Ibarra, General Manager of Roaring Fork — General Manager of the Year: Ranked in the top 1% of F’25 operational metrics across sales and transactions, training, food safety and more at her restaurant in Arlington Heights, IL, which is one of 62 restaurants for QDOBA’s second-largest franchisee. With more than a decade at QDOBA, Reyes-Ibarra rose from line service to leadership and is known for building a high-performing, guest-first culture.
• Froccaro Group — Operator of the Year: The family-owned group operates nine restaurants and is actively expanding into high-traffic locations around the New York metro area. The Froccaro brothers pioneered digital standard operating procedures that have since been adopted brand-wide and currently lead in loyalty mix with an average of 10,000+ active guests per restaurant.

SOURCE  QDOBA Mexican Eats