A Mexican restaurant featuring "fast-casual" food service will open its doors on Halloween to the State College community. Qdoba Mexican Grill, a franchised restaurant with locations across the country, will open its newest location on West College Avenue next to Café 210 West, 210 W. College Ave. The menu features items such as burritos, quesadillas and tacos.

"There may be similar menu items in the area, but it's different because of the fast-casual concept," said Lisa Lucas, a Qdoba spokeswoman.

Restaurant owner Marc Steren said the idea of "fast-casual" deals with how the food is prepared. He said all the fresh food is prepared in front of customers. "We don't even have a freezer [in the restaurant]," Steren said. "All the food comes in fresh."

Steren said Qdoba will offer a LionCash option. He added it was a "great opportunity and feature with the students."

In addition to LionCash, Steren said he plans to adjust weekend hours to accommodate the late night atmosphere at Penn State.

However, even with the later weekend hours, Qdoba will be focusing on food products and not alcoholic beverages like its neighbor.

Hal McCullough, owner of Café 210 West, said he is not particularly worried about an economic impact with the new arrival. "In the latter part of the evening, people are more interested in drinks than in food," he said.

"I think this block needs another place that sells quesadillas. I think we only have four places that sell them in a one-block radius," he said sarcastically.

Because of the LionCash option at Qdoba, Penn State policy places restrictions on what types of products can be sold. "They are allowed to have a liquor license, but a large portion can't be alcohol-related sales," said Bruce Walker, ID+ office administrative supervisor.

Walker said that if more than 50 percent of sales are alcohol-related, merchants' applications to have LionCash installed are rejected.

Steren said one of the things that sets Qdoba apart is the "Q-to-go" taco bar. He said a customer can order the mobile taco bar for 20 to 500 people and have it delivered.

"They have things like this for sandwiches, so it's great for tacos," he said.

Steren said patrons can also order individual items to be included in the bar. He added that the taco bar uses heating devices under the food that last up to four hours.

The Oct. 31 opening was pushed back a week because of construction delays, Steren said. He added that he wanted the restaurant to be open for a week before the home football game Nov. 6 so employees would have had a chance to settle in.

Lucas said that in the future, she thinks Steren will become more involved with the community as other Qdoba restaurants have in the past.

"I'd imagine he's looking to Penn State to get involved in community events," Lucas said. "Fun events, tasting events along the same lines of other universities and cities."

Lucas said that at other university locations, Qdoba has sponsored burrito-eating contests, concert ticket giveaways and has given students discounts for their food during finals weeks. "They don't just sit back; they try to become involved," she said. "Qdoba is well accepted in the college-age demographic."

Steren said he wants to have two to three Qdoba restaurants in the State College area by the end of 2006.

"There are a lot of restaurants in the area, but we didn't see anything like [Qdoba]," he said.